BBDW 59 [Black Butterfly] - Nevereverland

Section 61 (UNEDITED)

-About a week after returning from the orphanage, Jude struggled to open his apartment on a Thursday evening with a bag full of retort food in his arms. Jude, who dropped his stuff almost as if he was throwing it on the sofa, flopped down next to it, patting on his stiff shoulder.

Retort food is generally processed food that can be eaten with a simple process of heating in a microwave or hot water as Home Meal Replacement (HMR)

WooWoo. Jude, who was moaning like an old man who didn't fit his age, briefly clicked his tongue. Searching through his pocket, a familiar partner's name was floating on his phone, and Jude was slightly relieved and opened the flip phone.

"Uh, Tim. Why?"

[They have set a date for the trial. But there's room for sympathy judgments, so I think there's hope.]

Who? As he was about to ask, Jude shut up in a hurry. It occurred to him that it was about the two friends that had already faded from his memory.

"Really? Okay."

[But you're... you're okay, aren't you? Since that day, you've been looking a little... because they're friends?]

"Uh, well, it'll be all right, you don't have to worry about anything. I’m not some kind of orchid in a greenhouse."  

[Then I'm glad... but if you're feeling unbearably depressed, please contact me. I heard that holding it in alone is a shortcut to depression.]

"Okay, Mom."

Tim, who was laughing, soon said goodbye and hung up. Jude, who smiled and threw his cell phone away, breathed a tired sigh as he pressed his forehead. The cell phone he glanced at was just quiet.

Since they separated over there, he has had a couple of phone calls that are apparently from him.

But Jude didn't take it. He didn't know exactly why. It was clear to some extent that it was because of something he saw while standing there. And the more he talked to him, the more he could not get rid of the feeling that something would pop up on the surface. Such ominousness presents itself as an escape, which annoyed Jude a little. Instead of continuing to ponder, Jude rummaged through some of the mail he had picked up on his way home.

"Let's see... that's a bill for maintenance. Whenever the supply is used during the day I would be overcharged 10%….Huh?”

It was the sight of two envelopes that gave a slightly unusual appearance among the formal mail. Obvious to the eye was one white envelope with only Jude's name neatly written on it, and the other was an envelope with an unfamiliar company logo. Jude, who snooped and opened the envelope with the company logo, narrowed his eyebrows at the invitation inside it. It was a brief request to attend the contract celebration party a week later and there was a business card attached inside.

Lyle Trace.

It was a small piece of paper with the same shape and the same position as the business card he received from George except for the name. Jude, who was staring at it blankly, soon smiled and shook his head.

After a brief conflict, Jude opened the white envelope which contained a simple letter. The message he wrote was also brief.

-He at that time, as Jack was mortified when he confessed that; he smiled for a very short moment. Maybe he’s the real schemer behind it. I doubt he really didn't know anything. I was going to tell you at that time, but I don't think you’re feeling well. I'll call you back, and answer me then. Wouldn't it be more convenient for you than for me to visit you? I'm not going to pry.

Jude kept his mouth shut. Lyle's sweaty face flashed across his mind. The whole story was simple. George is dead. Kate had no choice but to expose her painful past at the trial. No matter how normal it was, Jack could not escape prison. And there was only one person who survived and benefited. It was a really simple logic.

"......a real gambit..."

Did he induce this result? Deliberately informs Jude and Alvin of unclear facts, and stimulate Jack so that Kate's story can eventually pop up. So as to put Jack and Kate down as suspects without Jack and Kate holding grudges against him. In the end, Jack's confession was an unexpected big harvest.

Maybe he already knew George was dead when he came downstairs with an anxious face. Or maybe it was Lyle who stimulated Jack slowly in the first place. Secretly expressing George's constant interest in Kate. He somehow wants to get rid of his servitude to the boss who stood in his way, but unwilling to be charged with murder.

"......useless scenario..."

Jude chuckled and shook his head. If so, there was still no way to prove without any physical evidence. The world's billiard balls are bumping into nonsense anyway, and the way to stop the cue is not given to the average person. Jude was a detective who could act based only on poor physical evidence.

Jude, who briefly thought about the criminal with blue-grey eyes, fell asleep on the sofa with the fluorescent light still on in his living room less than 30 minutes later. He didn't even aware of whose name he muttered in his mouth as he was sleeping. Whether it was the name of the two children who harassed his head for a week or the name of the serial killer, it was just distracting to the sleeping Jude.

 

"-de, Jude!"

"Uh, uh?"

The blond detective with his chin on his hand raised his head. The partner with dark brown eyes was looking at Jude with a worried face. Jude smiled quickly and scratched his cheek.

"Oh, I think I dozed off for a while. Why?”

"You didn't sleep... you're a little weird these days. Your time spent in daze has increased a lot."

"That's my character. What do you mean weird? And it's already dark outside."

"You've been working so hard lately, haven't you? There is something wrong with you, or maybe because of your friends.”

"It's all right, it's all right. I don't have a problem; don't keep treating me like that."

Tim's face did not revert back easily. Jude shrugged slightly in embarrassment and shifted to the desktop on his desk. Tim still seemed doubtful but did not bother to ask more questions.

Jude gave a long sigh inside as he swept his head. This isn’t good. It was a bad sign. Something was about to leak out of the gap of the box that he thought was perfectly sealed for more than 17 years. He’s been thinking until now that it doesn't matter whether he open it or not, but the more rattling the box got, strangely the more he was turning nervous. It was clearly emerging on his mind but he didn't want to recall it. The numbers of times that fragments of dream-like illusion seen while awake and came to mind were becoming more and more frequent. It had to be said that it is quite a ricochet if it was enough to cause Tim to worry. It was to the point that it’s hard for him to control himself. Sometimes it was accompanied by headaches.

It was a situation that he couldn't be more pleased with.

-Bang! Jude's thoughts were cut off as the sound of the police station’s door being opened hit his ears loudly. Surprised by that, he turned around and there was a man carrying someone covered in blood standing in place. As if he was embarrassed by the concentrated gazes, he immediately shouted in a hurry.

"Help me! This man here...!"

"Someone call 911!"

Towards the man in simple sportswear who looked like he had been jogging, one of the police rushed out and helped the man being carried on his back. He was a slender white-haired old man. His face and shirt were stained with blood as if he had been hit hard on the head. Intermittent groans could be heard which signifies he was still conscious. Jude and Tim got up from their seats almost at the same time. The anxious grey-green eyes of a middle-aged man carrying an injured old man came into contact with Tim.

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