Lucian's words penetrated Gary's ears like a sharp-bladed sword.
He started weeping, unable to hold on anymore.
"My father….he is dead now!", Gary told Lucian while weeping, not showing any anger though.
Lucian's eyes widened as he heard the news, genuinely. He was also silent for a moment before saying, "How? How did something like that happen?". His voice was slowing down.
"I-I don't know. I just don't know.", Gary stopped his weeping, continuing with, "I reached the hospital when some people informed me about it. And the doctor told me that he was dead…", Gary stopped his weeping entirely.
What? Am I missing something? How did his father end up being dead? It can be an accident, but….
What if this is somehow connected to Elias? Or something to do with this investigation itself? Doesn't matter for now, I'll just have to play along for now, fish for more info…
"This is really bad", Lucian's voice sounded rough and low, with a looming weep. "Gary, I'm with you if you need me. I don't know how this happened, but I'm sure we'll find a way!", Lucian's voice became the most supportive and assuring voice ever heard.
"I know, Lucian", Gary hesitated a little bit, "I'm going to find each and everyone connected to my father's death. Don't worry."
"There we go, you are strong, I knew it! I'm really sorry this happened, and really sad too. I knew him personally, he was one of my closest uncles! But he'll be really happy if we manage to overcome our current situation.", Lucian took a break, "Now, tell me. What did they ask or tell you in that investigation?"
Gary took a long breath before saying, "What they told me? They asked me a lot of questions about 20th July. What was I doing that day before I entered the museum etc. And at last they told me that they suspect Miles Gray as the real ghost!", Gary's voice suddenly rose a little bit, "I have no idea why they would go after us like this. I tried to tell them that there's no way Miles can do it! They just ignored it. But you know what, Lucian? I think I'm free of suspicion!"
"Why do you think that?", Lucian asked curiously.
"That investigator, Ralph, shared his plan with me! Well, not with me, but he discussed his plan with the other investigator in front of me.", Gary cleared his throat.
"Really? What were they discussing? Any plan to catch Miles?", Lucian asked.
"Yes, exactly. I found it weird, like, why would they expose their plans to me? I realized, it's most probably because I'm proven innocent somehow. They told me to not expose this plan to anyone, but this is about my friend! Miles! I have to tell you this, if it helps in any way.", Gary said anxiously.
"You're absolutely right! There's no way Miles can do such a thing. We'll have to do something. Tell me what they told you, Gary.", Lucian's voice became louder again.
"So Ralph said that there is an extremely valuable piece of information hidden in the 12th house of Harper Street. That house is of Ralph''s brother. He suspects that Elias Blackwood is working with the ghost and his next target is that house. If Miles is the ghost, then he will try to steal that piece, however, that piece of information is protected by a locker with a password.
The password is something like 1 to 4 and 8 to 5, yeah. So basically the ghost will not be able to steal it quickly, and the investigation team will catch him in the process. The plan is not bad if you ask me, but them suspecting Miles is pointless.", Gary explained all of Ralph's plan with pauses in between. He himself sounded confused explaining it.
"So that's their plan huh? I understand. Gary, take care of yourself right now, if you need something, tell me please. I know this is a hard time for you. But, I'll have to spread the awareness to Miles this time. Bye!", Lucian cut the call with a serious voice, after a few seconds.
Just after cutting the call, Lucian looked towards Nicolo and asked, "Can you tell me, why did you let me have a call with my Gary? Even though he has been investigated already? Wouldn't that expose the secret info to me? The fact that you guys didn't reveal to Gary about my previous alliance with the ghost?"
"I wondered this too", Nicolo answered quietly, "But you are gonna be under my supervision all the time, you having this info doesn't really mean anything. And I believe in Ralph, he wouldn't be careless."
"You are right. I'm pretty tired of this too. I hope Ralph's suspicion over my other friend, Miles, gets off quickly. I don't want them to be involved in this.", Lucian sighed, while laying on his bed.
"I hope that too! I want peace. If this ensures that, I'll more than happy", Nicolo smiled a little.
So Ralph has already taken Elias into the case fully. I knew it to be honest. The moment he mentioned Elias during my investigation sparked curiosity in me. Ralph does have connections that let him know about Elias's past. Ralph, Elias, Nicolo and many other people around me know something I don't. I'm still in the dark.
What about that plan Ralph exposed to Gary? Exposing the password to Gary?
Wait a minute, why would Ralph need to expose that much of a specific information to Gary?
Lucian's third eye opened as he drowned in thoughts.
I'm pretty sure Ralph still suspects Gary. If he really does know about Elias's next mission, then he knows that the ghost has to steal that piece from the 12th house on Harper Street, which requires a password no one except Ralph knows. From his perspective, if Gary is 'The Ghost', then he would use this password to steal that. Which would confirm that Gary is 'The Ghost' as he is the only one who knows the password.
This is a high possibility. Because there's no way for Ralph to let any of us 4 friends go without traps!
Lucian's phone was put on silent, so as it rang, Lucian's hand vibrated. He saw that Elias was calling him. In all these recent days, Lucian would never just put his phone on the bed or a flat surface, most of the time in his own hands, so no calls from Elias can be seen by Nicolo.
He quickly opened a messaging app and messaged Elias.
"Tell me everything here. I can't talk to you on the phone because currently I'm in a public place." - Lucian.
"I don't know why I'm telling you this, but after thinking for a lot of time, I decided why not. This information might help you in some way." - Elias.
"What is it?" - Lucian.
Elias was typing. After around 2 minutes, the message reached Lucian.
"Recently, a businessman called Zeph Loxley came to Luther's apartment for business reasons. He overheard our conversation about the ghost and tried to run away. I quickly shot him with a gun and got him wounded. He somehow reached the hospital, and his son Gary Loxley went to meet him on his deathbed. It's unlikely that Zeph exposed anything to Gary before death, because it was simply too late. But because it is a risk to your identity and my reputation, I'm informing you this. You might just do something about it." - Elias.
Lucian's eyes widened reading this, but just in his own mind. His face was just as neutral as it was before.
"Right. I'll try to do something." - Lucian.
So Elias is the one who killed him?! That's just….
And Gary might know the reason behind his father's death?! I did see a possibility of this, but, is Gary someone like that? To fake reactions to fool me?
Lucian was walking on a puzzle board full of disconnected puzzle pieces. His blindfold was tight till now, which was starting to loosen.
Let's make a hypothesis. I'll have to assume that Gary does know about the truth and he just faked it in front of me. And the chances of this? Pretty high as I think of it now. His father was his heart, losing him would definitely drive him crazy, he was kind of a hot headed guy who would pick fights everywhere in the early days. So is he plotting some kind of revenge against me now?
Lucian was reliving the conversation he just had with Gary.
The way he was talking, I could feel it. It was way too detailed. And, and it seemed like a bait too. What if that password bait is against me and not Gary himself?...