No way Red and Jin can go meet Mr. Green right away. James and Kate have their eyes on them 24/7 and are acting paranoid. So, the duo figures it'll be a good idea to wait out the upcoming weekend and let the adults get pressed down under the weekday piston.

At last, five days after achieving Mr. Green's address, Red and Jin set about hatching their plans. So much for a quick start. But on the brighter side, Jin's ankle got enough time to heal.

“Can't we just call him Grandpa Lucas?” Red asks, getting off the bus after Jin. “I feel a bit weird calling him Mr. Green.”

“Because that's another colorful name like yours?”

“Not funny. I remember him making fun of my name, his too.”

Jin smiles. “No offense. Names are names. What truly matters is the person behind them.”

Red grins. “Since when have you become a philosopher, Genie?”

“Drop it,” Jin says. “We better get moving.”

“Lead the way.”

According to the address that Jin found, Mr. Green resides in the Darkvill village, located in the countryside near the Darkwood forest. His place should be a mile north of Darkwood police station, about two miles away from the bus stop Red and Jin start walking from.

The houses are far apart and it takes a while to locate Mr. Green's—a timeworn wooden cottage with a gable roof, large windows, and a porch. The door, with its glistening handle and relatively sturdy appearance, seems to have been replaced recently.

Red presses the doorbell, while Jin observes the surroundings. They're hoping to be a door away from their desired info source. Although, whether they'll find him is a million-worth question.

“Why am I having a feeling that he isn't home?” Red asks, then rings the bell again. “Hello! Anybody home?” he voices.

Jin joins in by knocking at the door.

The wind blows to wave away the heat, buzzing cicadas agonize the wait, and no response is the undesired result.

“Come on,” Jin says, turning. “We'll ask his neighbors.”

They walk about a hundred meters to the nearest home in sight and repeat the ding-dong and stuff. This time, the door opens after a ‘coming’ response.

“Yes?” asks a teenage girl from the threshold. Her bright yellow sundress greatly contrasts with her impassive face.

“Good afternoon,” Red begins. “Sorry for…”

“Don't waste my time,” the girl snaps. “What do you want?”

It takes a second for Red to recover from the rude interruption. “Well, we'd appreciate it if you could tell us about your neighbor, Mr. Lucas Green.” He cocks his thumb toward Mr. Green's house. “That's his place over there, right? But apparently, no one's home. So we'd like to know if he still lives here or if we got the address wrong.”

The girl stares with an irk expression and Red wonders if he sounded stupid.

“I don't know and I don't care,” the girl retorts. “Hey, didn't anyone teach you not to pester people like this? Ridiculous!” With that, she slams the door shut on the visitors’ faces.

Red blinks two times before turning to Jin with a what-just-happened look. Heat, sweat, and insults are too much to take all at once.

Jin shoves his hands inside his pocket and walks off. He doesn't care how people treat him. Or even if he does, he isn't the type to dwell on it.

Tugging his collar to let off some steam, Red hurries after Jin. “We ask other neighbors or wait out?” he asks.

“None.”

“Good. Plan B, then?”

“Take a guess,” Jin says. “If you were a retired cop, where'd you go to kill time?”

“Depends on the weather mostly,” Red says, eyeing the sun. “Maybe sit indoors and enjoy a cool drink?”

Jin walks faster. His eyes narrow in the distance and fists clench in a display of anger.

Red chuckles and catches up. “Easy, man! I'm kidding. So, where do you think he is?”

“Forget that, there could be a lot of possible places. We're going with plan B.”

“Don't let the heat get into you, little bro,” Red says, then reaches for Jin's head to ruffle his hair.

Jin ducks away. “Cut it!”

In a moment, they reach a mile south and halt before a two-story brick building. It doesn't look like what it is, but it is what it is: the Darkwood police station. It has no sign of colors, bricks are weathered, patinas of moss and lichen clinging to parts of the walls.

“You know what?” Red says. “We should have come here earlier.”

“Yeah.”

Pushing open the tatty, moth-eaten wooden door with discolored glass panel, Red and Jin steps into the lobby. ‘Grungy’ would be an understatement to describe the floor and the air inside feels so stagnant that it's almost suffocating. The only source of light is what comes in through the wavy, distorted windows. Lightning fixtures overhead are not on duty.

“This…is a police station?” Red mutters.

Jin answers by saying nothing.

Straight ahead there is an all-scratchy metal desk with the front desk officer visible behind—a lady in an olive green uniform, buried in paperwork. She raises her head as the duo approaches and asks in a professionally calm voice, “How can I help you?”

“Good afternoon,” Red wishes and the officer returns the greeting with a smile.

“We are looking for Mr. Lucas Green,” Red adds and pauses as the smiley face of the officer shifts into a thoughtful look.

“Mr. Lucas Green?”—she stops fidgeting with her pen and repeats. “The former sheriff of Darkwood police, you mean?”

“Yes!” Red exclaims, excited. New information on the first strike. Online sources didn't help much and they hadn't known Mr. Green was the sheriff. “Could you please tell us where we can find him or how to get in touch with him?”

An old man snoozing in the waiting area near the desk snaps out of his sleeping bubble at the commotion, looks around in confusion, then gets back to doze off again. A few lawmen walk in and out, busy doing their job, and don't even bother to stop by to check what's going on.

The front desk officer lets out a sigh and her expression softens. “I'm sorry,” she says. “Mr. Green passed away two years ago.”