It took Vine a lot of time to read the letters. He was still far from reaching halfway through them, and he started to get bored. Was there any hint in those letters? He picked his phone to call Gareth, but the phone did not go through. Irritated, Vine called Dream and told him to inform Gareth to urgently report to him.
It took close to ten minutes before Dream came in person to announce that Gareth was nowhere to be found.
"What do you mean by that?" Vine frowned.
"We cannot find him. His phone is disconnected."
Vine thought on the words for a while, and he dismissed Dream. He went to update his grandmother on all their findings, also handing over the copies of the diary to her.
"Why am I only hearing about this now?" the lady was displeased.
"But I have told you, grandma. That's what is important."
"What's in the book?" she asked.
"Nothing but some letters which he wrote to Kiara." Vine let out a small sigh.
"We need to know what was on his mind just before he died." The lady said.
As she spoke, she was flipping the pages until she got to the last entry.
"Pass me my reading glasses," she pointed at the case.
Vine handed it to her, and she began to read after wearing them. It took her a very long time to finish the reading, then she raised her head to face Vine.
"He is alive, Vine."
"What? Who?"
"Jeremy. Jeremy Rain is alive. Read this letter."
Vine grabbed the papers and started to read the last letter. He felt like he was going to explode from anger. So that man Jeremy was capable of fooling everyone; including Vine and his men?
"Remind me again, grandma; who found Jeremy's body at the river?" he asked his grandmother.
"Why, it was the police. I mean, everyone thinks that the police found him first, but Gareth told us that he was the one to spot the body first, but in order not to raise suspicion, he simply moved it to a clearer space and left it there."
"And the police saw it. And they thought they had seen it before anyone else," the young man said, while in deep thought.
"Yes," the grandmother nodded her head.
"If Jeremy wrote this letter, why then did he proceed to throw himself in the water? And if we assume that after writing the letter he tried to run away but was captured and killed; who, besides Gareth, would have killed him? If Gareth had done that; would he not have told us? No. This therefore shows me that, from the beginning, Gareth was very much aware that the body that was buried as Jeremy Rain was not Jeremy Rain's. I am certain that if he or any of our men had captured and slaughtered Jeremy, Gareth would have informed us. The fact that he never said a word means he too is part of the plan to help Jeremy escape. And now, since Dream has informed me that Gareth is missing; I have every reason to believe that he has left the mansion grounds; never to be seen again. He intentionally fooled me by providing a body to be used as Jeremy's, while in the mean time he assisted that bastard to escape. This is the highest level of betrayal I have ever seen or heard of. How much money did Jeremy pay him? Was it worth him deceiving me to this extent; even after everything that I have done for him?"
The grandmother thought about what Vine was saying, and she concluded in her mind that it did make sense. It really seem like Vine had quickly the puzzle pieces in their right places.
Vine stood to this feet and dialed Dream's number.
"Present yourself in lady Pinkerton's office now!" he barked the instruction.
"Should we also call Kiara?" lady Pinkerton asked.
"Not now. Let's deal with Gareth first," Vine responded.
With his hands in his pockets, Vine stood still, waiting for Dream. The moment Dream walked in, Vine asked him,
"Were you there when the body of Jeremy Rain was found?"
"I was at the river, so yes, young master. I was there."
"Did you see the body at the same time as Gareth, or he showed it to you?" Vine growled.
"He showed the body to me, sir."
"And what did he say? You have to tell me word for word what he said on that day. I know that you value your life; so start talking." Vine said without looking at the man.
Dream slightly nodded his head and began to talk, "well, he called me and said he had found the parts of the body. I mentioned that the body looked very fresh…I mean, it did not look like the body of a person who had been dead and in the water for a long time. It was not soaked enough…if you know what I mean. And sir Gareth told me that he was sure that it was Jeremy's body. So I said we probably needed to have a DNA test done, and he dismissed my idea, telling me never to mention it ever again. And he told me to move back, stating that if he was going to be the one to locate the body first, it was going to be suspicious. Since him and the Rains were enemies anyway, Gareth preferred it if someone else, not him, discovered the body parts. So once I moved away from him, he also walked away, but that was after we both made sure that the body was on a visible spot. It did not take a minute before a cop saw the limbs."
"Well articulated," Vine said. "Now listen, I want you to go and find me Gareth."
"Sir Gareth? I must find him?" Dream looked confused.
"Yes. I want him alive."Vine said.
"Oh, is he in trouble?" Dream was lost as to what was happening.
"Bring him to me, Dream. And bring him alive."
"Yes, young master." Dream ran to go and fulfill his duty.
"I was right.' Vine spoke to his grandmother.
"You were right," the lady responded.
Vine walked towards the window and murmured, "this is the greatest betrayal of all times."
"We should have killed the old horse at the time that we spoke about it," lady Pinkertons said.
"He provided a body because Jeremy outwitted him. He failed to capture Jeremy, and chose to fool me. It means Gareth killed someone and had the body presented as Jeremy's." Vine fumed.
"I cannot believe that he failed to capture that Rain boy. You were right to say he is now an old horse. We should have killed the old horse." The lady also fumed.
Vine dialed a number and spoke; "Listen, Dream. Find him, dead or alive, I want him…In fact the truth is I want him dead. I don't want to hear a word that man has to say ever again."
"You…you want me to kill sir Gareth?" Dream stammered.
"Exactly," Vine whispered harshly.
"You cannot be serious, young master? Sir Gareth? I cannot possibly kill sir Gareth."
"Do you have an option?" Vine asked.
"Oh, so you are indeed serious?" Dream was unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Stop wasting my time and go get me the man, Dream."
"Young master. You do mean it; don't you?" Dream started to breath heavily.
Vine's voice came out deep, in a tone more serious than Dream had ever heard in his life: "I want you to bring me his head."
"Consider it done, young master." Dream promised, not knowing from where he got the energy and courage to say such words.
Vine smirked, "Bring me his head on a platter."