Chapter 110

It took Finn a few seconds to realize that strangers had suddenly entered his home.

He turned his head, but since he was crouching, he had to look up.

Three adults were staring at him, their expressions somewhat stern.

Finn felt a bit intimidated by their imposing presence. After all, he was just a kid. He swallowed hard, stumbled to his feet, and tried to find his mom.

But after taking a couple of steps, he remembered that his mom wasn't home. She had told him where she was going just a moment ago.

Alexander noticed Finn's fear and gave him a reassuring smile. "Hey, you're Finn, right? Is your mom around?"

"No, she's not..."

"Any idea when she'll be back?"

"I don't know..."

Alexander kept his smile gentle, trying not to scare him. "Don't worry, kiddo. We're not here to hurt you. We were here last time too. Remember us?"

With Alexander's comforting words, Finn slowly nodded. "Yeah, you guys are like cops. Our teacher told us that cops are good people. They catch bad guys and never bully good people. We respect them a lot."

Alexander chuckled at Finn's innocence. "That's right, you're a smart kid."

"So, since your teacher told you we're good people, can I ask you some questions?"

Finn realized his teacher was right. Seeing Alexander's smile, he felt less scared. "Sure, if I know the answers, I'll tell you."

"Do you have two sisters?"

Finn nodded, but his tone and expression showed no sadness. "Yeah, I have two sisters."

Alexander observed his demeanor, guessing that the family had hidden the truth about the sisters' deaths from him.

He asked again, "Are your sisters home?"

"No." Finn shook his head. "My mom said they went far away to work. They're going to make money to buy me a house and find me a wife. They'll make lots of money."

Seeing the conversation was on track, Jordan joined in. "How do your sisters treat you?"

"They're really nice to me. They take me out to play and tell me stories."

"What do your sisters like to do?"

Finn thought for a moment. "They like to write in their diaries, save money, cook, and go out to listen to stories..."

Zoey noticed something and interrupted. "Where do they go to listen to stories?"

Since the group entered the house, Finn was most afraid of Zoey, maybe because her voice was a bit loud.

Fear quickly spread across Finn's face. "I-I don't know. My sisters don't take me..."

Zoey pressed on. "Why don't they take you? Do they not like you?"

"No, my sisters like me..." But after answering, Finn suddenly realized that his sisters hadn't talked to him or called home in a long time. He started to feel as though. "Maybe my sisters don't like me anymore."

"Don't cry, it's not like that. You're their only brother. They like you the most." Alexander comforted him. "Think carefully. What reason did your sisters give for not taking you?"

Finn nodded. "Right, my sisters said only girls could go listen to stories. So I wanted to be a girl too..."

Jordan understood. "The sisters probably just wanted to go out by themselves and didn't want to take Finn. Girls have their own secrets to share."

Alexander didn't respond to Jordan. He continued, "Do you know if your sisters wrote in their diaries every day?"

"Yeah, they wrote in their diaries every day. Both of them did. I wanted to read them, but they wouldn't let me. They said it was their privacy."

"Do you know what their diaries look like?"

Finn nodded eagerly. "I know! I have a lot of them. Come with me!"

The group followed Finn into the house, straight to his and his mom's room.

There was only one bed and a desk. Most of the books on the desk were first to fourth-grade textbooks and some comic books.

Finn crouched in front of the desk and skillfully pulled out the last notebook from a stack of identical ones.

He handed it to them. "This is the notebook I've been saving since first grade. My sisters' notebooks are all here too. They told me notebooks are important. I can draw and write in them..."

Alexander opened one at random. It was a new, blank notebook with no writing in it. "Did your sisters use this?"

Finn thought for a moment, then opened the desk drawer and took out a pink notebook with a Snow White sticker on it.

With only the group in the house, he made a 'shh' gesture. "Sir, I hope you won't tell my sisters about this. I want to surprise them. I saved up my own money to buy this. Many girls at school use this notebook, but it's too expensive. My sisters wouldn't buy it for themselves, so I saved my mom's spare change to buy it for them. I haven't had lunch for a week. Please don't tell them."

Looking at the pure and kind-hearted Finn, the group's mood grew heavier.

A child's world was always simple. His mom didn't want to tell him the truth, probably for this reason.

If he knew his two sisters were dead, how devastated would he be?

It was better to let time gradually fade this secret until he could handle it.

"Okay, we'll keep your secret. Remember, we're cops." Alexander ruffled his hair, feeling a pang of sadness.

The more he looked at Finn, the more he liked him.

"By the way, do you know where your sisters' diaries are?"

"Yeah, they're on my sisters' desk."

"Can you help us find them?"

"Sure." Finn, being a helpful child, agreed immediately and walked to his sisters' room.

He opened the drawer but didn't see the diaries.

Finn searched the drawer thoroughly, puzzled. "They were here. Where did they go..."

The group watched Finn's every move, knowing he didn't seem to be pretending.

It seemed the diaries had indeed been taken.

That meant their previous theory was correct. The diaries must contain some secrets.

"If the diaries had something harmful, they might have been destroyed by now."

"By whom? The killer?"

"The killer might not know about the diaries. I think it could be the sisters themselves."

Alexander disagreed with Zoey's guess. "I don't think so. I also like to write in a diary. Diaries hold too many memories that the brain can't always recall. Writing in a diary becomes a habit. Not writing for a day feels uncomfortable. Many people even want their diaries buried with them when they die."