Light, prolonged

春分 [30] / [33]

These feelings never made the situation better. Sometimes she called out the names of other men by "mistake" when they slept together. He read messages from men on her cellphone. One or two times he answered her phone while she was taking a shower, where she received a call from a drunk man who wanted to meet her “one more time”.

Her affair with the middle-aged guy was the first of many times where Alexander had almost called it quits, and had he been the man he was now―had he not felt so responsible to Violet for her protection―he would have followed through. But he couldn't. Not then. Over the course of several months, Alexander and Violet's relationship would have ups and downs, and not the normal kind. Instead of hills and valleys, theirs was plagued by treacherous mountains and nigh insurmountable canyons. He was sick of her double-life. He gradually forgot anniversaries or appointments with her. She complained at first, but the complaints gradually decreased amidst his disinterest.

When he caught her banging Lucas in her house, he was shocked, but from deep inside his mind, he seemed to already expect this situation to happen someday in the future. And that was last time. But none of this mattered. Alexander knew this. As far as he was concerned, he and Violet were through. Done. There was nothing else to be said, and nothing else to be gained by replaying these memories.

What mattered now was the case against Sarah, his one-night paramour and would-be murderer who was currently still at large. He and Cynthia still had precious little to go on, but, after a couple days, what they did have bore unexpected fruit. Alexander received an email from the Italian police concerning their mysterious Lucia di Bari.

There was a woman named Lucia Marino, who was born December 15th, 1933, in Bari, Italy. She was a very old woman who had a grandson, who was her only family member. She reported him missing to the local police station a few years ago. He left to travel the US, and hadn't come back since. She lost contact with him, and didn't know if he was alive or not.

There was a missing persons report filed by her about her grandson, Marcello. 30 years old, dark blond, etc. She didn't write about a tattoo on the body. But it still seemed worthwhile to compare the mummy's DNA to Lucia. It was their only lead, and both Alexander and Cynthia were willing to take a leap of faith.