Chapter 99: Alive or Dead

“Search carefully. General Hawthorne has ordered that we must find the person, alive or dead,” Richard instructed the soldiers behind him, meticulously searching with the police.

“Yes, Adjutant Parker,” the soldiers answered in unison.

Alive or dead? Claire’s heart trembled. She staggered back a step. She thought, “Are they looking for me? Since Frederick has already given such instructions, I will definitely not have a good time if I return. I must hide and not let Richard and the others find me.”

Claire took a deep breath, calmed down, and quickly returned to the room she had just rented for fifty dollars. Returning to the room and sitting on the stained mat, she remained uneasy. She pulled her mat and walked to the innermost part of the room.

In the innermost and least conspicuous place, an old lady was lying.

“Can I switch places with you? I have been timid since I was a child. I am a little scared to lie at the door,” Claire offered, making up an excuse and squatting beside the old lady.

“Well, okay,” the old lady replied, without much thought. She nodded, stood up, pulled her mat to the door, and went to sleep.

For the next two days, Claire stayed in the innermost part of the room and never went out except to eat or use the toilet. Almost everyone who lived here was constantly struggling for survival, going out early and coming back late. Only Claire didn’t go out all day long, which made Nora suspicious. Who among the people living in the slums was not forced by life? A person who did not go out to earn money, of course, was out of tune with everything here. In addition, Richard had been bringing people here to patrol these two days.

On the third night, Nora finally came to the rental room. It was already evening when Nora arrived. Everyone who should have been off work had returned. Everyone lay on their mats, exhausted and motionless, not wanting to say a single word.

“I came here today to tell you something. I don’t know if a murderer or some other dangerous person has been missing in Kingstown these past two days,” Nora began. “The soldiers have been patrolling around here. You know, usually, officials would rather die than come to a place like this. They are patrolling here every day. They must be looking for someone very important. Many people are living in my rental room. I can’t take care of you all at once. Just in case there are any suspicious people, everyone must monitor each other. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, I won’t protect you. When the officials come, I will hand all of you over.”

Nora used threats because she was afraid that trouble would befall her. She had actually already suspected Claire, but she was not sure. So she decided to warn first.

“Don’t worry, Nora. If we find anything unusual, I will be the first to tell you,” someone reassured her.

“That’s right. We have all lived here for so many years. Don’t you know what kind of people we are?” another chimed in.

“Yes. People who managed to escape wouldn’t live in this fifty-dollar-a-month rental house,” someone else added.

Everyone listened to Nora’s words and responded one after another. Only Claire closed her eyes guiltily and lay motionless on the mat. The more she did, the more Nora was able to notice her. Nora saw it but left without saying anything. She did not sleep all night. She was always worried that Claire was the person the soldiers were looking for.

So, the next morning, Nora came to Claire. “No one who lives here doesn’t work. Now that you are the newest one, of course you have to do the work.” Nora made up a random excuse and made Claire work for a whole day. She started sweeping and mopping the floors, cleaning the windows, cooking and cleaning the dishes, and doing everyone’s laundry. Claire didn’t say a word from the beginning and worked hard. It was because these tasks were nothing to her, as long as they didn’t torture her like before in prison.

But the harder she worked, the more suspicious Nora became. On the fourth day, Nora went to Richard to report.

“Sir, I don’t know who you are looking for recently, but there is a new woman here. She is very suspicious,” Nora said, taking out her cell phone and showing Richard the photo she had taken of Claire working.

“Cla…” Richard was stunned when he saw the photo and almost blurted out Claire’s name on the spot. He thought, “Isn’t Ms. Prescott currently in the hospital? Why is she here in the slum?” Richard looked carefully at the person in the photo. After confirming that it was Claire, he quickly walked aside and called Frederick.

“General Hawthorne, I don’t know why, but Ms. Prescott suddenly came to the slum. She even rented a house here,” Richard reported.

“What?” Frederick, who was dealing with a complex case, immediately slammed the table and stood up.