The Whitechapel Case
Fox-Trot-9

PG-13
Horror/Suspense/Mystery (How-Catch-'Em)
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or Death Note.

Part 3: The Usual Suspects
Chapter 3

Day 3—Not a word was said. In the silence that followed, Noll thought about Jacob's story and all the connections that went with it. Crazy as it sounded, it explained why Jacob woke up with such a start when he, Lin and Bert visited his office; it also explained the suicide note and the events in the newspapers. But for all the progress he and the rest have made thus far, he still had three major questions: Who was the second accomplice? Who stole the death ledger? And where is it hidden? He hoped Somina Gavvers knew.

Then he wondered about his own involvement, his own dreams in his house where Reynard Malders had entered into his room. What did Reynard Malders really mean when he said, '...you will never know what fate is, until you have gone through what I've gone through, suffered what I have suffered, and transcended the chains of death as I have'? He still didn't have an answer for that.

All the while, Jacob looked at Noll, trying to gauge his reaction as he stood there in front of him but didn't find any. Noll wasn't showing much to his observant eye; he didn't see a bead of sweat on Noll, not on his temples, no wet patches under the armpits of his coat; he didn't see the slightest tremble in his knees or hands; he didn't see any sign of fear in Noll. He had to admit, the kid had one hell of a poker face, whether he had fears or not. Then he looked at Noll's face again, concentrating on his eyes; behind the kid's stoic demeanor, he saw an unnaturally pale blue in his pupils, and he knew Noll had suffered a trauma much like his. The death of a brother, perhaps; the death of a brother, like the death of a wife, was a horror few could imagine. But beyond Noll's steely gaze, he noticed that his eyes were glazed over like his own. Something happened to him. Something bad.

He sat up and faced him. "Noll, now that I've told you my deepest darkest secret, will you be so kind as to tell me yours?"

"You already know how Gene died; there's no need to draw it out for you."

"I know that, but your precautions last night have me worried; you wouldn't have asked Father Carmyne to do a blessing on your house if it didn't have anything to do with this case, am I right? Beyond your dream about Gene, what else did you dream of?"

"It's none of your business."

"I think it is our business, Noll," said Lin; the kid glared back at the man, who was now seated at the computer station. "Yesterday, you woke up breaking the windshield of Father Carmyne's car with your PK. I taught you how to control your PK at all times. What made you lose control?"

"I'm asking the questions, not you."

"Lin has a point, Noll," said Martin. "When your mother and I heard glass breaking, we thought you had an accident; we thought something happened to you. And the fact that you asked Father Carmyne to do a blessing on a house that isn't haunted is telling. Usually, a blessing is issued in a haunted house to make something get out of it, but your precautions last night told me you want to keep something outside from getting in. Care to tell us what happened to you in that car?"

Noll felt singled out. If there's one thing he hated more than wasting time, it was people ganging up on him, second-guessing him and overruling him and getting on his nerves. So he gave them the short-hand version. "I had a dream, that's all."

"More like a nightmare, if it was enough to excite your PK and raise your precautions." (Noll didn't say anything.) "Noll, I told you before, no more secrets; as a father, I know I shouldn't pry into anything that makes you uncomfortable, despite what your mother might say,"—that earned him a glare from his wife, but he took it in stride—"but in this case, untold secrets can kill. What did you dream of in that car?"

Noll sighed. "I guess I have no choice. I dreamed of Reynard Malders entering through the door of my room."

All color drained out of Mai at that; trouble always had a way of sniffing her out, even when it was sniffing out someone else.

Martin looked at Mai, then back at him and said, "Were you alone in that dream?"

"Mai was not in my dream."

"Then who was in you dream?"

"Only me and Reynard."

Silence. Then the distant patter of rain over the roof of the library echoed through the arcading above their heads like the distant beats of war drums from afar.

"Noll, you're doing what I told you not to do; you're obsessing over this case. Don't turn this into an obsession. Believe me, you don't want to go there. Is that clear?"

Noll nodded yes, much to Mai's astonishment.

Then the door to the outside opened, revealing Bert walking in with damp clothes, a dripping umbrella and squeaking shoes against the floor that left wet footprints. He had his long coat bundled under his arm. "Man, you guys wouldn't believe how fast that shower came over. But don't worry, Noll; I stowed the camera in here," and he unwrapped the bundle and produced the camera, unbroken and dry.

"Good. Oh, and Mr. Grendal, does this floor have any equipment we could use?"

"Yeah, it's in the back at the end of the bookshelves," and Bert, followed by Noll and Lin, walked into the alley of shelves and found a thirty inch TV, the big boxy kind that weighed over sixty pounds; it took Lin and Bert to lift it up while Noll pushed a trolley under it.

Mai got up from her seat and went over to get the cables and plugins needed to turn the old TV on. Luella, Martin and Madoka watched Mai as she helped Lin and Bert set everything up; no wonder Noll hired her as an assistant. She must really know how to earn her keep, since they knew Noll to be a demanding employer. When Mai was done, she sat back in her chair and watched her boss finish the wiring; for some reason, she thought she was forgetting something, but she didn't know what.

Noll wired the camera to the console of the TV, turned on the TV and was about to turn on the camera when Bert said, "Oh, and Noll, the camera was still on when I found it, so I turned it off. Is that all right with you?"

"It's fine. Just as long as you didn't erase the recording."

The recording? thought Mai. Then it hit her, and she panicked standing up like a rocket off the launch pad. "No, no, it's not fine!"

Noll looked at her like she had grown a mustache. "And why is that?"

She grew redder by the second, reverting back to her Japanese without realizing it. "Naru, did you leave the camera on all night?"

"And what if I did?"

"You mean it was still recording?" (The kid in question looked at her with idiot indifference.) "Naru, I was undressing, you pervert!"

For a moment, Mai's outburst left Noll tongue-tied, which was quite an achievement in itself, but he pulled it to together with an all-knowing smirk saying, "There's no need to worry, Mai. I'll just fast-forward through it, because it doesn't interest me at the moment."

"At the moment? When will it interest you, when you're back in your stupid office without a case to go over? I can't believe you!"

Bert and Jacob sniggered a bit, even when they didn't know what she was saying; just the look of a sixteen-year-old girl having one of those quarrels with her boyfriend was funny enough. It reminded them of their own wives. But one glare from Mai stopped the sniggers.

Noll sighed again. Girls. Why do they have to have such violent mood-swings?

But before it went out of hand, Luella said, more experienced in this area, "Mai, what's the matter?"

Mai blushed. She didn't want to tell.

"Come on, we are women, you and I; I'll try my best to understand."

Mai sighed, then said in English, "Naru left cahmehra on all night." She still left out the 'undressing' part, though.

"Darling, don't take it too hard. Noll hardly ever forgets anything; the fact that you made him forget something as simple as turning off the camera tells me that he truly cares about you." Noll was about to say something, but Luella overrode him. "Even when he's not willing to admit it. Trust me, I know these things, because I've been married to someone a bit like Noll for over twenty years," nodding to her husband beside her.

Now almost everyone sniggered; even Lin couldn't suppress a smile. And a once-fuming Mai calmed down enough to take her seat again, albeit at the expense of Martin and Noll. But Martin took it in stride, whereas Noll glared at her mother.

"Can we move on already?" The sniggering stopped; when they assented, Noll turned the camera on and pushed the rewind button. It took a while to rewind all the way, since it had been recording for over ten hours straight. It rewound through everything, including the 'undressing' scene, in which Mai was fiddling around with her bra strap; Mai couldn't watch it, though. It was too embarrassing. She laid her head on the table enduring the torture and fuming at Madoka, Bert and Jacob who were struggling to hold in their laughter, while Luella got up, went over and patted Mai on the back of her shoulder. A few minutes later, Noll pressed the stop button and said, "It's safe, Mai; you can look up now."

Mai glared hellfire at him, wishing she had brought a hidden camera and stowed it away in his room while he was undressing, so she could blackmail him with it. Maybe even gain leverage on him the way Masako could with his identity. That's two things she could use against him.

On the screen was the refrigerator with the letter magnets on it, as the camera rested on the kitchen countertop. The camera was switched to night-vision, so the glow of the camera's bulbs lit the refrigerator like a ghost. Noll and Mai weren't in the screenshot, so they must be behind the kitchen countertop.

Noll said, "In this video, Mai and I were speaking in Japanese. Since I'm assuming none of you are proficient in the language, I will translate all my questions into English for you to understand. Gene didn't put his answers in Japanese, though; he put them in English as you will see. But you don't have to translate what you said, Mai, since your questions don't really matter."

Mai glared hellfire at him, thinking, I will get even with you, Naru; just wait, and I WILL get even with you, you narcissistic bastard!

Noll said, translating, "Gene, if you are here, try moving those letters again. Why are you here?"

(Luella and Martin inhaled at Gene's name.)

"Wait a minute, Naru, is Gene actually here?"

"Shhh! Just wait and see what happens."

And they waited, all of them. One minute... Two minutes... Three minutes. No movement.

He translated again. "I know you can hear me, Gene. Did you move those letters last night?"

Three more minutes. No movement.

Noll waited before translating, "Did you have anything to do with Mai coming here?"

Another three minutes. At first, nothing. Then those letters, two of them, slid out from the column of letters to form an answer. It spelled:

NO.

Everyone except Noll and Mai shifted in their seats, Lin and Madoka looking over at Noll to see his reaction but didn't find any. As for Noll's parents, they both gaped in disbelief; to know Gene is here in England, let alone in the Davis household where Noll had revealed the tragedy to them, shook Luella and Martin down to their weary nerves. Luella sat there motionless and staring at the letters on the screen, saying under her breath, "Oh my God."

"It's all right, Luella," said Martin.

Then Noll translated again, "I found a sheet of paper torn from what I assume was Mr. Meiler's diary on the table back in the library. Did you put it there?"

The two letter slid back to the column of letters, and three others took their place, spelling out:

YES.

The humor dropped from Jacob face as he gaped for the second time today, staring at the letters; he thought he was in a dream and had to pinch himself to know he was still sane. Though he had ten-ten vision, he still couldn't believe his eyes.

Sweet mother of Jesus, thought Bert, at a loss for words.

The video kept playing and Noll kept translating. "I'm assuming you left Mai to assist me in this case?" said Noll. Then those letters circled round a few times and rejoined to form the same answer, which was yes. Then he waited for a time, then translated, "Do you know who the other two murderers are?"

And immediately, the three letters went back into the column, and two letters took their place. They spelled out:

NO.

Well, at least he tried. But he pressed on and translated some more, "I had a nightmare during your trip to Japan, in which you were killed in a hit-and-run by a woman driving a car. Can you describe in any way what that woman looked like? And if so, tell me."

Luella and Martin, Madoka and Lin, Jacob and Bert, they all held their breaths while waiting for an answer. And waited. And waited. One minute... Two minutes... Three minutes. Nothing. But just as they were about to exhale, those letters moved again to the column, as other letters swirled around to form a word or two. The first word said:

BRUNET.

"Brunette?" said Noll in translation. "You're talking about a brunette?"

But the letters did not form into a yes or a no. The letters kept swirling, some letters returning to the column while others stayed in position. The second word had a space in it for some reason:

LIBRA Y.

"Libray? Is that a name or a nickname? Or is that a place?" The kid found translating this part a bit embarrassing.

This time, just the R letter moved, switching back and forth between B and A, and A and Y repeatedly as if to make Noll see, which made him feel like an idiot.

"You mean ah librahry?" said Mai, translating and irritating Noll.

Then those letters moved again, exchanging with the ones in the column to form another answer:

YES, MAI.

Noll glared at her.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, as she glared back at him. Did you see that, Naru? Did you see what I did? Cause if you did, then I think I just proved you wrong. My questions DO matter! I bet you're jealous of me, aren't you? But when she thought of Ms. Gavvers at the reception desk, she couldn't smile anymore. Did she really do that to Gene? But... but there's no way... Is there?

Noll pressed the pause button. "I hope this clears things up. Mrs. Gavvers fulfills both descriptions, being a brunette and a librarian. Now I am not saying that she planned to kill Gene outright, following Reynard's orders; in fact, she might not have been aware of her actions until it was too late, but I need to interview her to make sure, and I want everyone here when that happens."

Luella listened in horror at her son's cold words as if she heard them from the mortician. "Noll, how can you lay such an accusation on her?"

"The letters speak for themselves."

"Those letters form only vague descriptions," said Maritn, "not names that can be verified by records. Your reasoning is faulty. Your mother and I personally met Somina Gavvers before you ever met her, and I know she's not the kind that would do such a thing."

"Are you sure? She may not have been aware of her actions at the time."

"Noll, if you haven't realized by now, she is one of my friends," said Madoka, clenching her fist at his brazen accusation. "She's the reason I went to Japan; she bought me a plane ticket to go there. I don't know what makes you think she had anything to do with Gene's death, and frankly I don't want to know."

"Then how do you know she didn't?"

Madoka looked at him, speechless.

Noll continued, "Did she ever buy herself a plane ticket to Japan?"

"Once, but—"

"When?"

She paused, looking at him and thinking of how to answer him without pissing him off more. "It was in August of last year, but—" (And without warning, he went toward the door.) "Noll, wait a minute. It's not what you think."

But he said, as the horrible images of Gene's death invaded his mind, "I'll find out, anyway. Even if I have to beat it out of her."

Everybody stood up.

"Noll, for God's sake, listen to yourself!" said Luella; Noll stopped at the door. "You're not thinking straight, I can tell." Silence. "It's Gene, isn't it?"

"Mother, I don't want to talk about it. Not now."

"But I can tell his death has affected you more than you're willing to admit, more than you know."

Noll was about to say something when Martin added, "Noll, listen to me if you won't listen to your mother. Let Gene go."

Noll turned around and looked at his father with shock etched onto his face. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't find the words to say it.

Martin sighed, looking to Jacob and then back at Noll. "I feared this would happen. Noll, I didn't want you on this case to begin with, especially for your mother's sake, and in light of Gene's death, I should never have let you take it. And I blame myself for that. But since you were on it, and that you've pushed it farther along than anyone here ever could, I can't afford to drop you from it. But listen to me. Don't make this case any more personal than it already is."

"I can't. How can you expect me to not to?"

Luella looked at her son in horror; she had never seen Noll act so impulsively in her life. And that brought back many memories of Noll and Gene performing magic tricks for her, floating things and reading people's minds. She remembered the way only a mother could all the little mixups those two caused when people couldn't tell them apart. She could remember the pranks they pulled on each other, on Madoka but mostly on Lin to the delight of herself and Martin. She could remember them becoming hometown heroes after saving the mayor's son, the famous Gene and Noll, the psychic duo, the wonderful magical twins. Those days were magical, but it seemed to her that Noll had lost the magic when Gene died, and when the magic's gone part of her world went with it. She feared Noll had lost more of his world than her motherly love could refill, and that scared her, making her cry.

"Noll, I know exactly what you're feeling," said Martin, hugging his wife close and letting her drain her tears onto his shoulder. "You are not alone in your pain. When Luella received all those morbid things in her mail and was stalked last year, I wanted nothing more than to kill the bastard that ever dared to advance on her; and when Gene died, I felt like killing myself. Mr. Meiler here lost his wife and both partners. Father Carmyne lost his wife and daughter. This case has touched all of us in ways few could imagine. But don't let Gene's death cloud your thoughts in vengeance. We're not here to avenge, we're here to save lives."

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

"I didn't mean to—"

"I know; your mother and I both know. I'm not angry at you; I'm just worried, that's all. It's just we're not as strong as you, Noll. Most of us here still need time to grieve, though this case eats up most of our time to do just that. Look, I know what you are trying to do; you're trying to be strong for us, and God knows we need that strength to get us through this. But we need more than that. We need time, Noll, time to heal our wounds. Do you understand?"

Noll nodded that he did.

"Then I hope," continued Martin, "that you would let us be for a few moments; just as you needed time by yourself to recover, your mother and I need time alone, also."

Noll nodded again and took his leave through the door, followed by the rest.

Bert said, "If you need anything, we'll be here, all right?"

"Thank you."

"And don't worry, Mr. Davis," said Madoka. "I'll straighten him out for you."

"I know you will."

"Ahnd I will help," added Mai.

Martin looked at Mai, then said, "You think you can handle Noll?"

Mai blushed. "Ah... I will try."

"Then don't be too hard on him," said Luella, wiping away her tears. "Noll suffers as much as anybody else, you know."

"Don't wohrry, I won't," she said, and they all walked out; but once the door closed behind them and they were out of earshot, and before Madoka got out a word, Mai let it all pour onto him in a flurry of Japanese again. "Naru, how can you be so mean?"

"I wasn't trying to be, Mai."

"Then how come you made her cry like that? How could you be so selfish? And how could you be so stupid, you—?"

"Now no more yelling between the two of you," said Jacob, separating them the way a grandfather settles a dispute between siblings.

"Try saying that to Mai," said Noll.

Mai stuck her tongue out at him.

Jacob said, "Mai, what were you saying?"

"Naru is so cold; he's so mean when he made Luellah cry like thaht."

The old man looked at her, then at Noll. "Okay, I'll be fair here. Neither of you want to incur Martin's anger, should he find out that any of you let your feelings get in the way of working together in a case. It is my experience that personal matters be put aside." Then he looked hard at Noll, saying, "Noll, you have done nothing wrong in that matter, and no one should convince you otherwise, since you take it upon yourself to direct this case, and that we are dependent on your insight.

"But even so, you need discretion when revealing your arguments to your family, especially when it deals with recent deaths in the family. I know you're trying to be truthful, but sometimes the truth hurts, and for some of us, it hurts a hell of a lot more than others. I know this, because when you asked the hard questions about my visions, I thought I was going to die, and I very nearly did. You scared the hell out of everyone, including me. Don't you ever ever do that, not to anyone, and especially not to your parents, is that clear?"

Mai, Madoka, Lin and Bert looked at the old man in amazement.

But Noll said, "Mr. Meiler, I don't need a lecture from you to know that."

"Naru, you ah so stubbohn," said Mai. "Even I ahndahstood thaht."

"That's good, Mai," and he smirked an evil smirk at her. "I was beginning to think you were a hopeless case."

"Naru!" (Again she slipped into her Japanese.) "Take that back, or I'll—"

"What? Tell my parents? I'd like to see you try," and he walked off.

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you!" and she stomped toward him, getting ready to kick him into next week with the hardest kick she could muster. "Come back here!"

Madoka prevented her, though.

"Mai, stay with Lin and Madoka; I need to check something out down stairs."

"But Naru, I'm not—"

"I mean it, Mai."

Mai glared at him. "I'm not letting you win this—"

But Noll kept on walking.

Then Madoka said, "Wait, Noll, what are you going to—?"

"I won't do anything to Ms. Gavvers. I just need to see something," and he disappeared down the stairs without looking like he was going to murder someone. At least, they hoped so. Mai was about to have the last word, but Noll beat her to the punch. "And no, you're not going with me. I won't let your recklessness compromise this case," to which Mai was fuming.

Jacob sighed. "Now what's he talking about?"

Mai said in English but thinking in Japanese, "Naru is sahch an ahsshole." She then covered her mouth.

"Does Noll always treat you like he's an... asshole?"

"You hahve no ideah."

"I'll second that," said Madoka, looking on.

"I'll third that," said Bert. "Only I call him a prick, instead."

Lin just shook his head and walked off after him. He had better things to do. Like keeping Noll safe from himself.

"Hey, where are you going?" said Bert.

"I won't let Noll's own recklessness compromise this case, either," he said, following his young charge down the stairs. When he reached the ground floor some three-hundred steps later, he kept to the landing, staying out of sight of Noll while keeping an eye on him. He saw Noll walking aimlessly through the lobby area, looking at the surroundings, probably thinking. What are you thinking, Noll?

Noll was thinking of the death of Lean Gordon, and of his father's account of what happened when he heard the scream and rushed in to see no sign of him anywhere. Except for his broken glasses. How did Gordon die? Where was his body taken? Why was he singled out for death, while Jacob and Father Carmyne were left to live another day? He didn't know that either. At least, not yet.

He wandered through the lobby, circling around the perimeter, ignoring the girls looking at him like he was fresh meat. Driving away the horrors of Gene's death from his mind, he stood stock still and looked at the far wall to the left, where the photo was taken of the blood-stained message on the night of Gordon's death, then at the entrance of the library and then at the rain pattering on the window, forcing his eyes and intellect to 'pierce the veil' (*) of obscurity that clouded that awful night. He used his imagination, a power everyone had, but a power that he'd honed from early childhood to a potent degree.

He remembered on the night his father left for the library that it started raining; and if it was raining at home, it was raining at the library. So there must have been few wet footprints near the entrance doors at closing time, as the patrons went out of them instead of coming in. Also, since it was raining, the patter of the drops would muffle Gordon's scream from a building or two away, distorting the scream that many witnesses heard, most likely from outside. Also, when libraries close, all the doors were locked and only the librarian with the keys (in this case, Lean Gordon) could admit anyone in (in this case, Martin). So what happened between closing the doors and Martin's arrival? How did Martin get in, if Lean Gordon died and never unlocked the doors to admit him in? Now there's the rub.

Noll looked at Ms. Gavvers working away with book returns. Maybe she was there as Gordon's assistant, staying behind because she had things to do; maybe she was both a witness and an accomplice to the disappearance of Lean Gordon. Maybe she let Martin in and told him a slanted version of what happened. Maybe she was possessed at the time by none other than Reynard himself. Or maybe, she wasn't there at all. He didn't know, but he'll find out before interviewing her.

Noll crouched down and ran his fingers across the polished tiles and closed his eyes, focusing on that night. And through the long black tunnel of eternity, he opened his eyes and beheld the library exactly as it was on that night three years ago. The patter of rain formed the backdrop of the emptying lobby, as the last patrons left through the entrance doors, umbrellas in their hands, before the doors themselves closed shut, echoing through the silence. Noll surveyed the area. There were no wet footprints anywhere on the floor, so the patrons and workers had walked out of the library, nobody coming in. He looked at the coat rack to the left of the doors and saw two umbrellas hanging there, so two people were still here. He knew Lean Gordon was still here, so who was the other one?

Lean Gordon himself, a gaunt-faced man with a white mustache, long white hair reaching to his shoulders and his trademark round-lens glasses, was at the reception desk, taking out and organizing his papers. He looked at his watch and then went over to a bookshelf to re-shelve the last books on the cart.

"I said I'll re-shelve them tomorrow," came a female voice from behind Noll; and there she was, Somina Gavvers, coming to him. She was the same brunette Noll met yesterday, in her early twenties and wearing glasses. She must have been a college helper back then; maybe she wore contact lenses now.

"Yes, but there's no time like the present, as Thomas Jefferson always said."

"He didn't say that."

"He said something like it."

Somina looked at him, crossing her arms around her chest. "You're staying late again, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid so, yes. And no, I won't let you in on it."

"But, Mr. Gordon—"

"No means no. You got your whole life ahead of you; I won't complicate it by involving you in something like this. It's too dangerous."

She looked at him for a while, then said, "It's those killings in Japan, isn't it?"

"No, it's the killings that happened in England."

"Maybe they have something to do with the ones in Japan."

Gordon sighed yet again, it looked like. "There you go again, making unverified connections."

"Why are you always doubting me?"

"This has nothing to do with you, period. Remember, curiosity killed the cat."

"Looks like it'll kill you before it kills me," she said. "Look at yourself; you stay here until midnight or later, you rarely ever take any breaks, and even when you take them, you barely eat anything. You look terrible; you should look at yourself in the mirror, seriously."

Silence; nothing from Gordon.

"At least let me help you."

"No."

"But—"

"No means no, Ms. Gavvers."

The woman pouted but relented. "Fine, have it your way," and she left him, taking her umbrella off the coat rack, opening it and saying at the door. "But be careful; there are a lot of crazy people nowadays."

"I know, and I will," and with the closing of the door, the old man was all alone. For the next thirty minutes, he finished re-shelving the books and was now tidying things up here and there throughout the library; all the while, the rain outside never ceased. Now he waited at the reception desk, peering through the large windows at the rain.

He didn't have to wait long. Someone knocked at the doors, and to Noll's surprise, in stepped none other than Martin, carrying an umbrella dripping wet; something wasn't right. His father said he entered the library after hearing Mr. Gordon scream, but his psychometry told him otherwise. Did his father lie to him? Why should he lie? It didn't make sense; he'd never do that.

Noll concentrated, keeping his vision intact for as long as he could muster.

After Mr. Gordon closed the doors, Martin hung his umbrella on the coat rack, and the two men shook hands and set to work. Both men sat at a lounge, setting their papers on the coffee table; a few of the lights were turned off, but most of them were still on, only set to dim to save electricity during the closing hours. Mr. Gordon turned on the lamp on the coffee table for them to see their work. And already Noll spotted something out of the ordinary; when Martin walked to the lounge, his steps never squeaked on the tiles, leaving no wet footprints on them. That meant that somehow Martin never ventured out in the rain. Then he looked at the coat rack, at the two umbrellas hanging on it, one of which was wet; and by God, the wet one was the same one Ms. Gavvers used when she went out. Did she give it to him while he waited at the door? How did Martin even reach the door without getting wet? Something wasn't right.

Mr. Gordon talked first, as he seemed accustomed to do, explaining his research. He said, "I'm sorry, Martin; progress has come real slow the last couple of days. I haven't much to point out tonight."

"Then tell me what you do have, and we'll start from there."

"Well," he said, scratching at his head, "let's focus on those three messages again, the ones from Father Carmyne, Evan Moore and Jacob Meiler, particularly at Evan Moore's. The more I think about Evan Moore's lines, the more it seems to me to be something other than a suicide note made by someone suffering from insanity."

"What do you mean?" said Martin.

"I believe his note was a warning for others to read; and with the other two messages, I think it forms something of a..."—he paused, thinking of his words—"something you might hear from the pulpit. I know it sounds strange."

"You're on the right track, which is good."

"Oh, really? What did you find out?"

"I found this," and he pulled from his coat pocket a sheet of lined paper that seemed to be torn on one edge and placed it on the table. "This paper belongs to a notebook of some kind. Now look at this sheet and tell me what you see."

Mr. Gordon did just that and said, "Names; these are names of... Good God, these are the names of the victims from the murders! Where on earth did you find this?"

"I found it in a wastebasket in a park not too far from here."

"It looks dog-eared and yellowed; it must be very old."

"Indeed, and it shows the names of every victim killed in the last thirty years," then he looked at Mr. Gordon hard in the face. "And I have every reason to believe that you have kept it somewhere here on the premises."

Noll couldn't believe his ears; what was going on here? But it only got weirder.

"WHAT? Good God, Mr. Davis, this is no time for joking!"

"I'm not joking, Mr. Gordon; I'm deadly serious," said Martin, standing up and glaring down at the older man; and something just happened, something that took Noll completely off guard. His voice changed! Then Noll knew, though he still could not believe it; whatever Mr. Gordon was talking to wore his father's clothes and his father's face, but he wasn't Martin. He was the impostor.

Mr. Gordon stood up and edged away from the impostor. "Who are you? Good God, who are you? You're not the Martin I know!"

The impostor looked at the man, never taking his eyes off him. "You know who I am," it said, its voice turning into a scraggly baritone, "though I can't blame you for not recognizing me, since it's been years since our last parting."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! Maybe this will help you remember," and before Gordon's eyes, before Noll's eyes, the wrinkles on Martin's face smoothed over, the gray hairs turned into a light brown, and his body slimmed into the limber form of a much younger man, and the clothes changed their shape into the white suit of Reynard Malders. But of all this, Noll couldn't take his eyes off Reynard's face that had been a mystery up until now. Instead of a faceless head hidden in shadow, the face looked exactly like—

Mr. Gordon mumbled something, barely able to speak after witnessing such a grotesque transformation.

"What? What did you say?" said Reynard. "Speak up, so I can hear you."

"M-m-m-m-monster! Y-y-you're a monster! Get away from me!" he said, edging closer to the reception desk on shaking spaghetti legs; he reached behind himself while still looking in horror at the thing in front of him, felt for the alarm button below the counter and was about to press it—

When, quick as a flash, the spirit was now gripping his wrist, glaring the most evil glare that could possibly come from an evil face. "You think I'm a monster, eh?" and with a squeeze of his grip, he crushed the insides of the wrist into a swollen pulp, making the old man scream in agony. Then he threw him hard against the tiles some ten feet away.

Mr. Gordon was barely conscious, getting ready to pass out where he lay trying to get up. The lenses of his glasses were cracked, falling off his face.

But Reynard wasn't done with him yet. He went over, picked the librarian up by the collar and held him close to his face with one arm, looking into his glazed eyes. "You have something that belongs to me, a special black notebook. Where is it?"

Mr. Gordon's voice came out slurred. "I-I-I don't know."

"You better not be lying to me," he roared, seeming to shake the floor beneath Noll's feet. "If you're lying, then I swear on all the lives of everyone on this fucking godless earth you'll beg me to kill you!"

"I-I-I d-don't know."

"Then look into my eyes and see what you'll find," and his eyes glowed ever brighter, that hellish fire that bore through his victim's soul, holding him as his body twisted in agony and his scream echoed through the library like the deafening clang of a giant church bell tolling for Gordon's death; he kept screaming till his voice was hoarse, till it choked and clogged and his mouth coughed up blood; blood trickled out under his eyes, out of his nose and ears, a widening pool of blood collecting below his dangling feet. Gordon's body kept wriggling for a few moments till it finally went limp.

Then the pool of blood on the floor seeped into the grout between the tiles, getting smaller and smaller till not a speck of it was left. No stain, nothing. And a moment later, Noll looked and saw letters bleeding through a plastered section of wall thirty feet above the floor, which read:

YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE.

YOU CAN SEEK, BUT YOU CANNOT FIND.

Then he looked back at Reynard and found no sign of Gordon anywhere, except his glasses, which was stamped under Reynard's foot.

But it only got weirder.

A moment later, another knock came at the entrance door, followed by Martin's frantic voice as he wretched at the door handles. "Mr. Gordon, Mr. Gordon, can you hear me?" There was a click and a grinding of the latch till the door handle gave way, and Martin entered. Then the first thing he saw was the message in blood on the wall; then he kept calling out to him, seemingly oblivious to Reynard standing just a few feet from him. Then his father picked up Gordon's mangled glasses, still oblivious to the horror that was near him.

Noll couldn't believe it; can't he see Reynard there beside him? He was about to warn his father when something got his attention. It was Reynard, white suit stained with blood, the maniacal toothy grin that literally stretched from ear to ear and the glowing fiery eyes—

And those eyes were looking at him!

"It only happens when you're not looking, Noll," it said, and the unspeakable horror glared and leered at him, walking toward him, getting closer and closer; and before Noll knew it, he felt sluggish and drained, barely able to stand on his feet as he turned around to run through the slow, slushy horror of a nightmare. And before he knew it, he felt himself falling and falling and falling, going down into the endless void of eternity called unconsciousness.

He stayed there for the next fifteen minutes.

He came to with the sound of his name ringing in his ears and a sharp pain across his cheek.

"Noll, Noll! Damn it, Noll, wake up!" said Lin, shaking the kid back into consciousness.

Everyone exhaled when he opened his eyes, several of which breathed out, "Thank God," as well as other oaths of relief. A large crowd of students was gathered around, looking on with horrified faces. Lin was there, along with Madoka, Mai, Jacob, Bert, Luella and Martin looking just as horrified. And equally horrified was the librarian, Ms. Gavvers. Even Father Carmyne was there, just as horrified as the rest.

"Where am I?" said Noll.

"You're on the ground," said Lin. "It took us fifteen minutes wake you up after you fainted. Did you use psychometry (**)?"

"I did. You don't want to know what I saw."

Bert and Lin raised him up by the arms and led him to a couch nearby for him to sit in, which he did. Jacob showed his old credentials and shooed the onlookers away, so they could talk in private.

"Man, you scared the holy shit out of us," said Bert. "I almost called in an ambulance to take you to the hospital. What the hell happened to you?"

"I saw what happened to Lean Gordon."

Luella and Martin looked at each other, then at Noll again. Martin said, "Tell us everything, Noll, everything that happened."

Noll looked at them as if to say, 'Are you serious?' And they were, so he took a minute to compose himself and spun the bloody tale.

(To be continued...)

A/N: Hey there... Sorry it's been so long... Preparing for exams have been kicking my ass for weeks now... But anyway, hre's the next installment of The Whitechapel Case... I had a lot of fun with this chapter, so I hope you had a lot of fun reading it... I think my favorite part of it was when Noll noticed that Reynard was looking at him... Brrrrrrrrrr... Sweet dreams... ( ^_^ )

(* Arthur Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear "Epilogue". See The Valley of Fear on Wikipedia.)

(** Psychometry. See Psychometry (paranormal) on Wikipedia.)