CHAPTER 9
The Ellimist was definitely was up to something.
I expected him to appear right inside the restaurant, sitting at one of the tables and saying "Yes, it was me all along." And he'd be snobbishly sipping green tea.
He didn't.
This was where Elle helped at, right? Way too much of a coincidence.
But maybe that might be something to look into. If DeGroot was really a Controller, I could catch him in the act. That this 'document' and my 'father' were nothing but a trap. And that it would also press on a more serious issue.
The Yeerks were after me. And I didn't know why.
I found a spot on a metal balcony next door. I could see everything through the front window. The restaurant was empty that time of the day. El was inside, cleaning the tables. At the far back, there was someone tending to the kitchen.
Ding!
"Welcome to Yan Fú Wok," Elle was quick on welcoming DeGroot. Then again, she's supposed to. "Wait, you're that lawyer from earlier."
"Hello to you too!" And DeGroot was quicker. "Fancy seeing you again."
"Right." Clearly, Elle was wary of this openness he was giving. "Are you here to pay for the delivery?"
"No, no. Still don't have my wallet. I'm here for another reason," he said with a straight face.
Her mouth twisted. Not what she wanted to hear.
"Is Mr Liang in today?"
"Yes." She wheeled around. "Kong Kong."
The person at the back stopped whatever he was doing and stepped out.
Mr Liang was another name that didn't tell me much. Other than that he's Chinese. He was a tall, broad man with grey hair. He wore a casual setup of a chef with an apron. And he was a bit intimidating. Even with those small round glasses.
"Hello, Mr Liang. My name is DeGroot." He handed over a name card to him. "I'm here to ask some questions. Won't take too much of your time."
Mr Liang took off his glasses and tried to read the card with tightly-squeezed eyes.
Then Elle said something to him. In Mandarin, I think. There was an exchange of speech between her and her uncle for a minute.
"Kong Kong doesn't know English very well."
"Ah. Is it possible you could translate what I'm saying to him?"
"Sure."
"I'm representing my client, Aria. I believe you know her."
Know her?
"Aria?" Elle didn't but the name seemed to ring a bell for Mr Liang. They talked in Mandarin again. "Her daughter? Oh."
Who's daughter? I kinda wished I had that translator chip like Ax had in his head.
"Yes. I can't discuss much but I've recently come across some information that your wife is the holder of a testator's estate plans. Is she in today?"
"Uh." Elle's right hand wrapped around her left wrist. She looked conflicted and glanced back at her relative for approval.
He didn't need to understand what DeGroot said. He nodded with a tiny hint of sadness.
"Mr DeGroot," she started. "My aunt, Kong Kong's wife...she passed away four years ago."
"Oh… I see…"
I couldn't see DeGroot's face from where I was. Only the back of his head. His slouched shoulders told another story.
"Mr DeGroot? Did you know her?"
"...No. Never met her before. My apology. I shouldn't have-"
"It's ok." Then Elle talked to Mr Liang in Chinese again. He shook his head. "We don't know any estate plans. But she left everything here. I could look for it."
"If possible. My client couldn't find them on her end either. From what I've heard, her mother lived here for some time?"
"Yes," Elle replied. "Uh…what's this about, sir? We haven't seen Rebecca's daughter since forever."
Rebecca? DeGroot had said something about a great aunt of mine.
Two relatives in one day. What did I stumble on? But I stopped myself from getting excited. Or happy. Or some other emotion. She could be a Controller too. Just like El.
"You said a testator. Did Rebecca leave a will for Aria?"
"Oh, no. It's regarding a cousin of hers. The boy you met earlier."
What a big mouth. " Oh, I can't discuss anything to you" - points me out as clear as day. And to a Yeerk of all people.
"Wait a minute. That Tobias? He's Becky's nephew?" Elle uttered.
"Grandnephew. But that would make it so."
"I didn't know…" For a Controller, she was convincing. Shocked to hear about that. It made me wonder if the reason she couldn't act otherwise was because Mr Liang wasn't one himself. Or maybe it was DeGroot. Or both.
"I'm sorry for making a request. The testator's document is to be read in four days. It would be helpful if those plans could be found."
"Tobias."
At first, I thought someone else had joined the conversation. Someone knew my name. But it was Mr Liang who spoke out, cutting the discussion in half. It even surprised DeGroot.
"He in trouble?" he asked in broken English.
"Uh. No, no. He's alright. He's a healthy, fine man for his age."
Sure. Let's go with that, DeGroot.
Elle translated. Mr Liang pondered. I think. I couldn't read this old man's face.
Then he said the most unexpected thing.
"He is welcomed here," he said. "He is Becky's family. If he troubled, he is welcomed here."
"I...see. I'll tell him that, Mr Liang."
Mr Liang nodded in a dignified kind of manner. But I didn't know him. Why would he open his doors to me just like that? It was suspicious.
"Well. If you do come across these plans, please contact me."
DeGroot was less enthusiastic leaving than he was when he first walked through the door. Mr Liang returned to the kitchen and Elle was quiet.
"...Kong Kong, can I go to the study for a bit?"
He gruffed. It didn't sound mean or disapproving. He really wasn't expressive but Elle took it as a sign that she was dismissed from her chores.
"Thank you."
And she was gone from my sight. I managed to find a fire escape at the back of the building. There were two windows sharing the second level. The two rooms were very different in comparison.
One was a small teen's bedroom. Christmas lights hung above a small bed. Art pictures, Polaroid and paper stars pictures stuck on the walls like creative decor.
The other was like an explorer's messy study room. It was brimmed with old framed photos and books. There were different sorts of cameras like precious trophies and trinkets from across the globe.
Elle stepped into the study. For a moment, she took in the sights and smells before she sat down at an old desk.
"Are you alright?" she asked herself.
Elle's eyes changed from the languid kind to bright ones. "I dunno… Becky never said anything about a nephew."
She put her left hand under her chin like a detective digesting the given information. "Perhaps she never knew. Or was never told about this nephew of hers."
"Huh…"
"I wouldn't know her, Elle. You do. Did she ever talk about her family to you?"
'I wouldn't know'? There was something odd about that sentence.
"Not that I remember. Kong Kong would know better. She's not the kind to keep secrets."
"Or she was forced to."
Elle's expressions changed again like a drop of a dime. From complete focus to a look that said she never thought of it that way. "By who?"
"I don't know the answer. Rebecca wasn't selected to be a Controller within the databank, after all."
Now this was something interesting. But I didn't have enough to make a clear picture with that piece of Yeerk-related information.
"She wasn't a Controller. I know that."
Then she huffed through her nose, her left fingers tapping on the arm of her chair. "That human was very vague on the details, though."
Elle sighed. She eyed at the books around her. "Tobias' estate plans…"
"You intend to find them?"
"I don't even know where to look… All of this is Rebecca's life work."
Honestly, I had to agree with her there. Unless you knew the person well, you couldn't figure out where every single thing was in that study room.
Elle sighed in the second tone. "Indeed. This is already a challenge. Four days? Humans ask too much under pressure."
"Hm." She just glanced around, examining the shelves nostalgically. Elle got up from her seat and browsed through the photos on the wall. With gentle fingers, she took out a stash of papers from the side.
"You're going to do this?"
"I'm gonna try. Tobias is Rebecca's family… It's the right thing to do."
"And what if it's a scam? A lawyer comes, claiming that this Aria, her daughter, is looking for estate plans? Sounds far-fetched to me."
I completely agreed. Then I realized I was agreeing with a Yeerk.
"More importantly, has this Tobias human ever told you about Rebecca?"
"No."
"Then this lawyer might be deceiving him. Did he give any signs he was a Controller?"
What on Earth was this Yeerk talking about? Wouldn't she know herself who was a Controller?
"No. Nothing I've noticed. But...he was really sad when we told him."
"Emotions are not reliable. They can be obscured. And if he's not a Controller, then he could be attempting to, as you humans say, strip the cloth off this human child's eyes."
That was a weird saying. It didn't sound right to me. And I've never heard such a saying before. I couldn't put my finger on it.
"You mean pull the wool over his eyes."
Ah.
"Oh. Well, my definition is still the same. We don't know DeGroot's intentions."
"...Yeah, you could be right."
She looked convinced. Or she was convinced? Elle dropped the papers on the table. One more look at the room around her and she left, closing the door quietly.
I couldn't wrap my brain around this. Everything Elle just said didn't make any sense. The Yeerk was acting as if she was talking to her host like it was the norm.
It wasn't for Yeerks. They want bodies. This Yeerk had Elle's body in control.
Could she already know she's being watched? But that was giving her too much credit. She couldn't have known that I was actually outside, listening to every word she said.
I had to know exactly what we were dealing with. This Controller was unpredictable. She wasn't dropping her act. She didn't decide to stop being weird and be what Controllers are. The bad guys.
The window was opened. Just like how I flew through Rachel's window, I swooped right in easily. I don't know what I was looking for. Maybe some evidence that could tell me what was wrong with Elle's Yeerk.
But I stopped once I saw an old dully-colored photograph. From the 80s. A woman with wild, curly dark hair, a wrinkled forehead and a wide smile was in it.
I was surrounded by more. One had her in a leather jacket, leaning against a motorcycle, smiling wickedly with a salute. Others showed her at different places, different times. New York. China. The 70s, 80s, 90s. And in all of them, she looked like she was enjoying life to the fullest. All with a camera in hand.
This woman had to be Rebecca. So she was a photographer. Like mother, like daughter.
She looked cool. I still didn't know what her relationship was to Mr Liang or to El. Or why her study room was here. She was obviously Caucasian.
It was then I realized this.
I was in a room, full of my great aunt's memories.
And I knew absolutely nothing about her.
A/N: Heyo all, three new chapters up! These have been prepared and actually been uploaded over at AO3. If u want to catch up on more chapters, go look for the same title there. If you don't mind waiting here, all chapters will be uploaded weekly.
And yes, more into the mystery. :D I hope you will enjoy this so far.
