Chapter 4 chapter Ten

This time, Nick quickly regained his sense of direction.He knows this because he has accepted this incredible phenomenon.He still had a metallic taste in his mouth, but it was less pronounced.His skin still gets chills, but overall he's in good shape. He sat on the steps in front of Marcus's house, the door still intact.On warm summer nights, the doors are left open for a cool breeze.Marcus walked out the door, across the front porch, and sat down beside him.His face was pale, and his hands were shaking with horror. "The police will be here in a minute, but because of the plane crash..." Marcus can barely speak, "everyone went to the crash site to help, so there are only two people to spare. They said don't touch anything , and said you'd better stay with me."

Nick nodded, keeping his eyes on his room.He knew Julia's body lay there. Nick reached into his pocket, took out the gold watch, and lifted the cover.Although he was mentally prepared for what he would see, Nick was still surprised when the minute hand pointed to 7:02.It was exactly two hours before he counted down to nine.The two policemen hadn't arrived yet, and Marcus had just seen Julia's body, still reeling from the shock of having witnessed her death. Nick understood that what he remembered had just happened hadn't happened yet.Marcus had no idea that Nick would be arrested later, the names of the two cops, or that his gate would be kicked in.But all the steps are clearly visible to Nick.

He's the only one who's going to go through this all the time, so he's going to have to do it all by himself before being thrown back for two hours.Because, when it comes to the next reversal, he will lose the assistance of the previous person. He was thankful that it was Friday. On Fridays, he always worked from home and stayed at home all day. He didn't even go out for lunch because he had to finish the analysis report for the week's business trip before the weekend holiday.That way, he'll be back home every time time bounces, giving him ample opportunity to focus on investigating the incident.

Nick closed his pocket watch, shook off his thoughts, and stood up. "Where are you going?" Marcus asked. Nick looked around his room. "I have to go there." "You want to go back?" Marcus exclaimed, horrified. "No, I don't think that's a good idea." "I agree," Nick said, "but I've got to find out what's going on, and I've got to get it over with before the police start investigating." "They said don't touch anything..." "My wife was killed, Marcus," Nick said, more explaining the situation than talking to Marcus, "I want answers, I want to know who killed it. That's my home, I want go back."

"Okay!" said Marcus reluctantly, "but I'll go with you." Nick got up, shook his head and said, "I'll take care of it myself." He'd spent a lot of time earlier (not strictly speaking the past, but at this point in time, the future) convincing Marcus of the situation he was facing, asking him to go see Danse and prove what he said was true.If he wanted Marcus or anyone to help him, he had to figure out a way to convince them in less than five minutes, otherwise it would be a waste of time, the limited twelve hours he had to save Julia will be taken away again.

Marcus stays on the front porch. "Please, whatever you want to do, don't look at her, it's not her anymore." As Nick walked across the wide lawn, Marcus' voice faded away, and Nick's complicated emotions were churning in his heart.He got a gift, but he didn't understand what it was, but he didn't intend to waste time thinking about it.The debate about how and why this had happened could last a lifetime, but now he had less than twelve hours left. As happy as he was to get a second chance, he was terrified of what was ahead. He knew what he was going to see.The state of her death is likely to break him down. If he wants to save her and find out who killed her, he has to force himself to face her dead body.In order to stop the man, he must gather all the information and investigate every lead.

including how she died. Nick forced himself to put Julia's death behind him for a moment.His anxiety, pain, and grief are all selfish acts that only prevent him from finding out the truth.This job is extremely difficult, he must try to focus on the truth, all his efforts are to save her from death, to reverse the past, to change her future. Nick crossed the driveway to the front of the white house and passed through the hundred and eleven year old gate. The foyer was dark, with all the lights extinguished by the power outage caused by the crash.He opened the cabinet in the vestibule, took out a large flashlight, flipped the switch, and let out a blinding light.Although the sun had not yet set, the evening sunlight was fading too quickly to provide the illumination he needed.

Nick had considered installing a generator like Marcus had done, but then decided that it was a waste of $20,000 to buy a generator for a once-a-year power outage, which would only last an hour at most.But now, when he was in the house looking for clues as to why Julia had been killed, he would pay twice as much to keep the lights on. Nick and Julia, who will be married eight years in September, are focusing their time on two things: their careers and their relationship.They decided to pay off the mortgage on the house first so that when they decided to have children they would not have mortgage stress.They've made plans, drawn out timelines, drawn out budgets, and decided to stick to the plan.They live like a written script, keeping their vacation expenses to a minimum, and traveling to Europe, Asia or around the world in their later years.When they have a vacation opportunity, they travel by car.Go camping, visit museums, spend the night at the beach.Not only is it the easiest and cheapest way to vacation, it's also the most fun.They both know that a true vacation is not about the location, but the feeling of the heart.These vacations are far more fun than flying to Paris, Monaco, or any foreign country, as long as they can be together.

So their shelves and desks are filled with photos of the two on vacation.Fishing on a lake in Maine, surfing in Huntington, hiking in the Grand Canyon, rock climbing in Wyoming.They like outdoor activities very much. Nature can provide the simplest and most comfortable environment, which makes people feel refreshed. After returning home, they can concentrate all their energy on career development. Although they have only been married for eight years, they have been together for sixteen years.The two dated from high school to university, and when they fell in love at the age of fifteen, their parents and friends laughed at them for believing that they would stay together forever.However, the jeers died down when they said their vows at St Patrick's Church in late May.But they don't intend to say "I'll just say it" to naysayers; they don't need the affirmation of others or the confidence of relatives or friends to be sure of what they already feel is right.

They met at a swimming party.He is a good swimmer on the school team.In his first year of high school, whether it was long-distance or short-distance competitions, he had several record-breaking performances in the school and in the county.Julia is an impromptu alternate for the 200-meter relay.Although she had participated in short-distance swimming competitions before, she was not expected to be the main force in the 200-meter relay. "Nervous" was not even enough to describe her mood at the time.The coach asked her to talk to Nick, because Nick is the youngest captain in the school. He has a calm and confident temperament and can influence everyone with it.

After Julia sat down, Nick smiled and told her not to worry, and explained to her that the key to racing is a stable speed, so you need to preserve your energy for the final sprint in the next few laps. However, after entering the water, Julia continued to swim desperately, and by the time she swam to the last lap, the air in her lungs was almost exhausted.She never told Nick, or anyone else, that she hadn't actually taken his advice, she hadn't listened to a word he said, because she had been lost in his deep blue eyes The skill of the game is more attractive. When she touched the finish line, her last breath was exhausted, and she was gasping for breath with stars in her eyes.Standing there, he reached out and pulled her exhausted body out of the pool, wrapped her in a towel, and led her to sit on the bench.They arrived home after a three-hour bus ride, as the sky turned from dusk to night, and they both lost in the most relaxed conversation they'd ever felt. Nick didn't once ask her why she didn't take his advice, but just turned the conversation on to other things, never mentioning swimming. They both love camping, Led Zeppelin in the UK, the New York Giants and the Detroit Red Wings.Both love ribs, fried chicken, Oreo cookies, and Coca-Cola.She liked to dance, and that was a novelty to him.He loved skiing, music, and she insisted on learning more about his preferences. To put it simply, they not only hit it off, but they were a perfect match, and over the years, they each developed in different directions.She went to Princeton, he to Boston University.However, their love never faded.In fact, this relationship gradually grew during college, and each year after marriage, the relationship between the two became deeper. It's not like they didn't quarrel.On the few occasions when they argued, the two actually quarreled violently, their love for each other was solid, but so was their willpower to stand their ground.More often than not, though, they disagreed over trivia over white or whole wheat bread, roses or tulips, and so on.And these quarrels are not long-lasting, just a passionate love-making can make up as before. Nick looks out the window of the high-ceilinged great room and sees things left over from last week's get-together with a few friends: chairs strewn by the pool, messy table and barbecue grill that should have been taken out last week Three big bags of garbage thrown away.In this chaos, the swimming pool looked extremely calm, which was completely different from his current mood. The room looked as neat and tidy as ever, but the paintings against the back wall had been there for more than six months and he had promised Julia that he would hang them; Newspapers and magazines were read; the restaurant looked the same as usual, and every dinner, the table was not set until the last minute. When Nick looked around the house, he still couldn't imagine that this was just a random murder.He thought to himself, maybe some opportunist wanted to take advantage of the chaos to seek property, and while everyone's attention was focused on the crash, people in the city would not notice other things, and the police force was extremely weak, so it was just right to carry out Robbery and murder.If he just randomly selected his house...then there must be something missing here. It may be an unknown reason that killed her, but it may also be the key to saving her. Nick looks at his home with fresh eyes, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything out of order or missing, any clue to why Julia was killed. He opened the hidden sliding door of the study and shone his flashlight around.His study was smaller than Marcus's, and it was filled with traces of Nick and Julia's life together.If this room had survived some nuclear bombing and been discovered by archaeologists five hundred years later, they would have been able to paint a picture of Nick and Julia's life with incredible accuracy.The history between them is all displayed in a locked cabinet, which is full of trophies and medals from swimming and ice hockey games. They are embarrassed to display these things, but they are reluctant to throw them away because of nostalgia.There are many photos and memorabilia on the shelves, photos of them at the prom, the graduation ceremony and the wedding ceremony, and they have exaggerated hairstyles, but they all have big smiles.There are dozens of photos they took while traveling, as well as family photos during the holidays.But most of the photos are kind of goofy and just for fun, some from snowball fights, a funny photo from a carnival, and one with ice cream covering their faces.These are the most defenseless and natural gestures. Nick turned to the mahogany desk, moved the letters and a few piles of papers aside, and found his personal phone still on the charger.He picked up the phone and put it in his pocket.He always carries two mobile phones: one for personal use and one for business use, and he deliberately separates the two worlds.Because he works from home during the day, he puts his personal phone on the charger.He is now very grateful for this arrangement, because when the police arrested him as a suspect in Julia's murder, his official mobile phone was taken away along with his wallet and watch. Nick squatted down, opened the cabinet behind the desk, and shone a flashlight on the small green safe behind a stack of books. There was no scratch on it, and there was no sign of damage at all. He walked out of the study, the bright flashlight shining on the floor in front of him, and he walked down the stairs to the next floor.His favorite spot is the unfinished basement, which temporarily doubles as a gym, complete with treadmills, elliptical cross trainers, indoor bikes and free weights.This place can not only be used for fitness, but also to keep the mind sharp, and it is also a place to relieve stress.Nick's flashlight shines on an old full-length mirror leaning against the wall, and the light bounces off a practice pole fixed to the wall and a mat on the floor.He could vaguely smell the faint scent of Eau de Toilette left over from the last time Julia came here to work out.There is room in the cavernous basement that could be turned into a children's playroom or a home movie theater, but that's in the works for a few years.Now it temporarily serves as a storage room, with boxes of Christmas decorations, forgotten wedding presents and unsorted trash piled in the corner. Nick climbed the basement stairs and continued up to the second floor, hurrying past the room that would become the nursery to the bedroom where he and Julia slept. The cream-colored room has a decorated ceiling and a four-poster bed faces an unlit fireplace filled with summer flowers.Nick checked Julia's bedside table and the small drawers inside, but found nothing strange, nothing had been tampered with, nothing had moved.He checked her wardrobe, then his own, and the cabinet hidden behind the tie rack, but none of them had been touched either.Their bathrooms are the same as when they left in the morning, with towels, toothbrushes and cosmetics all in place.The unused living room still had a thin layer of dust and pollen from the flowers on the fireplace, proving that no one had broken in at all.The sliding door to the small balcony was locked, exactly as it had been since he had left the balcony. Nick walked from room to room, looking for any clues that would lead him to the killer.But he also had an epiphany at this time. Although they built a perfect home, decorated every room, and paid off the loan, their wealthy life was envied by many people, but the most important part was missing here.They put their heart and soul into their work, they work hard to make money, they spend their time in pursuit of material life, but there are no children here.The empty room is waiting for the arrival of the child, and they always think that everything will be ready in another year.Now, Nick is starting to understand that they've been wasting the years, but who's to say that the day will come when everything will be right?Now, all the plans, all the money, have been... Nick finds out they've given up on the most important things in life, but it's too late, unless he can find the clues to kill her and stop the tragedy from happening. Nick took one last look at the bedroom, the only room they used on the second floor of the house.It hasn't been searched, looted, nothing has been tampered with.Even if Julia's murderer had come for something, he was clearly not upstairs. Nick went back downstairs, opened the door, and went outside.He passed the open garage door, glanced at his eight-cylinder Audi, and continued toward the drive.Julia's Lexus SUV is still in place.Nick checked quickly and found that the car door was unlocked and the key was still in it. Seeing this, he was already sure that this was not a random murder and robbery.No matter how stupid the thief was, he couldn't let go of her fifty thousand dollar luxury car. He walked to the end of the cobblestone drive and stood between the two stone pillars of the entrance, looking down at the skid marks the killer had left on the drive.Although Nick is very smart, he thinks he can piece together the identity of the murderer and save her in time.But he is not a professionally trained police detective after all.The width of the skid marks meant nothing to him, nor could it tell him what kind of car it was; he couldn't think of any clues about the driver, or even some kind of epiphany, as it was shown on TV. He looked around the bend leading to the road. This is the richest part of Barry Hill. The streets nearby are full of small mansions of millionaires. Except for Nick and Julia's home, those mansions are perfect. Lawns and gardens are tended by gardeners.Nick mows the lawn, plants his own flowers, and tends the garden himself.He enjoys sitting on the lawnmower mowing the lawn, or digging holes in the yard.Their house was Julia's favorite look growing up, and she used to cycle past this place.This is her dream home and Nick helped her make it happen. He walked back to the driveway and looked at their house, thinking that he had built everything himself; his friends had helped with the extension, and the paint had been done by him and Julia on weekends.Many of his fondest memories come from the time the two built houses together, laughing at small mistakes, playing paint fights, accidentally knocking fingers, and more.It was such a simple thing, and it sounded like a cliché, but it was these quiet moments with no distractions and things like sitting on the floor eating pizza that he cherished the most. Nick went into the garage and took a look at his dirty car.He's not one to wash cars, and would rather have this Audi look a little dirty in the hope that it'll blend in unobtrusively with the shiny BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes on the street, and avoid it. car thief.It was his way of doing things, and Julia was a bit annoyed by it, but it had proved to be working, so he had no intention of changing it.The dark blue exterior of the car was covered with dust and pollen, and there was a clear fingerprint on the trunk lid.It was definitely not his, nor Julia's.That hand is relatively large, with a thick palm and asymmetrical left and right sides. Nick took the key ring out of his pocket, pressed the button on the remote, and opened the trunk lid.Then he saw the usual clutter: a black duster bought in Wyoming, his best raincoat, jumper cables, a medical first aid kit, two bundles of rope, all for emergencies.His hockey skates and puck jacket, two boxes of golf balls, an umbrella, and one other thing he didn't put there. Nick looked at the murder weapon.The 134-year-old, exotic collector's pistol was the weapon that took Julia's life. Everything is clear now.He'd known this for a long time, but wasn't entirely sure. He was framed. He looked at the pistol and knew there was nothing he could do.He might be able to hide it, but it will be found eventually; he doesn't want it because the two cops said his fingerprints were on the gun, and he thought it was a ploy by the detectives to get him to confess because they didn't have time , and there is no manpower to check, but now he doesn't want to automatically print his fingerprints to make them happy. He wiped his hands with a cloth and closed the trunk.It doesn't matter if anyone finds the gun, as long as he can find a way to free Julia there will be no charges against him, no murder investigations, no point in hiding a gun.If he can't save her, he doesn't care what happens to himself. Nick braced himself for the next five minutes.He knew what he was going to do next might give him nightmares for the rest of his life, but he forced himself to look at Julia's body. Marcus sat on the front porch doorstep, looking sadly at Nick's house.He watched his buddy walk up and down the driveway after half an hour in the house.He wandered aimlessly, looking around the neighborhood, as if by chance he would run into Julia's killer.When Marcus returned to the doorstep to look at Nick after the phone call, he noticed a strange look in his eyes.Although he was rather distressed, he did not have the anguish expression he had when he sat next to Julia in the first place.When he saw Nick squatting next to Julia's body, Nick was heartbroken and let out an inhuman wail, which was a scene Marcus would never forget.This vision would haunt his thoughts until he died. However, Marcus's concerns about his friend change when Nick walks away from Marcus and heads to his house, insisting on investigating a murder he will never be able to solve. There was something inexplicable in Nick's eyes, some kind of hope he couldn't put into words, nothing like the expression of a man who only a moment ago finds out that his beloved wife has been taken from him. To Marcus, there was only one explanation: Nick had lost his mind after seeing Julia's mutilated body. He hid in his imaginary world. Nick walked out of the garage and into the cloakroom.There are white-painted wainscoting on the walls and earth-toned Spanish tiles on the floor.There are shoe cabinets, coat racks and lockers in this room, all ready for their future extended family.They've been discussing how many children they want since their dating days: Nick wants two boys and two girls, and Julia likes three boys and three girls, like on the sitcom The Strand. This is one of the scripts of their life planning.They went to the doctor a year ago to make sure that when the time came, Julia would not have any invisible obstacles, and the doctor laughed at them for being too particular about life planning and told them not to worry, their fertility would not let them disappointment.Doctors assured that when they were ready, as long as they knew what they were doing and were "diligent" enough, she would be pregnant in no time. As Nick walked around the corner, he saw Julia's Tory Burch shoes sticking out from under the back stairs.He walked over slowly, looking up her soft thighs, past the black dress she was wearing to work this morning.He gradually approached, staring at her body step by step, beyond the white shirt that was no longer white.Her chest was covered with blood, as if she had encountered a blood storm, her shoulders were blood red, and the silk shirt was stained red by the pool of blood under her.Nick stared at the pool of blood around Julia's body. He had never imagined that there was so much blood on a human body. But his eyes stopped on her shoulder, which was fortunately blocked by the stairs.Nick avoided her face.He couldn't look at his beloved wife who had been his other half, and couldn't accept that her face had become so mutilated.It seemed superficial to say that, but he couldn't help thinking that when a person's face was destroyed, so was her person.Her identity, her true self, would be taken from her.He kept his head down, searching the ground for any clues that might lead him to the villain who had committed this brutal act. He resisted his emotions, desperately wanted to get out of that moment, tried his best not to let himself collapse, and forced himself to look at this room and the "corpse" of the dead from the analyst's point of view. Julia's purse was open beside her, its contents emptied on the tiled floor.Usually her purse would hang on a coat hook, the same place Julia would leave it every day when she got home.Because she often forgets where things are put, Nick gently advised her to develop a habit and put things in the same place every day. She has been doing this way for more than a year, and she hasn't even forgotten a day. Nick pulls out a pen and uses it to rummage through her things: her eyeliner, lip gloss, a menu from David Chen's Chinese restaurant, a birthday card from the stationery gift shop and her work ID; a bunch of keys, a piece of paper from her client pass.But three things were missing, things she would never lose.Like most people, these are items she uses regularly: her wallet, cell phone, and her PDA. PDA can not only send and receive e-mails, store phone numbers, record appointments, but also store text and video files.In other words, this is a small portable computer, an important electronic tool for her work and personal use. In the end, though he tried to avoid it, he saw her face, he saw what was left of her beautiful face, the beautiful face he used to gaze at when she slept, and the window of her soul when he hugged her.The left half of her cheek was blown off by the gun, and her eyes were looking up at the white wall ahead, where the skull fragments were embedded and the bullets were lodged in the cracked wainscoting.A large cloud of blood cascaded down the wall like a waterfall. Bile rushed up his throat and he was dizzy, and the pain made him sick to his stomach, but it all paled in comparison to the extent of his heartache.His chest seemed to be ripped open, it was hard to breathe, and he couldn't even control his brain. Then his soul cried out, rose from his heart, and flew out of his chaotic and broken mind.The cry filled the room, the whole house.It was the most primitive sound, and the world seemed to hear his cry of pain, and the cry went up to heaven, and his fury and pain reached the ears of God, who hated the devil for taking his wife from his life. He struggled to bring his attention back to what he needed to do next, and it wasn't a grief anyone could bear.He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, hating himself a little for what he was about to do.He opened the phone and touched the camera button. While tears were rolling down his cheeks, he held up the phone, trembling all over his body, and had to use his hands to hold it steady.He pointed at the lifeless body lying on the ground and took a photo. He fell to his knees, holding back his grief, so weak he could barely stand.He leaned back against the wall, trembling all over, all the emotions pouring out.It was absurd that he should bet his hopes on magical powers that strangers had told him about.Julia was dead, her lifeless, twisted body lay before him, and there could be no miracle, no god could bring her back to life.Her dead body was the indisputable proof that he sat across from her, but he could do nothing but helplessly pursue the miracle. He didn't know how long he sat there, just wallowing in pain, dizzy, trying to pull himself together, to find a reason to live.Suddenly, he found Marcus standing in front of him.Nick looked up at him, more dazed than Julia's blank stare, confused as to where Marcus had come from.But Marcus held out his big hand, Lanick got up, and... That force was stronger than a slap in the face, and the whole world instantly turned into darkness.What little air remained in his lungs was like ice, and there was only a dead silence in his ears. Nick stood alone in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, a cold can of Coke in his hand. He couldn't remember when he got up, or when he walked in, but he did remember Marcus leaning down and taking his hand sympathetically. Nick's breathing was unusually heavy, gasping for breath, and his skin felt a tingling sensation.The sight of Julia's broken face and dead body on the ground just now made him so shocked that he forgot where he was for a moment. What happened then defied all logic.She went into the kitchen and looked at Nick, confused by his pained expression. "Honey," Julia asked softly, "are you all right?"