Walking with Ripley, Matt's dark green eyes glanced everywhere as he looked, the gloominess of the area made it impossible to see clearly and there's barely any torches. If they were, the bulbs weren't bright enough to cut through the gloominess.
Nobody's out except for the pair and they continued searching until Matt started seeing something in the distance in their walk.
Walking ahead, Matt spotted a hill with a large weeping willow tree on top of it. The only weeping willow that he saw as the others were just spruces and oak.
None of them knew where else to look or how to even leave the area they're in. With it so dark, they don't know if they should attempt to leave, out of fear of hurting themselves.
Matt quickly pulled Ripley behind him when they suddenly heard a man speak.
"Ah, you've arrived," said the tall slender man as he looked down his pocket watch. "Not a moment too soon. She told me you were always timely."
His face obscured by the gloominess with parts of his face outline, narrow with a sharp nose. His eyes barely glistened in the dim torches.
Matt cautiously asked who he was and he explained that they didn't have much time to dawdle, he's intent in keeping his schedule.
Motioning with his slender arm, the tall slender man told the pair to follow him henceforth. He's quite busy as it is.
"You wanted to find her, don't you?" the tall slender man asked them.
Matt looked behind to see Ripley visibly confused and turned back to face him.
"Where is she?" Matt asked him as he walked with Ripley behind them.
The tall slender man explained that Mallory insisted this place at this hour, no more, no less. She feared that the pair would've written her contact so she made sure the tall slender man called them and ensure they'd come.
"What'd she do this time?" Ripley asked the tall slender man as he walked ahead of them towards the hill with the weeping willow tree.
He didn't say much and only told them that Mallory wanted them to find her and he's ensuring they do as it's contracted of him.
There's thin anger hidden in his tone of voice when he made it clear that the pair follow him and not dawdle, doing so would've taken up precious time. Time, he did not have as he's scheduled elsewhere.
"How'd you get the phone number?" Matt brought up.
The tall slender man explained that Mallory gave it to him to use in case the pair didn't heed her the first time. How she got the number, he didn't know or care, it's not important enough for him to bother and that's that.
Matter of fact, the tall slender man made it abundantly clear that he's not interested in conversations that aren't contractually obligated.
His matter is ensuring the pair do as Mallory wanted and that's all.
Following him up the hill, Matt helped Ripley as she struggled and they pushed themselves up to the flattened top where the tall slender man pulled the branches away for them to enter.
Matt went first and called Ripley when he was sure it was safe.
Following him inside the weeping willow, Ripley glanced around and didn't see anything.
The tall slender man entered and let the branches drip down.
As Mallory instructed, he showed them what Mallory wanted them to find.
Her.
With a lantern near it lit by the tall slender man, the pair saw a freshly dug grave with turned dirt piled over it.
"What?" Matt's disturbed at the grave.
The tall slender man affirmed that this was Mallory.
"This comes to the near end of my involvement," the tall slender man began the next obligation.
He told them where they are first, "Welcome to Melancholy Hill, the gloomiest graveyard in all of Persephone."
It's one huge graveyard and the tall slender man didn't want them going off the path because he didn't want them to accidentally disturb the graves of others. After all, it's in his interest for them not to disturb things that weren't contractually obligated.
Mallory picked her gravesite and the tall slender man ensured that it's readied for her.
He's quite methodical in ensuring that everything went according to plan.
"Miss Malloy regrets to inform you of her passing. She wished it would've been different, but quite certain that there's no chance nor way for that to happen. While she passed, she wanted to pass on the knowledge she procured that she hoped becomes of use to you in your future endeavors," the tall slender man went through the formalities and what Mallory wanted to tell them.
He stepped closer to Matt and Ripley.
Instinctively, Matt kept distance between him and Ripley, but it didn't dissuade the tall slender man. He only leaned forward and said in a low voice, "Prepare for unforeseen consequences."
The pair didn't know if it's the bravado of the tall slender man or the foreboding of the message, but the two stunned as the tall slender man told them.
"What did she mean by that?" Ripley asked him.
The tall slender man responded, "As it sounds. She told me nothing else and I add nothing more. I'm dutiful, indeed."
Evident that he wasn't telling them anything that wasn't agreed upon, the pair were left to look over the grave of Mallory.
"I don't… when did she die… she called us!" Matt raised a finger at the tall slender man.
She called them; Matt talked to her!
Casually, the tall slender man told Matt that she died not too long ago and that she explicitly made sure that they didn't know it until now. It's simply the way she wanted.
"How could've she called us if she was dead?" Ripley inquired as she crossed her arms.
The tall slender man chuckled dryly and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a tape recorder and pushed the "play" button and the pair jumped when they heard Mallory's voice.
"Come find me!" Mallory's voice played.
Pushing the stop button, the tall slender man shoved it back into his pocket and explained that Mallory made it before she died. Saying, that she needed it.
"She leave any sort of messages on that tape?" Ripley asked.
The tall slender man shook his head, his eyes glistened.
"Only what I told you. She didn't want to "worry your little hearts" as she worded it," the tall slender man replied.
Matt called into question about the tall slender man, for all they know, he could've been someone Mallory angered and gotten revenge.
The tall slender man chuckled dryly once more and shook his head yet, again.
"Temper yourself, Doctor, you still have much to do," he said in a way that thinly hinted aggression towards Matt for the insinuation.
In truth, the tall slender man couldn't care less about Mallory. She never registered on his radar and he hardly cared about her types. Only when she told him something that interested him did he start to pay attention. However, that's becoming brief as he's coming to an end of his involvement. Once he's finished contacting her husband and work out the allotments, he will return to whence he came with the knowledge he procured from Mallory. It is the way.
"So, with that said, I'm to inform you that she left you money in your bank accounts as payment for the troubles she caused you since you're involvement in the Nightingale," the tall slender man informed the pair that Mallory transferred money to their bank accounts.
He didn't tell them the exact amount, but he assured the pair that it's taken care of and they won't have any trouble withdrawing the money at any time they needed. There won't be any issues come taxes or oversight, it's all taken care of. All they can do now, enjoy the money however they saw fit, and he suggested they live off the interest.
"She's aware of your humbleness, so she's sure you won't become crazed over it," the tall slender man noted what Mallory said about the pair.
Matt inquired if it's in the millions and the tall slender man shook his head.
Mallory knew they didn't want trouble and knew the rules best. She kept the amount in their bank accounts to reasonable amounts, but enough for the pair to live comfortably without much trouble since they're most responsible with their money.
"Sudden money in the millions makes for bad times," the tall slender man warned.
Gesturing, Ripley asked if there's anything else Mallory wanted them to know or have and the tall slender man shook his head.
He stated that this ends his involvement.
They've been made aware of her passing, her final message, and the money, that's as far as it went.
"And thus, the dawn breaks. I've completed my duties for this hour. Please do not dawdle on your way back," the tall slender man told them.
Finished, the tall slender man left to tend to the next course of business, Mallory's husband.
Staring down at the grave, Matt's unable to think.
"All those times I've butted heads with her and she still invited me to her own grave," Ripley couldn't believe it.
Matt made sense because Mallory's that type of woman to do it, but Ripley, she figured the two not liking each other that much would've dissuaded her from it.
The fact she gave them money even when she didn't have to, even though they could've taken it as repayment for restitution.
"Why here of all places, she would've gone for something… more," Matt struggled to find reason behind the location.
Mallory never lacked her own brand of bravado. She ate up the scenery like it's breakfast. She wouldn't want her grave in a gloomy place like this. It wasn't her style.
Ripley suggested that it's because it wasn't her style.
"If it was, we'd think she's pulling one over us," Ripley looked at him.
It made sense.
If it was somewhere more flashy or sunny, they'd think she was faking her death or something, but here, it's to show that it wasn't a farce.
Mallory Malloy's dead and that they didn't know how long ago she's been dead. The fact she put this all together, it's amazing, in her own right.
Thinking, Ripley decided to track the tall slender man down and get answers from him on the account that this is sudden and he didn't seem incline to answer any questions that didn't fit with his job. Now, his job's concluded, he'd have to answer to Ripley or answer to her fists.
