Marco's home is a two-story building with a certain age on the outskirts of downtown Reno, far away from the riverside walk.
Not long after Dean knocked on the door.
Marco opened the door wearing pajamas. There were two light bags under his eyes. His skin was sagging and his hair was disheveled. It was obvious that he had not slept well last night.
"Have you finished talking to Jero? Did you find anything?"
"Yeah. Jero was full of praise for Luben, instead of degrading him as a waste as you said." Dean walked through the entrance to the sofa in the living room, sat down on it, and looked around -
This house is much more luxuriously decorated than the apartment. It has a rather grand feel. The sofas, tables and chairs are all made of expensive mahogany. Ceramic vases are placed from the entrance to the living room. The gold and silver foil wallpaper is on the side wall of the stairs leading to the second floor. There are portraits hanging on all of them. Judging from their appearance and flaxen hair color, they should all be of Van Helsing family descent, perhaps their ancestors.
Even the petal-like lampshades hanging from the ceiling are exquisite and look like antique works of art.
"And I can now confirm that Ruben's disappearance is related to his last autobiography, Ruben Van Helsing."
"That's just a broken book." The old man shook his head and sat on the sofa opposite him, his eyebrows tightened, "Why do you always get stuck in this place."
"Intuition..." Dean tapped his temples, his eyes shining brightly, "It's a bit unbelievable to say, but I mainly rely on intuition in my investigation. This is my strongest weapon."
"Besides, I don't want to beat around the bush with you anymore. I'll put my words here now. You change the subject as soon as I mention that book. If you haven't read it, how could you have this attitude?"
"You must have a copy, give it to me," Dean stared into his old employer's eyes and said without any doubt, "Otherwise I will give up Luben's commission now and return to Las Vegas, and I will not take the reward. "
The threatening words fell to the ground.
The air in the hall was still, and the dim light seemed to be fixed in the photo by a camera.
Marco's old cheek was stunned for a moment, and the wrinkles on his face squirmed like living sandworms.
The expression is struggling.
But he didn't say a word.
Dean stood up;
"Goodbye then, Marco. Thank you for taking care of me these two days. Next time I come to Las Vegas, I'll ask you to take a look."
Amidst the sound of hurried footsteps, Dean, who was counting silently, strode towards the door, pressed the door handle with his right hand, and turned it.
"I'll give you a copy." A decadent voice came from behind.
Dean's mouth curved slightly.
Then, he got the book as he wished, sat on the sofa and started reading under the light of the living room.
It is very simple and has no cover. It is composed of dense drafts and has been compiled into a volume. It has more than 100 pages in total and is in very new condition. It seems that it has not been read very often.
"More than half a year ago, I took advantage of Lu Ben to go to the bar to drink at night, secretly entered his apartment, took the manuscript and copied it." The old man was holding a cup of warm black tea, as if he wanted to warm his cold heart, but he He was hunched over and looked extremely helpless, as if he had aged several years in an instant. "I'm also worried that he will impulsively burn books again."
"Why should you care about your son secretly instead of being more upright? As a father, don't always hide your concern in your heart."
Dean glanced at the first page of the book, which began to clarify the identity of the protagonist.
"My name is Reuben van Helsing, the last descendant of an ancient family who immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands...a third-rate writer who has lived up to the honor of his ancestors and accomplished nothing."
While laughing at himself, Luben began to talk about his growing up experience. Dean had heard it from Jero and Marco before, so he would not repeat it again.
But there are many more details in the book, such as Luben’s complaints about his father Marco’s emphasis on work and neglect of himself.
"A tyrant who only gives orders but never listens..."
"The macho Hitler II..."
"The egg-cutting maniac at the pet clinic..." Dean's mouth twitched, and Marco next to him also looked embarrassed.
In addition, the book is full of adolescent Lu Ben, who has various fantasies about the goddess in his dreams - big blue eyes, straight nose, small cherry mouth, curvy figure, and likes to wear a graceful red dress. She The most distinctive feature is a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth.
"Why does Luben's dream goddess look familiar?"
"That's right, exactly the same as my wife and his mother Mary." Marco slammed the table and said angrily, "This morally corrupt brat is just imagining things in his heart, but he actually wrote it openly and openly in the book. My own shameful fantasy, this is really against ethics.”
"This behavior brings shame to the entire family!"
"And it's not over yet..." Marco took a deep breath, his face began to turn red, and he growled, "There will be more ridiculous plots later!"
Dean continued to look behind him.
The process of Luben's growth into a down-and-out writer was mixed with a lot of Luben's complaints about his bad luck and unappreciated talent.
The writing is gorgeous, and the descriptions are delicate and vivid. The appearance and clothing of the characters are as if they are before your eyes.
But as a reader, Dean doesn't just want to read some exciting content. He prefers to feel sorry for himself.
A glance at a young man deserves to be thrown into the street!
…
Skip the gripes.
Dean turned all the way to the last part.
A turning point in life.
Luben, who had wasted 36 years, heroically saved the United States on the Virginia Street Bridge while drunk, and then poured out his feelings to each other.
The name of the rescued woman was also named Mary, which was very similar in appearance to Luben's mother's name.
The reason why she committed suicide was because her ex-husband was having an affair, and she couldn't bear it, so she went to Reno for a no-responsibility divorce.
After the divorce was successful, the man left gracefully.
But the feelings she paid for her past were not worth it, and she committed suicide impulsively.
This is how the woman in red describes her ex-husband - he is six feet three inches tall, thin, and likes to wear jeans, casual shoes, and a large black coat. Her short, flaxen hair with strands of silvery white was combed into a side parting with hair wax. She had a high nose bridge, high cheekbones, deep wrinkles on her face, and a prim and serious appearance.
He also has a bad temper, is stubborn, rigid, and has a strong sense of machismo.
A pet clinic was also opened.
Dean read this, looked up at the old man opposite, and his pupils shrank.
Isn’t this ex-husband Marco?
"This bastard, you traitor!" The old man suddenly stood up from the sofa with grief and anger, "I regard Mary as my only true love. Even if she died long ago, I will never marry."
"My dear son made up random things in the book, slandering my character, saying that I had an affair, saying that I broke Mary's heart! He made me into a heartless man."
"What kind of son would insult his father like this?"
The old man was shaking with anger, his beard and gray hair standing on end.
And Dean finally understood why Marco looked so ugly when he mentioned this book before - it was a real family scandal!
In the book, Luben, as the protagonist, snatched Mary away from her father, a playboy.
What is this?
The son stole his father's lover?
Shocking!
Is this the writer's true temperament, a brain defect, or the depravity of human nature?
"You're right, Lu Ben is too shameless." Dean followed the old man's words and reprimanded,
"But now, let's calm down for the moment, it's important to find someone."
Dean turned another page, and the depressed Luben and the suicidal Mary leaned on their shoulders and slowly leaned into each other.
Then he turned to the end of the page.
The new love comes to an abrupt end.
Dean's face darkened and he looked crazy, "The lower half?"
"Before he could copy another book, he threw them all into the river to feed the fish." Marco pressed his liver, opened and closed his mouth like a catfish, and kept taking deep breaths.
"Shet!"
Dean couldn't help but lower his head and cursed.
"Are you kidding me? There is only half a book, how can I find someone?"
"Dean, you made me experience the pain of being insulted by my son again," Marco's face turned blue, "Now tell me, what clues did you find in this half of the book?"
…
clue…
Dean rubbed his swollen temples and pondered for a moment. The five clues he had found in the past two days passed through his mind and he merged them together——
Ruben Van Helsing is a down-and-out writer who lives on the financial aid of his father, Marco. He loves the cultural history of his hometown, Reno, the "Divorce Capital of the World," and fantasizes about finding a woman like his mother, Mary, all day long. What an excellent girlfriend.
Finally one day, Ruben wrote an autobiography based on the history of Reno, and the heroine in the autobiography was based on Mary.
…
Based on this clue, Dean made a guess.
"Before Luben disappeared, he met this woman in red who committed suicide in real life, and then wrote her into the book?"
"Then he left Reno with the woman?"
"When we find a woman, we can follow the clues to find him!"
After all, the plots in many writers' stories are adapted from their own personal experiences.
When Marco heard this, he shook his head categorically.
"That brat can't hide things in his heart. If he encounters this kind of opportunity for a hero to save a beauty, and succeeds, he will definitely tell Jero and talk to me."
"He'll be grinning from ear to ear for quite some time."
"But in recent years he has been feeling depressed."
"If there was such a woman who looked exactly like Mary in reality, I would definitely have seen her, but not."
…
Both his father Marco and his best friend Jero denied the existence of the heroine in the book.
It seems that it was not Reuben Van Helsing who rescued the woman in red and then wrote her into the story.
…
"Are you out of ideas? Man, stop worrying about this crappy book." Marco looked as expected and closed the pages with his withered hands. "The books are all fake and ridiculous fantasies. They can't be changed." If it becomes a reality, you should change the direction of your investigation!"
"Wait, fantasy can't become reality?" Dean suddenly stared straight into Marco's eyes and clenched his fists suddenly.
"No, you are wrong. The plot of the book may become reality."
This is a medium-difficulty event with supernatural elements, so anything is possible.
Dean reviewed the previous clues again, his brain was running at high speed, and he was thinking reversely.
It’s not that Lu Ben wrote about his personal experience.
Instead, Luben was written first, and then the plot in the book came true.
Fantasy comes true!
Mary, the woman in red, ran out of the book and was about to jump off the Virginia Street Bridge. After Luben rescued her, the two disappeared together!
As expected, Luben's experiences after his disappearance were recorded in the second half of the lost book!
…
This thought together.
Dean felt as if he had taken a sip of sweet, thirst-quenching cold water in the hot summer and breathed a long sigh of relief.
The investigation progress in the system also jumped suddenly, from 40% to 45%.
But it was lower than he expected.
Is there no definite evidence?
…
Marco looked at the young detective whose expression was changing, giggling and frowning, and then thinking about how he was inexplicably entangled in a torn book, strong distrust flashed in his eyes.
"Tribeca wouldn't recommend me a psycho, right?"
…
"But it still needs to be verified." Dean turned a blind eye to the old man's strange gaze and said to himself, "I have to ask experienced people, does the situation where books come true exist in folklore?"
(End of chapter)
