What Does This Mean?

Lynch's words moved Mountbatten deeply. The man looked at Lynch with growing admiration, and an idea had already begun to form in his mind.

If Lynch could read, he could bring him into the auxiliary police force. The chief had approved it. Having someone so eloquent by his side would make his work much easier.

Lynch glanced at Mountbatten and felt just as pleased.

The man wasn't very clever. If Lynch could join his team, he'd not only get a pay raise but also gain a little authority here. He wouldn't have to do the kind of backbreaking work the original Lynch had done.

He might even get medical care for half price.

If they refused to lower the price, he could threaten them by invoking Officer Mountbatten.

That was right. He'd already quickly figured out what job he wanted and was working hard to get it.

He hoped Mr. Mountbatten would recognize his personal charm.

Lynch continued showering Officer Mountbatten with compliments, grinning from ear to ear. The officer was so pleased that he nearly took Lynch straight away to complete the hiring paperwork.

Fortunately, the situation at hand stopped him from doing that.

Two officers had begun searching Klein's home. One of them, a gray-eyed officer, came over and introduced himself. "Dunn Smith."

Before Lynch or Klein could introduce themselves, he continued.

"Do you know Welch McGowan?"

Lynch didn't, of course, and immediately shook his head.

He felt the original Lynch had been caught up in this through sheer bad luck. If he hadn't accidentally stopped Klein, he'd probably still be working diligently at the factory right now!

"No, you should know him. Three days ago, someone saw you talking with him."

Dunn Smith turned to look at Lynch.

Lynch frowned.

He didn't remember that happening, and neither did the original Lynch.

"When was this? If I'm not mistaken, I was working at the factory three days ago. We're very busy there and hardly ever get a break."

Lynch defended himself.

According to the original Lynch's memories, he hadn't stopped working for a moment three days ago.

Dunn studied him for a while, then said gently, "We've already verified what the witnesses told us. They did see you, and they weren't lying."

"But I really was at work!"

Lynch frowned.

The original Lynch's memories showed that he'd worked nonstop three days ago.

Dunn watched him for a while, then finally relented.

"Yes, we also spoke to your boss. He confirmed that you were at work, but our repeated visits disturbed him so much that he refused to let you keep working there. He asked us to inform you."

Lynch's mouth fell open.

Wait, he'd already lost his job?

"We'll pay you two pounds in compensation to make up for your loss," Dunn continued.

Lynch immediately smiled.

"I never wanted that kind of job anyway. By the way, when can I collect the money?"

He'd already wanted to change jobs, and he was even trying to get hired right here. He hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise.

"You can collect it shortly. We brought the compensation with us to make up for the trouble we've caused you. You can sign for it."

"That's wonderful. Thank you!"

Lynch grasped Mr. Dunn's hand, almost ready to hug him.

No wonder the original story called him the best captain.

He wanted to join the Nighthawks and give the man a banner that read: "Beyonder of the People!"

But on second thought, he decided against it. The man probably didn't intend to tell them about Beyonders yet, and he hadn't even given Lynch his work address. Lynch couldn't just show up uninvited.

Otherwise, he'd be greeted not with a warm welcome, but with a cold prison cell.

"All right, enough about that. I wanted to ask whether you've noticed anything strange lately, or whether there's anything unusual about your coworkers."

If it wasn't the Welch Lynch knew, then someone must have been impersonating him.

And whoever had impersonated Lynch must have known him well. The person had imitated him so convincingly that everyone who knew Lynch thought it was really him.

Of course, it was also possible that Lynch himself had something wrong with him—that he'd been working at the factory and meeting Mr. Welch at the same time.

That sounded hard to believe, but it wasn't impossible in the world of Beyonders.

That had been Dunn's theory before meeting Lynch. But after seeing him, Dunn thought there was an eighty percent chance that Lynch wasn't a Beyonder.

His Spirituality wasn't strong, and there were signs of strain throughout his body—just what you'd expect from a laborer who'd worked for years.

Klein, on the other hand, seemed much more suspicious.

Dunn turned to Klein.

"When was the last time you saw Mr. Welch?"

"Why are you asking that?"

Klein couldn't help speaking up.

He had no idea why the police had suddenly shown up. Surely nothing had happened to Welch or Naia?

Remembering the original Klein's suicide, Klein's expression darkened.

Maybe something had happened to all of them.

Just as he'd suspected.

Dunn said softly, "Mr. Welch and Ms. Naia have both passed away."

"Were they murdered?" Klein asked quickly.

But he already knew the answer. They'd died by suicide, just like the original Klein.

Indeed, they had taken their own lives.

Dunn explained the strange circumstances surrounding the deaths of Welch and Naia, then asked again, "What was the last day you saw them?"

Klein thought for a moment. He'd recently been studying the Antigonus Notebook with Welch and Naia. The last time had probably been June 26.

"June 26. Last night."

Klein answered with certainty.

But Dunn soon shook his head and pointed out the mistake.

"Yesterday wasn't the twenty-sixth. It was the twenty-seventh."

Klein was about to nod, but then his eyes widened.

No. According to his memories, the last time he'd seen Welch and the others was on the twenty-sixth. They'd been discussing their interviews at Tingen University.

But the night before, Lynch had seen him return with the Antigonus Notebook. Klein had therefore assumed yesterday was the twenty-sixth. What if it wasn't? What had he done on the twenty-seventh?

A chill ran through Klein, and he quickly explained what had happened.

"I can't remember what happened yesterday. There's a whole day missing from my memory!"

"Are you making this up?" Officer Mountbatten asked, looking unconvinced.

But Dunn and the others seemed to believe him.

"That's possible. In a few days, we'll have an expert come and help you recover your memories. Mr. Trance, you'll need to come along as well."

Though Dunn thought Lynch was probably not a Beyonder, many Beyonders could pass for ordinary people.

Lynch nodded without objecting.

He knew that even if he refused, they wouldn't accept it.

When Lynch and Klein agreed, Dunn nodded and looked toward the two officers searching Klein's room.

One of them now had Klein's diary and the Antigonus Notebook in his hands.

"My..."

Klein reached out to get his diary back, but they refused.

They had to follow procedure.

"Don't worry. You'll get it back. For now, I need you to tell us what this sentence means."

Dunn pointed to the sentence written by the original Klein, his gaze sharp as he looked at him.