Capítulo 9: Message From The Dead

He was first to get to the shores of the river, Styx.

And had a danake for the ferryman Charon

But choose to wander the shore instead

A choice "Never to Rest In Peace"

The fog rendered the moon blind, their car light seemed to not affect the thick dew. Even nightwalkers will find it difficult to take a stroll on a night like this. Jack had earlier visited the graveyard during the day which made it easy for them to find their way through the crispy night. The silence of the night contradicted the bird's chirpy sounds heard during the day. It's a cemetery after all, not a nightclub, so the silence was expected.

"Turn off the light". Ralph instructed Jack who was driving as they got closer to the graveyard. Jack did so immediately. It was 2a.m they were fully aware that it was usually at this time that Men of the underworld moved. Ralph and Jack had left the mansion without anyone noticing them. For a mission as important as this, he could trust no other person aside from Jack. They were going to do this as quickly as possible and return to the mansion before anyone notice their absence.

"How much longer?" He asked.

"Just up ahead. We'll be there soon". Jack replied and kept his focus on the road. He couldn't see a thing but seemed to be aware of where the road was, probably because he took note of the paths during the day.

Jack rode a distance before stopping.

"We'll walk from here". He said stopping the car engine.

They both stepped out of the car. Jack opened the boot of the car to take out their guns, shovels, and black gloves. Anyone who sees them in their black outfit will know for certain that these men were out for evil. Their black hoodie coat covered half of their faces and certainly, no one will recognize them. They both wore their black gloves while holding their guns and shovels as they moved on into the dark crispy night.

They were at West Norwood Cemetery. Five days ago Ralph had read Thomas folded note which the young man had handed over to him along with his pendant before the young man fell off London's bridge. The secret unveiled by the note had brought Ralph down here, He needed to confirm if that note bears the truth. Even though knowing the truth does not always set one free, The truth sometimes comes with a great burden attached to its revelation. Ralph still wanted to know the truth. He would rather live with such a burden rather than be devoid of the truth.

"Don Ralph, let me help you". Jack tried to help Ralph hold his shovel. He knew Ralph's hands still hurt from the fire incident at the DeAngelis ball.

"Never mind. Just Lead the way". Ralph replied stopping him, as they headed toward the tombstone of Olive Campbell. Olive was Thomas's childhood friend who died three days before Vadaly's death. it was normal for people to die in the underworld so no one felt anything was off about his death or the fact that only Thomas had buried him.

As a parting gift, Thomas had listed the name of the gang responsible for his uncle's death. At the end of the note after he had listed the name of the gang he added the words "…the traitor is a Wesley and the secret rests with Olive".

Ralph had spent the last two days searching for Olive's grave and now he has found it. As they walked through the night toward the cemetery gate, Jack heard voices and signaled Ralph to stop. They both took out their guns and tiptoed closer to see the people talking, it was dark so the men seemed not to have noticed them as they were so engrossed in whatever conversation they were having.

"I guess the dead are having visitors tonight", Ralph said with a hint of sarcasm.

Two men stood at the gate chatting as they stood guard in their black outfits and combat boots. It was their voices, Jack had heard.

Jack aimed to shoot them down but was stopped by Ralph.

"Not now, and we won't use the gun" he whispered. "Take the one on the left and I'll take the one on the right". He instructed. Jack understood immediately and they both moved discreetly toward the men.

They got pretty close to the men before they noticed them, they were distracted by their conversation, Jack moved swiftly before the men could react and used the bottom of his shovel to hit one of the men's heads knocking him cold with blood running down his head. The other man moved closer to Ralph and threw a punch. Ralph dodged it easily and threw a jab with his right hand. The man fell backward as Ralph's fist welcomed his face. It felt too easy. Jack dragged both of them back to the car and locked them inside the car boot before they proceeded inside the cemetery.

Three men were already at Olive's grave, they seemed to be there for the same purpose as Ralph, one kept watch while holding a sharp knife and his gun could be seen tucked in his jacket, while the other two were digging up Olive's grave. Some people already seemed to be aware of Thomas's lead.

'How could this be?' Thomas must have also given the lead about uncle Vadaly's death to another Mafia gang. The man was a traitor till the end. Ralph had no regret in killing him. He could not understand why a Wesley will allow himself to be used as a pawn by the enemies in this game of chess.

Jack attempted to dash toward them to attack them the moment the men came into sight but Ralph stopped him. He had a plan in mind which he explained to Jack and for the next forty minutes, both of them watched the three men dig Olive's grave from a close distance.

Ralph wondered why Thomas had gone to such lengths to hide the culprit. He couldn't take his mind off the fact that Thomas's note claimed that A Wesley was responsible.

'Which Wesley will dare?'

'Who was the Killer?'

These questions beclouded his mind but he was certain, he would have answers to them soon enough. Soon the Shovel sound stopped. Ralph saw the two men who were digging climb out of the grave. He and Jack had immediately moved toward them quietly according to his plans.

"Are you done?" The man standing guard asked the fellows who stepped out.

"Yes. You can go search for what we fucking came for. Before the words could drop out of the other man's mouth, Jack who had sneaked closer struck his head from behind with his shovel.

The other guy standing guard tried to quickly pull out his gun but Ralph's fist sent him down cold with a double jab. The third man dashed toward Ralph, he was a very tall man, and he swung his shovel to hit Ralph, but Ralph ducked dodging the deadly weapon and in return, he gave him a rear hook with his fist which bent the man over to make up for the height difference, he then followed with a clean uppercut. He felt a slight pain from his previous injury but the uppercut was enough to knock the man cold.

"Are you alright Don?" Jack asked

"Yes, and you?"

"Yes, Boss."

"Good. They are done digging. Get the torch".Ralph instructed as he moved to get one of the touches one of the men was holding.

Ralph had stopped Jack from attacking earlier because he wanted this man to do the hard work by digging up the grave so all they had to do was pick up what they came for, just like taking candy from a baby. And he avoided using a gun so that they won't alert the neighborhood as there may be more men standing guard elsewhere. This had to be done with absolute secrecy. Ralph took the touch to observe the faces of the men they had taken down. One of the men looked familiar. He had seen him before but couldn't remember where.

Jack stood guard while he climbed down the grave. A foul smell emanated as he opened Olive's casket. The body was decayed. Ralph used the touch to observe the casket in search of what he came for. He found it. It was at the head of the casket, close to Olive's head. It was a journal. Ralph opened it and from the first page, he knew the killer.

He had found out the kingpin of his uncle's killer. Of course, a man like Thomas will never want to go down alone. He had left more than a clue, so Ralph would be able to catch the actual killers. Thomas Wesley, a bastard, and whistleblower till the end.

Ralph looked at the first page again to be certain he read it correctly before tucking it into his pocket.

There was no mistake.

"THIS WAS THE DIARY OF —————————-

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