Chapter 2: 1

It was a year later before Lynn had another long conversation with Arthur. 

Lynn hadn’t found any traces. If he had found any evidence, it could have led him to something. But even now, the case remained unsettled. There was no corpse, no photos, no DNA evidence. They had just vanished into thin air, adding to Oak Town’s list of unsolved cases.

In just one year, most people had forgotten its existence. There were some people who treated it as an outlandish tale and went on with their normal lives.

 

 

But that strange body had indeed existed, and now and then it would pop up in Lynn’s mind in a strange way, making him tense.

After that incident, he and Arthur met a couple more times. Except for the first two interrogations, during which nothing had been found and Lynn had been arrogantly humiliated, they had crossed paths regularly, as people living in a small town were expected to do. 

He ran into Arthur at the mayor’s charity banquet, occasionally bumped into him in the supermarket, or sometimes saw him coming from the opposite street, et cetera. The other man always maintained a polite attitude, and Lynn would also return the same politeness. They both maintained a social distance that was hostile but you couldn’t nitpick anything about it.

 

That guy seemed to be quite sincere in living in the small town for a long time. As for Lynn, every time he saw Arthur, his nerves would immediately become tense, just like how they used to when he had still been in the Major Crimes Unit.

When Lynn came home, Chrissie was in the living room, fiddling with a cardboard building she had made in craft class. It looked like a house with a garden. The craft had not been completed yet, but from the prototype, it could be seen that it was very neat, detailed, and methodical.

Lynn couldn’t believe that his daughter was so dexterous with her hands.

 

Sensing him coming back, Chrissie looked up and smiled at him. Then she jumped down the chair and ran over. Lynn gave her a hug.

Even now, she didn’t talk much. After her mother had died, she had suffered from aphasia for a time and used to spend the entire day only playing with a fluffy monkey Kelly had given to her. It wasn’t until she had come to this town that she had slowly separated from it and started talking.

Chrissie had blond hair and green eyes. She was a beautiful little girl, but she always looked younger than she actually was. That was probably because she always had a cowering expression and a timid posture.

 

Lynn knew that she had not been like this before, and no girl had been more lively than her. But Kelly’s untimely passing had wounded her deeply. She didn’t know how to deal with the sudden cruelty of the world, and she shut herself up to deal with it. 

When Lynn had moved to the small town, he had thought that the pace of life here might be more suitable for her. When he had worked in a large city, he had constantly been preoccupied with endless cases and had no time to care for her.

The small town was very nice. Everyone knew each other. There were good schools and nursing homes. Life was leisurely and slow. People seemed to not know what crime was.

Sure enough, in recent years, she had slowly regained her vitality like a flower that had received enough care. Lynn looked at the cardboard house with appreciation. It was simple and childish, but he could see the maker’s earnestness and meticulousness poured onto it.

“This is really amazing,” he walked over and said with admiration, “My little girl can be an architect.” 

Chrissie smiled shyly.

“Most of it was done by Krystyn. We worked in pairs in the craft class. She’s very smart.”

—Although the peaceful life in the small town had been of great help in healing Chrissie, Lynn would not assume that Chrissie’s recovery was entirely due to him. A large part of it was thanks to that child named Krystyn.

Chrissie was too reserved and didn’t get along closely enough with the other children in the school. About a year ago, she had begun to frequently mention Krystyn, a classmate in her school. Later, no matter what they were doing, the two of them were always sticking together. 

After finally socializing with a friend, the child’s eyes seemed brighter and more passionate. Her trauma was slowly healing, and for him, there was nothing happier than witnessing that.

Lynn had always wanted to visit the girl’s house to express his gratitude and his desire for further socialization. However, he had never gotten around to it because he hadn’t the slightest idea what to say to her and her family.

 

He was good at cracking cases and committing raids, but he had absolutely no idea about what he should say when he was socializing with the parents of his daughter’s friends.

“Daddy,” said Chrissie, “there’s a garden party in school next week.” 

“I heard Mrs. Allison mention it once and she said she was looking forward to it. But what exactly is it?”

“Well, something new to pass the time at school, I suppose,” Chrissie said, and Lynn knew that she had picked up this kind of way of speaking from her friend Krystyn. Although he had never met her, Lynn could tell from her daughter’s tone that the other girl was extremely witty and sarcastic.

“It’s a garden party, with all sorts of games and prizes,” said Chrissie, “The children form groups of two, and by the way, Krystyn and I are in a group.”

Lynn nodded in acknowledgment. She was always in a group with Krystyn. 

“The school hopes that our parents will attend the garden party and participate in the games,” Chrissie said, “If you earn the most points at the garden party, you will win. According to Krystyn, the garden party is held to promote communal harmony.”

Lynn was a little astonished by how much that child knew at such a young age. But of course, she was correct in what she had said. This kind of activity was a way for the school to deepen its relationship with the parents, making it easier to manage relationships and communicate with the parents.

“Can you go, Daddy?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” When children need their parents the most, how dare the parents be absent? 

And he was particularly interested in finding out more about Chrissie’s school life. He had relocated to the small town, yet he still showed too little concern for his child. With some guilt, Lynn acknowledged that he had never been particularly adept at conversing with other parents about parenting experiences or engaging in normal neighborhood activities. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, he knew in his heart that he was like a square peg in a round hole.

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The school’s garden party was well organized, and people from the whole town had participated. 

As Lynn stood at the door, watching the parents come and go with their children, he thought that this was really a happy and homey atmosphere, like the posters in the children’s clothing store on the theme of children, harmony, and care, all shiny and perfect.

“Hey, Officer Lynn,” a blonde woman greeted, “Are you going to the garden party with Chrissie? Hey, hello, you’re the prettiest little girl I’ve seen today.” She bent down to greet Chrissie, who smiled timidly.

“She’s so cute, I want to swallow her up in one go!” she said.

Lynn smiled at her. Since arriving in Oak Town, he had received several hints from Mrs. Allison that they could have a passionate relationship, making him not know what to do. 

He was undoubtedly single and had sexual needs like any other person, but she was already married. Her husband was the mayor of Oak Town and he was the town sheriff, so it was best not to have any relationships with her.

“Chrissie, you should say thank you to Mrs. Allison,” he said to the little girl.

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Allison,” the child whispered.

The two of them had never been able to find any common language. 

The blonde woman across the table smiled at Chrissie, then looked up, surveyed Lynn gently, and said, “Lynn, you really need to look after yourself… But forget it, it can be dangerous if you’re too handsome. I don’t want too many women glancing your way. There are enough of them already.”

“I think you overestimate me, Mrs. Allison…”

“Judy,” Mrs. Allison said. She had asked Lynn numerous times to simply address her by name, but Lynn always deliberately ignored it.

“Judy,” he said, smiling at her, but the next time they met, he would definitely call her Mrs. Allison again. 

“I really hope Chrissie and my Jack can be grouped together. Although a lot of people will be jealous of me and I should probably avoid some hostility for the sake of the art exhibition next week. For a handsome man like you, everything is worth it,” Mrs. Allison continued. The exhibition she was talking about was one she was hosting.

Lynn was at a loss for words. He felt that he should respond to her flirting, but he was still holding his daughter’s hand and his mind was blank.

“Is Mr. Allison here too?” He could only say this.

“He’ll be here for ten minutes and then he’ll leave,” Mrs. Allison said, “If the school hadn’t asked him to give a speech, to show how much the mayor cares for the children, he wouldn’t have made time to show up at Jack’s school even for a minute this year.” 

The subject had obviously upset her so much that she had no desire to do anything interesting. She waved her hand, bidding Lynn farewell, and went to take care of her youngest son.

“Chrissie?” Lynn said.

“Well, the groups are determined by drawing lots,” the little girl said. Her policeman father was obviously immediately able to grasp the point from the seemingly boring chatter. “Krystyn and I did some tampering, neither of us wanted to be grouped with anyone else.”

She looked up at him with pitiful eyes. She was very good at using this trick. 

“Am I holding back your chances of meeting beautiful women, Daddy?”

“I don’t need the chance to meet beautiful women, honey. Who did you hear that from?”

“Everyone says you’re the golden bachelor in town and you’re going to find a new mommy for me someday,” Chrissie whispered, “They say that a lot of people like you, and you’ll decide who you want to be with sooner or later.”

“I’m not looking for a new mother for you…” Lynn said, “Ah, good morning to you too, Gina. We’re off to draw lots.” He smiled at a single mother who greeted him with a look of anticipation and said she hoped they would be drawn into a group. 

“I really hope so, too,” Lynn said and watched her leave with a smile on his face. His face was sore from smiling all the way there. Although it was worth everything to accompany his daughter, he was not willing to imagine what might come next.

Looking up, he noticed that all of the kids at the garden party were mostly accompanied by their mothers. It was simply a paradise for women and children. He felt dizzy and missed his small office room beyond measure.

 

Still, he continued to exchange pleasantries with the mother across from him. Her hair was elaborately styled and probably cost hundreds of dollars, her nails were perfectly manicured, and her smile was sweet and dull like it had been manufactured.

This was his future life. He would get used to these social gatherings, the little flirtations, and being the center of gossip. 

Chrissie was worried that he would find her a new mother. Lynn didn’t think he was ready to date right now, but he knew that perhaps one day he would. Chrissie needed a new mother and a stable family. So, he would try to fall in love with the place—for God’s sake—and find someone with perfectly styled hair and manicured nails who spoke to him at every dinner about book clubs, new neighbors, or the attractive wife whose husband had cheated on her.

The noise of the garden party made his head ache faintly, but he bravely endured it and brought Chrissie to the stage to draw lots, while dealing with several dazzling smiles.

Lynn knew how to live in a small town, but… that didn’t mean that he didn’t feel bored when he had to smile all the time. The life he had once lived was like a cancer that had crept into his bones and would reappear from time to time, calling for something else.

He resolutely ignored it and took the slip of paper Chrissie gave him. The girl had a mysterious look on her face and Lynn wondered whether he should talk to her sometime about the issue of cheating being bad. 

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He had barely opened the paper slip when he heard a surprised squeal from Chrissie, “Krystyn!”

He turned his head and saw that his daughter was hugging another child. It was clear from the physical gestures alone how close the two were. It had only been a day since they had seen each other.

Lynn felt that her face looked familiar and thought that he must have seen the girl’s picture before. She was a very beautiful black-haired girl, and at first glance, he knew that she would be a great beauty in the future. She was a little taller than Chrissie, and she exuded a serene, refined air.

“Who did you draw, officer?” Mrs. Victor leaned over and asked. 

Lynn unfolded the lottery paper.

“It’s number 23, I’ll look for them,” he said dryly. In reality, he had actually already seen the number 23 on Krystyn’s chest. The two little girls had cheated quite successfully.

“Such a shame. I thought Anna had a chance to draw with Chrissie. She likes Chrissie very much.” The other party smiled.

“It’s really such a shame,” Lynn said. Nodding goodbye to her, he ended the conversation. 

“Hey, you’re Krystyn,” he said, greeting his daughter’s friend.

“Hello, Officer Lynn,” said the little black-haired girl, her tone polite.

Lynn smiled at her. He had never been good at getting along with children. When Kelly had been there, everything had been okay. When she had died, he had tried to be an understanding father but had always failed. Now, looking at someone else’s little girl, he simply didn’t know what to say next after saying hello.

He was counting on Krystyn’s mother to take charge of interacting with the children later on, while he stood by and watched. He just really, really hoped that the other party wouldn’t invite him to dinner at her house, to a party, or to a picnic together, and recommend book clubs and tennis clubs. He simply lacked the energy to deal with that right now. 

“Where’s your mother, Krystyn?” He asked.

Krystyn opened her eyes wide. “You don’t know?” she said.

 

“Know what?” Lynn said.

Krystyn turned her head and shouted, “Dad.” 

Lynn raised his head, and there stood Mr. Arthur, holding two ice creams in his hands, obviously speechless at what he was seeing.

He was wearing a fitting gray long-sleeved shirt and black pants. He was tall and slender, and he still had that look of detachment and indifference. It was no different from what he had seen in the interrogation room.

Krystyn ran over to take the ice creams from his hand, handed one to Chrissie, and then said to Arthur, “Chrissie and I are in a group, Dad.”

“When we get back home, we’ll discuss how you and Chrissie got into a group, dear young lady,” Arthur said coldly. 

Lynn suddenly realized why he thought the way Krystyn spoke had sounded a little familiar. Her way of speaking was not exactly the same but was quite similar to that man—that elegant suspect.

“You haven’t mentioned a word about your new friend and your new friend’s father, Krystyn,” Arthur said.

“Because I want to make friends, Dad, and don’t want to hear your unwarranted scolding.” For a child her age, she had quite an extensive vocabulary.

Chrissie asked in a low voice next to her, “Can I have ice cream, Daddy?” 

“Of course, my dear, of course.”

He stared at Arthur, the man on whom he had smelt such great danger. The other man also looked at him coldly.

Eventually, Arthur stepped forward, held out his hand, and greeted him, saying, “Hello, Officer Lynn, I didn’t expect we’d be in the same group.”

Lynn shook his hand and said, “Yeah, I didn’t expect that either.” 

“Oh my God, you two are a team?!” Mrs. Allison exclaimed from beside him. The two men turned their heads to look at her and she stood there with the look of someone who had seen the world’s saddest tragedy unfold.

“I’m sorry, I’m, I’m just so shocked…” she said.

“Believe me,” Lynn said seriously, “So am I.”

The two little girls chattered endlessly, ignoring the two dads behind them. 

They even had similar names, Lynn thought, one like an echo of the other. When they were together, even though they looked completely different, they were like twins; they fit together incredibly well.

He tried to listen to what they were saying, only to learn that they seemed determined to win the championship, which surprised him a little because he had never seen Chrissie talk so much or be so passionate about winning.

 

And the two fathers followed them with gloomy expressions, greeting countless school staff or housewives along the way. Seeing that they were a group, many people showed odd expressions, but Lynn felt that no one would feel more weird about it than he and Arthur.

He had wondered many times about what the scene would be like the next time he and Arthur met, but most of his imaginings had been about interrogation rooms, murder cases, and other such situations. He had never considered a lively garden party where they would both be busy looking after their children and making sure that they didn’t get diarrhea from eating too much ice cream. 

The garden party fitted its slogan well, with games for parents and children to play together and a scoring system aimed specifically for groups, not encouraging solo playing at all.

In front of them, Chrissie was talking about the father of another child—whom they both hated—who had come, and he was a master of the games. Krystyn said, “We’re going to be champs, of course. We’re not as skilled at making chocolate pies as their lovely mothers, but we’re definitely number one in shooting, hooping, and fishing for goldfish.”

“My chocolate pie isn’t too bad,” said Arthur.

Lynn glanced at him and wondered if he had a sense of humor, or if he really knew how to make chocolate pie at home. 

Krystyn looked back at him and said, “You don’t have to feel down. Those kids’ mothers have nothing else to do with their time other than to make chocolate pies, so it’s normal for you to lose a bit.”

He really knew how to make chocolate pie at home!

“They also know how to bake apple pies and lemon cookies,” Chrissie said.

“My apple pie is also good,” Arthur said. 

“I can fry eggs,” Lynn said.

“Ohhh, you definitely lose at cooking, Daddy,” said Chrissie.

“Just get used to it. My dad had never cooked before. In the past, he couldn’t even tell salt from sugar,” Krystyn said.

“Whose father doesn’t? Once he cooked boiled eggs, the eggs were undercooked, but he managed to bring in the fire brigade,” Chrissie said. 

“Hey, let’s not expose each other’s secrets, shall we?” Lynn said.

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Arthur next to him. The man was lowering his head and chuckling softly. He looked like a perfect stay-at-home dad.

When he laughed like that, Lynn thought, there was really no sign of danger or darkness on him at all.

The first game they played was duck hunting, a retro-style game where they shot floating tin ducks with a gun. Although they were made to look rusty, the ducks were equipped with a sensory device, which was not retro at all. The game was very immersive, with the prey divided into three different sizes, the small one being only the size of a toothpick. Maybe it had participated in the shooting game because it owed someone a favor. 

The children looked very serious as if they were facing a major sporting event with the fate of the world at stake.

In this game, the children first played a simpler version, and then the parents played a more difficult one. Their scores were then added together to calculate the total score.

 

Lynn observed from the back. The children scored a rare high score. Chrissie’s shooting skills were average, but Krystyn helped her sweep up all the ducks she could help.

“Wow, that’s our highest score so far!” The high school student in charge of the booth said with a bright smile, “No matter how you play in the end, you can definitely get a prize, here, take it!” 

She took a pair of bears from the back and handed them to the two girls. Chrissie clutched it tightly in her arms and Lynn thought to himself that he hadn’t seen his daughter smiling, with dimples like a flower and dazzling like the sun, in a really long time.

Krystyn handed her father the gun and said solemnly, “Please, don’t slack off a bit.”

Arthur stared at her for a while. Lynn observed the scene curiously, feeling that the father and daughter had obviously reached some agreement by communicating through their minds. Arthur nodded, and the little girl showed a delighted expression.

Lynn looked down and saw his own child looking at him expectantly as well. He said, “Your old man will do his best.” 

He glanced at Arthur, and the other person looked at him with his head tilted with a serious expression.

“Let’s divide the work?” Arthur suggested.

Lynn stretched out his hand and drew a line in the air, right in the middle of the booth, and then said, “You on your side, me on my side.”

“We split the ducks on the line by half,” Arthur said. 

Lynn nodded in agreement and then they started duck hunting.

Later, Lynn thought that the game probably wasn’t made for people to hunt all the ducks. It was a lively family game, and the designers probably didn’t want to run into players like them.

Not a single one was spared under the two parents’ guns. Even the toothpick-sized head of a duck that came out of the corner as a guest didn’t escape the fate of a headshot. The whole game was like a really clean manslaughter.

They scored 697 out of 700. The three points lost were because the kids had inadvertently let go of the toothpick-sized ducks earlier. 

When they finished playing, they saw a circle of people gathered behind them to watch the exciting scene.

Lynn put down the electronic gun, it wasn’t a real gun, but it had something in common with real shooting. He presumed that Arthur was obviously a master at using guns.

He was certainly good not just in terms of shooting skills, but what made people get little goosebumps was his stance and the expression on his face as he fired. Steady, sharp, and extremely efficient.

During this period, he glanced at Arthur. The man’s profile was sharp and cold. His eyes were calm, without a trace of excitement and eagerness, like frozen lake water. 

And it was the most enjoyable and harmonious incident of Lynn shooting with someone else. When it stopped, he could still feel the slightly heated joy from the adrenaline rush, even though he would never admit it.

He had worked with his colleagues before in shooting and killing people, and he knew what it meant to work together in uncanny harmony, but… He decided to put this little episode behind him. It was just a damned duck hunting game.

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