FINALE FIREWORKS (II)
"This is Sean Mercer's diary," Marcus Shaw said. "I've marked the key passages with sticky tabs for you, so you can find the important parts quickly. Just look at those pages."
Vera Magnus scrambled to open it, her eyes darting across the pages, turning one after another until her vision began to blur.
"...so many men using her, how could it be clean... free babysitter... eating her food, spending her money, just save the earnings... she really thinks she's something... Xiaoyu, just wait, I'll be back soon to marry you..."
Vera Magnus, who had been calm, began shaking her head violently after reading the marked passages.
"Impossible. Impossible! Where did you get this? I don't believe it!"
Her voice cracked. She locked her eyes on Marcus Shaw, daring him to contradict her.
Marcus Shaw spoke in a low, steady voice. "Behind the world map on the wall—he'd carved a hole in the corrugated steel. If the lower-left corner hadn't started peeling up, I'd never have noticed."
Vera Magnus kept shaking her head, tears flying everywhere, murmuring fragments that made no sense. She flipped to several unmarked pages and read those too.
"I'm told you taught him his writing and pinyin. So you'd recognize his handwriting. And the details inside—those aren't something I could fabricate."
She stopped shaking her head. Wiping her tear-blurred eyes, she strained to make out the words on the page.
It was unmistakably his handwriting—she knew it by heart. Besides the crooked strokes and the separated left-right structures of his characters, there was his habit of writing third-tone marks unevenly—one stroke short, one long, like a row of tiny checkmarks.
Marcus Shaw pulled something else from his file bag and tossed it to her. "And this savings passbook. I'll also tell you—I went to your home village and verified the details. There is indeed a woman named Liu Yu, twenty-five, small features, not bad-looking, but mute. Years ago, when Sean Mercer went back on business, an old man in the village played matchmaker. They took one look at each other and knew. They made a pact: he'd work hard for a few more years, save enough money, come back to the village, buy a house, and they'd make it official. Liu Yu has remained single, waiting all this time for Sean Mercer to come back and marry her."
Vera Magnus sat frozen, as if she'd been struck by an acupuncture needle that paralyzed every nerve. She suddenly remembered—there had been a time or two, visiting the brothers' graves, when she'd spotted a thin young woman standing in the tall grass, gazing in her direction. She hadn't thought much of it at the time.
Marcus Shaw picked up his cup and took two more sips.
Vera Magnus swept the enamel mug off the table. It crashed to the floor with a piercing clang. Then, teeth bared, she tore the diary and the passbook to shreds.
"Impossible! I don't believe it!"
---
The Lunar New Year had just passed when a snowstorm arrived, blanketing the world for four straight days. The flakes were enormous—larger than goose down—like someone up there pulling at batting, muttering endlessly. The morning news warned residents to watch for branches broken under the weight. The world had been stripped of color. Stepping outside required sunglasses, or your eyes would blur and water from the glare.
After six and a half months, the "6·09" serial murder case was officially closed. This morning, Marcus Shaw was attending the trial.
Before he left, Nora put the baby in the crib and came over to tie his tie. "How do you not look any older? People are going to think I'm the sugar mama when we walk down the street together."
Marcus Shaw laughed, touched her newly cropped hair. "Don't overdo it. Go lie down for a bit."
After playing with the baby for a moment, Marcus Shaw put on his shoes and headed for the door, only for Helen Shaw to come darting out of the side bedroom. "Hey, hey—don't forget your keys!"
Two gleaming new keys, strung on a rabbit zodiac keychain. Marcus Shaw weighed them in his hand, then slipped them into his pocket. "Mom, don't tire yourself out. After the trial I'll go see Jinwu's mother. I'll try to be home early."
---
The courtroom was bright and immaculate, packed with people. A ring of reporters surrounded the proceedings, some wielding still cameras, others shoulder-mounted video rigs.
The municipal intermediate court found the defendant, Vera Magnus, guilty of intentional homicide, assaulting a police officer, false accusation and framing, illegal acquisition of citizens' personal information, arson, and intentional injury. Multiple crimes combined, the sentence: death, with permanent deprivation of political rights, to be carried out immediately.
The gavel fell. Its crack echoed through the chamber.
Cameras flashed at Vera Magnus in a frenzy, jostling to capture a shot of her remorse.
But from the opening of the trial to this moment, she had been perfectly calm.
As the bailiffs moved to escort her away, she raised her hand toward the presiding judge and spoke in a clear, loud voice: "Your Honor, I have a request."
The courtroom froze.
The presiding judge frowned. "You wish to appeal?"
Vera Magnus shook her head. "Sean Mercer took me to the hospital once and had an IUD inserted. Before I die, I want it removed. I want to leave clean."
A collective gasp rippled through the gallery.
The judge rapped the gavel twice more. "Order. Order." He turned to confer with the two associate judges in hushed tones, then cleared his throat. "The defendant's reasonable request is granted."
Suddenly, a flash of white light. Every head in the room turned toward the windows.
Across the street stood three figures—a man who might have been a father, flanked by a son and a daughter. Before them sat a large red box, and from it, fireballs rocketed into the sky. Each one climbed to its apex, then bloomed into a thousand points of light, dazzling and piercing, vanishing in an instant.
No sound reached them through the glass. No colors could be distinguished from the washed-out sky.
Marcus Shaw sat in the first row, far left. In that instant, he saw Vera Magnus's lips curve upward—a smile of extraordinary peace—the same expression she'd worn the very first day he met her, when she'd pleaded on Finn Carter's behalf.
(THE END)