Chapter Three: Do Not Listen a Third Time

Xingyao's fingers missed one beat. Tears filled his eyes. "But every day, I want to be." The gun fell onto the carpet. At 12:13, the black key sank into the piano. The electric lights returned as though nothing had happened. Xingyao stepped out of Chengjun's arms. Without speaking, she picked up the pistol and gave it to Minglan. Then she wrote on a page: I SAW THE DRIVER ON THE NIGHT OF THE CRASH. She handed the message to Shen Yan, turned, and pointed at the mirror. It reflected the five of them and the piano. But beside the instrument stood a woman who was not in the room. Shen Qinghe wore the white dress from the old photograph, her hands resting on the shoulders of an invisible child. She looked at Shen Yan, silently forming the words: