"I assume Zeph never told you about our missions, did he?", Ralph asked.
"N-No he didn't, I didn't even know that he was an investigator, I just told you that.", Gary answered.
"You're right. I have a question to ask then. What is your relation with Lucian Cole? A friend?", Ralph leaned towards Gary more.
Gary was a little confused by this question.
"Yes. He is a friend. Very close one actually, he is one of the people I didn't hate when I was a teen.", Gary said in a cold voice.
"Hate? What do you mean by that, Mr.Loxley?", now Karl asked.
Gary clenched his fists again, trying to say something. He initially hesitated but then spoke, "My childhood was bad, really bad. I was a beggar on the streets, I met horrible people who did horrible things to me. As they found an innocent child, they made me give hard labour for nothing. I hated people more than anything. The only person I was able to not hate for the first time was my dad. One of the others being, Lucian Cole, the one you asked about.", Gary exposed his feelings, receiving potential hope.
Gary continued after a few seconds of silence, "Did I say unnecessary stuff?"
"No it's okay. It's very important for me to know about the people I'm investigating in depth. Everything you say is worth something. Anyway, I'm sorry that you had to go through all of these..", Ralph hesitated to say the next words, but did anyway.
"I just have to tell you this. We investigated Harper Street previously, and so Lucian Cole was also investigated. From that investigation, we found that Lucian Cole, is a decoy of 'The Ghost'...", Ralph's latest words echoed through the room, and at last reached Gary's ears.
Gary's eyes widened like never before. He felt a wave of betrayal that went through his chest.
"How- how can he do that?", Gary asked himself, whisperingly, drowning in denial.
"I thought of him as my..as my best friend. But, he just turned out to be another traitor!", Gary continued his murmurings, barely hearable to the others.
Ralph continued, "Lucian was working with The Ghost all this time. Did you never suspect him? Even a little bit?"
Gary looked at Ralph, with both confusion and frustration, and finally screamed out.
"That guy, is a damn actor! I thought of him as my best friend! All these moments, all these memories, all of them were just an act huh? Just to convince me that he isn't working with 'The Ghost'? People are indeed horrible!", Gary's voice became rough, he continued.
"Lucian was working with the ghost! The one who is indirectly responsible for my father's death! I'll leave no one, absolutely no one. I'll find out everyone who is related to this, everyone!", Gary was bursting with anger.
"Calm down, Gary. This is not the time to be angry. I know this is extremely hard for you, but you have to think and do what's best for now.", Ralph suggested, with a soft voice, "Now, listen to me. I was thinking about the whole thing you told me, and I suspect that…."
Gary interrupted Ralph and spoke up, "That Lucian IS the ghost? Right?"
"What? How did you read my mind?", Ralph became insanely curious.
"What do you think? That bastard betrayed me and all his friends just for some money! Who knows what else he might be doing?!", Gary answered furiously.
Ralph understood those statements in a matter of a second.
"Well, you are not wrong at all. But what we deduced is that he just acted to be a decoy to protect himself. And you know what? He told us that the ghost is most probably in this street.", Ralph took a breath.
"Do you see it now? He directed us towards this street, possibly for Elias and Zeph to meet. This is just my assumption, can be wrong. But whatever his goal was, ultimately, he is the one who indirectly killed your father, together with Elias Blackwood. You might want to know why, well it's because Elias and 'The Ghost' IS working together.", Ralph let his words be a weapon to ignite Gary.
"Tell me your plan, Ralph. I'll do anything to bring them down, Elias and that damn traitor!", Gary proactively said.
Ralph's face became brighter while Karl was making his own decisions, maybe processing everything and piecing them together.
"Listen. I think, if his plan was a multi-layered one, he would call you and ask you about what we asked you during the investigation, possibly for more information to control the situation. If that is the case, then the call is coming in just a few minutes, as the average investigation time is almost over.", Ralph was looking at Gary, explaining what he had in his mind.
Gary was listening carefully, his anger was compressed by himself, by pure dedication.
Ralph continued, " I'll have to go for the worst case, so I'll assume that Elias has informed him about the possibility of you, meeting your father and extracting the knowledge of his past. So Lucian will also make his best move by deceiving us, while we try to deceive him."
Gary was a little confused. But Ralph helped him by saying, "To put it simply, you'll have to act like you know nothing about your father's past and portray the fact that you reached the hospital after he was dead. And don't mention anything about your father until Lucian himself mentions it. You know what this specific detail is for?", Ralph asked expecting an analysis of his plan.
"Ahh…Info of my father's death is not publicly available yet, so if he mentions it before I mention it, that would mean Elias Blackwood has told him that previously. And that proves that he is the ghost?", Gary answered, trying his best.
"That's right! You're sharp! But if Lucian IS 'The Ghost' we are talking about, then this is way too much of a silly mistake to be made by him. As far as I know him, he is way too smart, smarter than most of us can imagine. And, we don't even know if Elias has informed him yet. So I have other portals for this plan. A 3 way plan, all of them ensures his exposition.
"And what are they?", Gary asked, followed by a quieter voice of Karl.
5 minutes later,
This is the time. I'll have to somehow distract Nicolo and find a way to contact Gary.
"Hey! I'm going to call my friend. I can, right?", Lucian asked for permission, as he was told to.
Nicolo was half-laying on the other bed, opposite to Lucian's. He was doing something on his phone, his legs hanging from the bed. Just after hearing Lucian's words, he sat up and said, "Umm", he started thinking.
Just a few minutes ago, Nicolo received some texts from Ralph. Which was - "Keep your phone to yourself. Don't let anyone touch it and see these messages."
And just a few seconds ago, another message appeared from Ralph, "If Lucian asks for permission to call his friend or Gary Loxley to be specific, just accept it and let him do it. Try to hesitate a bit before letting him though."
Right then and there, Nicolo said, " Yeah that's fine. If it's your friend, then you can do it. But you'll have to talk in front of me."
"Thanks I guess.", Lucian reacted with a neutral face.
He called Gary and put the phone on his ear, looking away from Nicolo.
A few seconds later, Gary answered, "Hello? Lucian?"
"Yes, Gary? Did they investigate you?", Lucian asked curiously.
"Who? That secret investigation team? TGC?", Gary answered and questioned at the same time.
"Yes! That means they reached you! Bro I just can't tell you how intense that was! They questioned me again and again! I don't know why they were suspecting me so much! I figured out that they would be approaching you too! And Miles. And Dale!"
"You know what. It was the same for me.", Gary's voice wasn't as exciting or anxious as Lucian's, it was rather cold with a sprinkle of sadness. Even though Gary was suppressing it.
"What happened Gary? Did they do something to you? What happened ultimately?", Lucian took a break and then continued while Gary was basically silent.
"Did they prove something or told you something? Come on tell me Gary, this is a dangerous allegation for us! Oh wait, unlike me, you have another family member. What about your father? What was his reaction to this investigation? Did they do something to him?...