Torn and Restored

Chapter 15 - Ace of Spades

Olivia couldn't believe what she had just seen. There had to be something she'd missed. Ernest would never do such a thing. She knew that for sure but... All that blood. That required a lot of explaining. She pondered over why Ernie would do such a thing. She needed to get home quickly. Police vehicles were starting to flood the place, their siren blaring. She was sure that she wouldn't be allowed to see Bolton. Her heart ached for the man and wondered if he could've been alive, had Will not met him the other day. She had no idea where she got that feeling from but the recent string of events that occurred around Will concerned her.
She got into a taxi and told him the place. The driver knew it straight away and it only took a few minutes as he sped away to their house, well, their temporary house. She paid for the ride and walked fast to the door.

She rang the bell. No response. She rang again and waited.

It took a few minutes for Will to open the door.

"I'm sorry, I slept", he said, grinning sleepily.


"Oh. It's nothing. I have to tell you something. Something important", she said, hurriedly.

"What is it?" he yawned.

"Come in", she gestured and went into the house.

She sat on the dining table and Will took the chair beside it. Olivia always did that so that she can be a little higher than Will and look down at his eyes as they spoke. She wasn't a tall girl but Will's stature made her feel like a kid.

"What is it?" he asked, again.

"I'm not sure if you'd believe me but this is how it goes", she started and told him the entire story.

"Did you check on him? Is he fine?" he asked.

"I was told that he was feared to be dead. I did not go in though", she said. She was surprised that Will did not bother to ask about Ernest. She had told something about him but Will acted like he never heard that.

"Wait, we'll check the TV", he said.

He sincerely hoped that the TV was working. It did, actually. The local news channel was covering the library issue. There were live footages from the place. Most of it did not matter after they saw the headline flash below.

"Librarian of the Central Library, named Rigg Bolton, died of several stab wounds earlier this day."
Both of them did not listen to any of those words that were displayed or spoken after that. Will wanted to believe that he wasn't the reason for this. He needed to know that Kane or someone worse wasn't behind this.
"What about Ernest?" she asked.

"What about him? You very well know that he wouldn't do such a thing. Why would anybody do such a thing?" he asked.

She did not have an answer to give him. She simply stared blankly. Ernest was so close to Will. Will would never doubt him. Olivia couldn't just wave Ernest off. She had seen him leave in such a panic. She knew that it had to mean something.

"I was about to complete John Water's book. That's when I dozed off. There wasn't anything conclusive from the book. Bolton said a lot of things that day. None of those were found there. I thought I'd ask Bolton for more information. But now the secret dies with him, just as it did with John", he sulked.

The last part of his statement made her ask," Do you know where John died? I mean, err, does he have a tomb or something? Or something else that gives us a clue about who his relatives were and if they knew a thing or two about The Mirage."

"No one knows when he died so obviously there's nothing about a tomb anywhere", he replied.

"There must be something", she said.
Will knew everything about John. It had killed him the other day when he learned about this book. Till then he knew that he knew everything about John. His tricks. His mistake. His museum.

"There's a museum about him, if you're interested", he said.

"A museum? That's a huge lead. There can be tonnes of information we need. Why did you not tell this earlier?" she asked, excited.

"I've visited the museum more than a hundred times. I know everything that's out there. There can't be any information there. I'm sure."

"But, you haven't been there in a while, right? You never knew that he was from The Mirage. So, that changes the whole perspective", she explained.

Will wasn't convinced but he thought that there was no harm in visiting the old museum that he loved as a child.

"Okay, let's go", he said.

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Detective Emery Graves was fuming. Her partner, Waldo, had asked her to give Will another day to turn up and tell her about Tarquin's message. The time was over but Waldo was nowhere to be found in the office. Frustrated, she called him.

"Hello", he said.

"Where are you?" she shouted.

"I'm at the central library. There's been a murder here. It's the librarian. Officers have come and the situation is well under control", he replied, softly.

"Okay. Get here, quickly. Will hasn't come here till now. He's still hiding it. It time that we took action", she said.
"Yes, but please be patient. I'll be there soon. We'll discuss and take the necessary action. Don't hurry, please", he finished as she hung up the call without an acknowledgement.

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Will and Olivia wasted no time coming to the museum but it wasn't in the condition they wanted it to be. The museum had never been crowded. The shops around the museum were always buzzing with people but the museum, always deserted. But that day was different. The shops were crowded but the museum was surrounded by men. Men dressed in uniform.

Will approached them slowly and asked," Can we enter the museum?"

"Sorry sir, but the museum is closed", a man in the uniform replied.

"But, I come her regularly. I know the owner really well", Will argued.

"I'm afraid sir. I can't let you in. The museum was bought by another group last month and is being renovated as we speak sir", the man stated.

"It late in the evening. Can we just have a look in?" Will pleaded.

"I'm sorry, again. We're special security, sir. We can't allow anybody in. They've employed us to safeguard every valuable artefact in there", the man replied.

Olivia felt that Will couldn't talk his way in. She wanted to go in badly. She had to do something.

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Macabre stopped his car on a deserted road. He knew that he was away from danger. At least, for that moment. Had he been a little late, Olivia would've caught him. He took a bottle of water from the car and washed his face. He had never done something like this before. He had joined The Master for a very different reason. He wanted to solve this mess and save Will and the others from the impending danger. But now, he didn't have any other option. He had to follow The Master's commands. He knew that The Master was capable of doing a lot of things.