74: Chapter 74 Dialogue Between the Dead!

"What are you investigating?"

"That question is too hard to answer!"

Shaun didn't answer.

Linda didn't press him either.

She stood up, walked to the window, and turned her back to him: "Someone came to the house a few days ago."

Shaun's back stiffened: "Who?"

Linda turned around and said: "I don't know. A man, in his fifties, gray hair, quite sturdy. He said he was a former colleague of Joseph and came to offer condolences to the family."

"But I know all of Joseph's colleagues. I've never seen this person."

Shaun asked quickly: "What did he say?"

Linda thought for a moment: "He just asked if there was anything Joseph left behind at home. Documents, notebooks, USB drives, or something like that. I said no, and he left."

Shaun said nervously: "Did you give him anything?"

Linda shook her head: "I didn't give him anything because I didn't know what he wanted, but... Joseph did leave some things behind."

Shaun's heart skipped a beat: "What things?"

Linda walked back to the coffee table, pulled out a kraft paper envelope from underneath, and handed it to him.

"Two days before he died, he asked me to keep this for him. He said if anything happened, I should give it to someone he trusted."

Shaun took the envelope without opening it: "You trust me?"

Linda looked at Shaun seriously: "You solved his case, you came to see me, and I feel that if there is anyone I can trust, it's you."

Shaun held the envelope, not knowing what to say.

In fact, his ultimate goal in coming here was to have a "face-to-face chat" with White, but he hadn't expected an unexpected harvest.

But... what Shaun wanted to do most was still to have a "face-to-face chat" with White.

...

So Shaun didn't leave with the envelope, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke: "Linda."

Linda turned her head and looked at him, a hint of surprise in her eyes: "Is there something else?"

Shaun was silent for a second, thinking about how to say it.

Say "I want to stay here for a while"?

Say "I want to see if your husband is still here"?

Say "I can see ghosts"?

None of these were normal.

But he had to say it!

So Shaun asked: "Can I stay here for a while?"

Linda was clearly stunned: "What?"

"Just for a while." Shaun emphasized, "Alone."

Linda looked at him.

In those eyes, there was confusion, hesitation, and something Shaun couldn't name.

It was as if... she had guessed something, yet it was as if she couldn't believe she had guessed it.

"You..." Linda paused, her voice trembling, "Can you see him?"

Shaun didn't speak.

Silence was the answer.

Linda stared at him for three seconds.

Then she lowered her head, her fingers clutching the corner of her clothes, gripping them tightly.

After a long time, she looked up.

When Shaun looked over, he saw that Linda was already streaming with tears.

After a while, she wiped away her tears, picked up the coffee cup on the coffee table, said "Okay," and walked toward the kitchen.

Walking to the kitchen door, she stopped and said without looking back: "I'll be in the kitchen. Call me when you're done."

Then she pushed the door open, walked in, and closed it gently.

Shaun was the only one left in the living room.

Sunlight shone in through the window, illuminating the photos on the wall.

Shaun looked at them carefully again... White in his police uniform, White holding his daughter, White hugging his son, White holding Linda.

Each one was smiling very happily.

Shaun took a deep breath.

Closed his eyes, and opened them again!

[Intermediate Magic · Active Activation]

The world changed.

It wasn't the colors that changed, but the layers.

The walls faded, the furniture faded, the sunlight faded. All physical objects seemed to have lost a layer of color, becoming semi-transparent, like a watercolor painting.

But some things became more intense.

The envelope on the coffee table was glowing.

White's face in the photo was glowing.

The spot on the corner of the sofa where someone had sat was glowing.

Then Shaun saw...

A person standing by the window.

Wearing a police uniform, tall figure, broad shoulders.

His face was a bit blurry, as if behind frosted glass, but Shaun could recognize him; it was Joseph White.

He was standing there, right next to where Linda had just been standing, looking toward the kitchen.

That expression, Shaun had seen it before. In the photos at White's house, when he was holding Linda, that was the expression.

Shaun's heart skipped a beat!

Three minutes!

He had three minutes!

Shaun didn't hesitate, seizing the time, he spoke: "White..."

The figure moved.

He turned his head and looked at Shaun.

On that blurry face, the eyes were clear.

Dark brown, just like Linda's.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

The undead cannot speak.

Cordelia had said that communication with the undead is not dialogue, but perception.

Feeling their emotions, obsessions, and residual memories.

So Shaun focused his mind, looking into those eyes. He saw some fragments of things, like a shattered mirror.

...

White was sitting in the car, gripping the steering wheel, his palms full of sweat...

White was standing in an alley, with a person standing opposite him, gray hair, very sturdy, face unclear...

White was in a dim room, with a map spread out on the table, marked with red circles...

Swamp... Church... Red circles within red circles.

There was also a symbol Shaun hadn't seen before.

Three wavy lines intertwined, but it wasn't the Coven's symbol.

Older, deeper!

Shaun's breathing became rapid.

"White, what does that symbol mean?"

White's figure wavered, like a reflection on the water blown apart by the wind.

His mouth was moving, but there was no sound.

Something was surging in his eyes—fear, anger, and something Shaun couldn't name.

It was like someone trying to tell you something very important, but unable to say it...

Just as Shaun was feeling anxious, he saw White raise his hand and point at the envelope on the coffee table.

Then his figure became paler and paler, like watercolor washed away by water.

Shaun wanted to call out to him, but he knew it would be useless, so he could only look closely at White's face.

White looked at him, and the last thing left in those eyes was pleading.

As if saying: "Help me... help them."

After saying this, White disappeared.

The living room returned to normal.

The walls were solid, the furniture was solid, the sunlight was solid.

Shaun stood where he was, gasping for air.

There was sweat on his forehead and on his back. Three minutes, exactly three minutes.

He looked down at the envelope in his hand; White had pointed at it, so it was obviously very important content.

Shaun walked to the sofa and sat down.

He opened the envelope, and inside were several sheets of paper, folded neatly.

He opened the first one; it was handwritten, very scribbled, as if written in a hurry.

"My name is Joseph White, a police officer at the Fifth Precinct. If I die, whoever sees this letter, please help me do the following things: First, tell my wife Linda that I love her. Second, tell my children that Daddy is sorry. Third, that treasure is real. It is in the swamp; I have already found it, but it is dangerous."

!!

White, did he really find the treasure?