The Whitechapel Case [abandoned]

Part 3: The Usual Suspects (Chapter 3)

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?"