Chapter 36: Fountain Pen!

“All right, Agent, you’ve already confirmed Sabina’s safety!” Just as Roan was carefully studying the small balcony outside the villa’s second floor, weighing how he might climb up, Fraser shouted loudly from the bedroom:

“Now, I have a demand! I want my dog! Do you understand? I want you to bring it here, right now, immediately! I want to go to hell together with it! If not, I’ll kill Sabina and we’ll go to hell together, you hear me?”

“???”

Roan’s mind was a jumble of question marks at Fraser’s demand. He simply couldn’t fathom the logic of this serial killer, but now was not the time to ask why. So he shouted back:

“Okay, Fraser, no problem! But you need to tell me where your dog is now. I’ll contact my colleagues and have them bring it to you right away, all right?”

“My dog is at my home, the address is in Queens, New York.”

At the mention of his dog, Fraser grew inexplicably agitated again.

“I’ll give you half an hour. If I don’t see my dog in half an hour, then we’ll all go to hell together!”

“Hey! Hey! Hey! No need to get nervous!”

Roan pulled out his phone, typed in the address Fraser gave him, and sent it to Mona, instructing her to send someone immediately to find the dog Fraser spoke of. At the same time, he asked Mona to quickly pull up Fraser’s file and send it to him. Then he tried to calm Fraser:

“I’ve already notified my colleagues of your request. They’ll go find your dog as fast as they can and bring it here. Please, try to stay calm, all right?”

Hearing Fraser’s agreement from inside the bedroom, Roan let out a slow breath of relief.

——

Fifth Investigation Unit Office.

After receiving Roan’s message, Mona immediately handed it to August, then began pulling up Fraser’s file as fast as she could.

“Ryder, head to the district in Queens and find the dog Fraser mentioned. Get to the villa as quickly as possible.”

“No problem, sir.”

Ryder, built like a tank, turned and left the office at once upon hearing August’s order. August looked toward Mona and asked,

“Well, did you find Fraser’s file?”

“Yes!”

Mona’s fingers flew across the keyboard. The moment she heard August’s question, she hit the spacebar and pointed to the text on the computer screen:

“Andrei Fraser, 35 years old, never attended high school, no family, moves frequently. The house in Queens was rented two years ago.

A year ago, Fraser went to the hospital for surgery after suffering a genital injury. The doctor initially planned to suture the wound as normal, but Fraser insisted that his genitals were already gone, so the doctor could only close the wound.

Later, in response to police questioning, Fraser claimed he was injured by accident while cooking. However, the doctor’s notes indicate that the wound bore the bite marks of a large animal, leading to suspicions that Fraser’s genitals were bitten off by his own dog.”

Virenis: “...”

August: “...”

Outside the villa, Roan read the information Mona sent him and was left speechless, not knowing what to say.

But soon, Roan understood Fraser’s desire to have the dog brought here and to die together with it: just like the ancient eunuchs of the East, he wanted to die whole.

“So much time has passed, who knows where that thing ended up after the dog passed it,” Roan muttered, shaking his head. He slipped his phone into his pocket and continued chatting with Fraser, soothing him while scanning the surroundings, preparing to find a chance to climb up to the second-floor balcony.

He couldn’t let this drag on. The longer it lasted, the more agitated the killer would become, increasing the risk to Sabina—and the less likely Roan would collect his million-dollar reward.

——

Watching Roan on TV, speaking even as he began to move, Bruosen’s eyes narrowed at the cocktail party.

Standing nearby, Congressman Matei noticed Bruosen’s expression, raised his glass for a toast, and asked with a smile:

“In your professional opinion, can the agent on TV rescue the hostage?”

“Impossible, Congressman,” Bruosen replied with a broad smile. “There’s nowhere outside the villa to climb. Not only does the killer forbid agents from going upstairs, but he’s also poured gasoline all over the upstairs bedroom. So the first problem is simply: how can the agent reach the killer on the second floor?

Second, even if he faces the killer, the agent won’t dare shoot for fear of endangering the hostage—while the killer still has a gun. To rescue the hostage successfully, with only the agent we see on video, is simply impossible.”

Even as he spoke, Bruosen was hoping Roan would act soon, and he was already considering what role he should play to help Virenis clean up the mess if Roan’s plan failed and the hostage was killed.

“Sir.”

After hanging up, Matthews approached Bruosen. Bruosen shot him a sidelong glance, remaining silent.

Matthews’ heart immediately sank.

Back at the Fifth Investigation Unit, everyone saw Roan begin to move. August frowned deeply, Mona clenched her fists in nervous anticipation, and Virenis tilted her head, her expression grave as she asked:

“August, how much longer until SWAT arrives?”

August checked the clock, his face grim.

“Twenty-five minutes at the earliest. Should we notify Roan...”

“No.”

Virenis cut him off, crossing her legs to another position, her eyes fixed on Roan on the screen, her tone resolute:

“Trust Roan Greenwood.”

“...All right.”

For a moment, every viewer outside the television nursed different thoughts, but what they all shared was that none could tear their eyes from the screen.

Unaware of the world watching, Roan was negotiating with Fraser, trying to get himself inside the villa and up to the second floor.

“Fraser, I just got word from my colleague: your dog is on its way.”

Glancing at the system’s pale blue screen, Roan took a deep breath and closed it, then shouted,

“I’m authorized to make a deal with you, but I need to come inside the villa first to make sure there are no other hostages, and to check that there are no other surprises in the house. All right?”

“FU-K YOU!”

Fraser’s voice rang out from the bedroom, loud and furious.

“No way! Don’t try to fool me! I have to see my dog first, then you can come in!”

“Fraser, I must come in first,” Roan replied gently, his tone soft and soothing, reasoning with him. “Only after I’m sure the room is safe can I bring your dog inside with me. All right?”

“Bullshit!”

Fraser still wouldn’t yield, shouting, “How do I know you’re not lying? What if you come in and shoot me?”

“How about this?” Roan, peering through the villa’s ground floor window, spotted several pens in the living room. Smiling, he said,

“I’ll leave all my gear outside. I won’t take anything in with me, okay?”

“...Are you sure?”

“Absolutely!”

Hearing Roan’s firm answer, Fraser laughed.

“OK, then take off your gear and come in right now!”

“No problem!”

Roan laughed as well.