The smell of fried shallots and pork wafted through the air as Lya went down the stairs. Ryan had texted her to meet him at the smoothie place again.

"Dad!" she called out as she reached the foot of the stairs. She could hear him mumble something from the kitchen. "I have to go."

"Do you want to eat first?" He looked up from the pot where he was frying shallots and fresh scallions.

She stopped in front of him. "I'll eat there." He looked back down at the pot and nodded his head. Lya folded her arms in front of her. "You've made Banh Ep for three days in a row now. I'm getting tired of it."

He didn't say anything. Lines formed on his forehead as he continued stirring the pot. When he finally looked up his eyes went to a photo on the counter.

It was a photo of him and Linh in Vietnam when they were younger. When he caught Lya looking at him, he quickly looked away.

"Does this have something to do with mom? Why you make it all the time?" Lya asked. "Was it mom's favourite food or something?"

"Lya-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her hands tensed as she dropped them to her sides. "Dad, I know nothing about her."

"I know." He continued looking at the pot, refusing to meet her gaze. When she looked at him all she could see was the face of a grieving man. She hated to see him like this.

He grabbed a plate and placed the food in it. Then he sat at the dining table, his head down as he ate. Lya sighed and then did the same as him, taking a seat in front of him. He looked up at her, furrowing his brows.

"I changed my mind," she said. Her mom was gone but her dad wasn't and she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

They ate in silence but she didn't mind. It felt like ages since they ate together.

After a while, her dad said, "Your mother painted that," as he looked at the painting on the wall behind her. Lya turned around quickly in her chair. The painting had been up there for as long as she could remember but she never knew who made it. She stood up, going closer to it. It was a painting of a river that filled up half of the space. In the background, two women walked up the stairs towards a tall structure. "It's a traditional Vietnamese silk painting."

Her eyes glazed over the piece of art and for some strange reason, she saw herself in it. She ran her hands over the silk, feeling every bump in the texture. She looked back at him and she could see his lips forming a smile. "Thank you, dad."

***

"Where were you," Ryan asked as Lya walked through front door for the smoothie place. She sat down across from him in the booth.

"Something came up," she sighed.

"We need to talk to Lawrence or Wallace," he started. He looked at Lya and Mahlik. "We don't where they are or if they're even still alive."

"We need to find them though, if we want to know anything else," Lya said.

"So, you didn't find anything in the diary then?" Mahlik raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I did." She took the book out of the bag she had on her shoulder. "Nancy had this dream. And in the diary she said that she heard screaming and everything was red."

"Kids have nightmares all the time," Ryan said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah but," Lya started. "She said that Lawrence was asking her a bunch of questions."

"And?"

Lya leaned forward on the table in front of her. "What if it wasn't a dream? What if she witnessed the murder of Margie and Roland? Whoever killed them would have a reason to kill her."

"If that's true, Darrel could have done it." Ryan narrowed his eyes. "Did she say she saw anyone in the diary?"

"No," she replied. Ryan crossed his arms and sighed.

"Okay, so the secret Lawrence wouldn't tell her was the affair?" Mahlik asked.

"I guess, but we still don't know for sure what Lawrence knew," Lya said, sitting back in the booth. "I wish we could ask Myrtle."

"I still haven't heard anything. Sorry, Lya."

"It's okay." She drew her lips in a thin line and looked down at the table. "She was annoying as hell anyway, right."

"Yeah. I couldn't think straight. Now I feel like I have my head for myself." Now that she was gone he didn't have to find Nancy's killer. But something in him was curious and he wanted to solve this mystery.

"Okay, we don't have Myrtle anymore so..." Lya trailed off. She tapped her chin and then widened her eyes. "What do the papers in the box say again?"

Ryan shoved his hand in his backpack. When he felt the box he opened it, still in the backpack. He didn't want to bring too much attention to them. He pulled out the papers and flipped through them.

"Woods, Brooke St," he read. He looked up at Lya and then at Mahlik.

"The woods near Brooke St?" Mahlik said. He sat up in his seat, narrowing his eyes. "Where was Nancy's body found?"

"It wasn't in the woods it was in her house," Lya answered.

"So the woods have something to do with her death but again we don't know why." Ryan ran a hand through his thin hair. Then he read the next paper. "Beaten."

"Maybe she was beaten to death," Lya suggested. Ryan cringed at the thought. "How did she look when you saw her ghost?"

"Just pale, no bruises."

"Ghosts usually look like how they did when they died. If she was beaten to death she would look way worse than that," Mahlik said.

"So another piece of paper that we don't know the meaning of." Ryan shook his head and sighed.

"I'm still confused about this box. Did Lawrence make it after Nancy died. How would she know if she's dead."

"She was a ghost. Maybe she saw him." Ryan sighed and slumped down in the booth. This was just bringing up more questions. They were going nowhere. "We're at a dead end now."

"We need to figure this out. My mom has something to do with this and-"

"Lya, we're at a dead end." Ryan's voice rose slightly and his hands grasped the table. "How are we going to even find Lawrence or Wallace?" Lya was quiet and she crossed her arms in front of her. "I think we should just drop this for now."

"Okay." She took the diary out of her bag and pushed it towards Ryan. She put on her bag and got up. "End of meeting, I guess," she said as she went through the door.

Ryan sat back, defeated. He looked at Mahlik, his eyebrows raised. "What?"

"That's a little insensitive," Mahlik said. Ryan rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm going home." He slid out of the booth and walked towards the glass doors that led outside.

"So, that's it, then?" Ryan could hear Mahlik say behind him. He shook his head and pushed open the doors. He tucked his hands in his sweater as he stepped outside. He heard the door open behind him and he knew it was Mahlik.

Ryan stopped on the sidewalk. His eyes widened as he saw the woman. He walked up to her. "Hey, Mrs. Davidson."

"Hello Ryan," she smiled. The last time he saw her was when he was in the library with Lya. He had something he wanted to ask her but they got interrupted. The woman shook her head. "Sorry about what happened. Jay's just an old man frustrated with his life. That's why he's so grumpy all the time."

"It's no problem," he said. But he still wanted to ask her something. "Remember when we were talking about Nancy and you said that Lawrence lost his parents." He could hear Mahlik come to a stop behind him. "Did their parents die before Nancy did?"

She shook her head slightly. "I already said it, no more questions. You can go ask Lawrence yourself."

Ryan's eyes widened and he could feel his breath catch in his throat. He looked behind him and Mahlik was just shocked as he was. "What do you mean?"

"Lawrence lives on the north-side of town."