Duke showed none of the panic Joey had expected. Instead, he looked at him suspiciously.
"I don't think I ever said my sister's last name was Eunus?"
Was he lying? No, at least not judging by his expression.
"Let's go back first," Nome suggested, his voice cold as his gaze swept over the two of them.
"All right." Joey nodded calmly.
Outwardly, he showed no sign of anything unusual, but subconsciously, he had already marked Duke as his prime suspect.
In a simply furnished room at the Lia Church.
The three of them sat around a round table.
Smoke hung in the air, and the ashtray was piled with cigarette butts. Nome smoked irritably.
It helped ease his emotions a little before they exploded.
"I think it's time we were honest with each other," Joey said, his expression serious.
Nome and Duke merely looked at him in surprise. Neither answered.
Joey held up one finger.
"First, I need to know Freya Polly's true identity."
After saying that, Joey fell silent, fixing Nome with a piercing stare.
Everything Nome had shown over the past few days was enough to prove that their relationship was far from simple.
Nome hesitated for a moment, knowing that, at this point, they had to share information.
Then he said heavily, "There's nothing I can't tell you. Her father used to be my teammate."
It seemed to stir up unpleasant memories. His voice abruptly stopped, and several seconds passed before he continued. "He died."
For some reason, discovering that their relationship wasn't what he had imagined left Joey feeling considerably more at ease.
Joey's furrowed brow relaxed, and he turned toward Duke, who had kept his head lowered.
This was the man he had flagged as a prime suspect from the very beginning, only to overlook