Finn was frustrated but dared not raise his voice, murmuring under his breath, “Man, you''re one


    heck of an actor. When your wife was out cold, you were strutting around like some kind of


    avenging angel, doctors were scared stiff of you. Now you''re bawling like you''ve been dealt the


    worst hand in life.”


    Colin said nothing, just stood there crying with tears falling on his shirt without bothering to wipe


    them away – it made him look so pitiful that I felt like I was the one in the wrong.


    With hisrge eyes and longshes, those teardrops were like mas for sympathy – I almost


    apologized on instinct.


    But then I thought, why should I? It wasn’t my fault; he had been ying dumb all this time.


    “Cut it out!” I threatened.


    Colin looked up at me, his voice choked with emotion. “Phoebe… don’t be mad at me.”


    Stunned silence fell over Ste, Finn, and Robin – their stares seemed to scold me silently, pleading


    for me toy off the poor guy.


    He was getting all the sympathy.


    It’s true what they say, change the gender and the whole game flips. If he were a woman, he''d be


    the queen of maniptors, making even Melody look like an amateur. His tears had everyone


    rallying to his side in an instant.


    I averted my gaze, pulling out my phone from my pocket and logging into my parents’ ID to hand the


    journal over to Robin.


    Robin browsed through it with a perplexed look. “I get why parents would dote on their kid, noting


    down every milestone from the day they’re born, but Phoebe’s folks… documenting from day one of


    pregnancy?”


    Scratching his head, Robin continued, “I mean, that’s understandable too, but this method of


    recording, it feels off, doesn’t it?”


    Down to the minute, the precision was uncanny.


    Finn leaned in for a closer look. “Seriously… this doesn’t look like someone charting a child’s growth


    – it’s more like data from ab experiment.”


    The water ss Ste handed me dropped with a “clunk.”


    Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.


    I looked up at Finn, breathing hard.


    Colin was instantly at my side, covering my ears. “Don’t listen, don’t look. Phoebe, if you can’t


    remember, then don’t try… I’m here.”


    Now I was almost certain Colin knew way more than he let on, and he wasn’t nning to share, not


    even to clear up my suspicions.


    Was his silence a way to protect me?


    “Spot on detective work…” Robin was struck by a realization. “I knew there was something fishy


    about that journal – it reeks of experimental data.”


    Finn loved apliment, chin held high. “Well, what do you expect? When I was running tests on


    lab rats, this is how I’d record – today’s reaction, same time tomorrow, the rat’s condition, and so on,


    for months, sometimes even monitoring slow-acting drugs for a year or more.”


    My fingers tingled as I instinctively sought sce in Colin’s embrace.


    What was I afraid of?


    “Maybe it’s just the way schrly parents keep records. Phoebe’s dad is a medical doctor with


    international training, and her mom’s a professor at Sea City Apex University. It’s not far-fetched


    they’d have such habits,” Ste suggested. “Phoebe told me once her dad started his own thing in


    medical tech and hospital construction after leaving Westerly Pharma, nearly went bankrupt over


    dyed payments for the Sacred Hospital’s new wing…”


    Robin and Finn nodded in agreement. “Could be.”


    Finn’s phone buzzed.


    “Officer Finn, Melody’s in trouble!”


    The serial case took another turn – Melody was the catalyst that set everything in motion again.