« Now, He is standing up there in front of me, in the darkness, so I remember, then all my trip. »
I was in a taxi going to Place Saint-Armand at the Lyon station, I was going to meet my old friend. I was so impatient to know where he was living, what he was doing for a living and what he looked like.
As for me, I had not changed a lot. I had just cut my brown hair a little bit and my style of clothes hadn’t changed , I still wore blue or black jeans with sneakers and a blouse, rarely a t-shirt. Time passed. I arrived in front of the entrance of the station and I raised my head to see the Clock Tower and what time it was. I was not late, it indicated 4:50 pm.
So I entered the station and I was waiting when a train arrived I looked where the train came from and I saw « Nice ».
« Is he on this train ? does he live in Nice ? » I wondered.
It was five p.m. and I saw him getting out of the train. He had short black hair, he was wearing black pants, black boots, a white t-shirt and a black jacket with black mittens.
« Always on time. » I thought, smiling.
He came to me and put his arm around my waist.
« It’s been a long time, hasn’t it ? I am really glad to see you. » Taylor said.
« Yes, me too. I was really impatient, I have a lot of things to ask you about your life. »
He laughed :
« Do you believe I have nothing to ask you ? But before we recount the story of our lives, you absolutely have to find me a restaurant, I am starving. I am sure I can count on you, we are in Paris, the most beautiful city in « Ile de France ».
« Oh !! I see you still say a lot of stupid jokes. » I added.
We were walking towards the restaurant when Taylor asked:
« Is it far from here ? »
« No, it is in the hall of the station… » I answered. « Here we are !! It is a great restaurant and the nearest.»
So he read:
« Le Train Bleu. It sounds nice, thank you»
We were eating and he was the first to ask:
« So, What do you do in Paris ? »
« I am a professor. I teach the Ancient Egypt and Asia’s culture and language. I work at the Paris-Diderot university in collaboration with the INALCO : The National Institute of Eastern civilizations and languages, and during my free time I still like playing Go, an Asian game » I explained
« Unbelievable, that must be so great, I am glad for you and I am proud of you » he told me.
« And you ? »
« Well, I live in Cannes but I studied at the Sophia Antipolis University at the Higher Institute of Economy and Management in Nice thus I am now a manager if you need one you can call me ! » he answered.
I was going to compliment him about his look when I noticed someone looking at us, strangely. I informed Taylor about that so he turned round and exclaimed :
« Professor Dumesnil !! What are you doing here ? »
« Hi, Taylor, I have come here for a lecture » said Mr. Dumesnil.
« Oh !! Ok. Hum I am sorry I did not introduce you my friend. So Professor Dumesnil, this is my old friend Erin.
Erin, this is professor Dumesnil, he teaches at the same university, Sophia Antipolis at the Institute of medicine. »
« Nice to meet you » I said.
He continued to stare at me. I found him really strange, I was almost scared.
« It’s an honor » he finally answered .
After seeing my old friend and meeting this old man, I decided to go home, I was exhausted and the presence of this man had disturbed me.
So I came back to my apartment with its Japanese atmosphere, painted in grey, brown, black and whites.
That evening I went to bed early.
A few days later, having received no news from my friend, I went to the university a little bit worried when I received a message saying :
« Do you want to go and have a drink in a bar this evening ? I haven’t come for nothing... »
Reassured, I was able to give my lessons quietly, till the evening when I found Taylor, disappointed and surprised seeing that he had brought a guest.
« Hello !! » He said.
« Good evening » I replied.
« I hope that does not disturb you I have brought Professor Dumesnil » said Taylor.
I hesitated :
« No it is just, you annoyed me by looking at me in the eyes so strangely the other day and now I see you again I am pretty sure I have already seen you before probably on television or in a newspaper »
He had a small surge.
« Oh !! I think that you confuse me with somebody else, you know there are many old men with a badly shaved beard and grey hair.» He answered with a suspicious air.
I was not convinced but I did not want to waste my time.
We spoke all night long but unfortunately I did not learn anything about this professor, he stayed speechless…
The next day, I ran into Taylor several times , at the library, at the supermarket, at a newspaper vendor.
Every time, I saw him with a filled bag and I would ask him what he was doing, he would always answer me " it is for him " without even making the effort to look at me he hurried to go out of every place where I was seeing him.
Once, my attention was caught because I believed to hear a name, Mr. Dumesnil. It was enough, I was determined to go home, to take my computer and to look for information about this man.
Unfortunately I found absolutely nothing, nothing !! Was that possible ?
I took my courage in both hands and I had decided to speak to him. He necessarily hid something, this Taylor’s behavior towards me , it was much too strange.
I called him and invited him at home, I had to know.
Directly after he arrived, I began to ask him questions, first he did not answer but then, seeing that I insisted he admitted to me that Taylor sometimes suffered from crisis of madness and as soon as he had known that he was coming to Paris, he had decided to follow him being frightened that he might hurt somebody.
I could not believe what he was telling me. I had known Taylor since he was young, I had never seen him like that.
« I think you’re lying ! You are just manipulating me quite as you’re manipulating Taylor. » I shouted.
Then he sighed :
« I understand what you feel, what you mean. You know, what you saw last time, it was because of me. I helped him to get better. In fact I hypnotized him. »
I didn’t trust that. If I had been standing up I would have certainly fainted.
He decided to leave, to let me resume my spirits.
To stay polite I thanked him.
Time passed and I did not see my friend anymore.
I thought he was with Mr. Dumesnil until this one called me to tell me he left Paris because we needed him in Nice.
I was surprised and I wanted to ask what would happen for Taylor but he spoke first :
« Don’t worry about Taylor I think his state is better now, so you can see him again !
Bye and hope to see you later!… »
I wanted to answer but he had already hung up.
Then I decided to go directly to Taylor’s house but he was not there and I had not enough time to find him, I had to go to the university. Along the way, I noticed that somebody had been following me for quite a while, someone who looked like Taylor but when I turned around, there was nobody.
That evening, I came back home after my day of work and as usual I had a look on my facebook page. Suddenly, a shiver shook me when I read the message resulting from Taylor:
" I shouldn’t have come back ! You are going to pay for what you’ve done to me ".
Then I stayed in front of my laptop for a long while. I could hear the hand of the clock turning. I did not understand why he had sent me that message. We had always had a good relationship.
I switched off my computer and I went to bed. The next day, I checked my facebook page again and I saw that I had 12 messages, all coming from Taylor, all threatening me !
I decided to go and see the police with my laptop, I waited about two hours before someone welcomed me. I showed the messages and I explained the story but the policeman laughed:
« You know, I am new here but I am totally sure that it is just a joke… »
Furious, I left the police station, I was really scared therefore I called the university and my superior to ask him if I could take a long vacation, and I explained to him briefly.
He accepted so I took my books about Asia, I went back home, I prepared my suitcase and my cats’ things (a red and white one called «Choupinou», and a grey and black called « Minuit »)
It was the fifth day of February, I remember because it was the day of my departure.
I called a taxi that drove me to the airport, the boarding was at twelve o’clock I had 2 hours to wait before embarking. Being in the airport reassured me so I decided to eat in one of the restaurants there. I took advantage of it to think of my future journey. I could live a normal life over there while waiting for this situation to settle, but time passed and I had to join the boarding gate. I was in a Boeing 252. Inside I tried to find my seat « 19A », I was really happy because I knew it was a place near the window and I had always loved that that since I was young…
Then I checked if my phone was switched off. I prepared my mp3 because, as usual I could not sleep and I looked at the takeoff through the window. There was so many beautiful landscapes.
I had arrived:
« Finally, I am arrived, my new life in China !! I will be able to improve my Go and to practice martial arts as I have always dreamt of but first I have to go to my hotel. »
The airport was gigantic and even if I could speak Chinese as well as Japanese or English, I wouldn’t have been able to find my way if I hadn’t asked.
During the trip, in the taxi, I admired what surrounded me, temples, buildings, gardens.
When I arrived I observed the view I had from my hotel.
It was located in 王府井 (Wángfujing) street. I was a little bit tired but I decided to go visiting the 王府井天主堂 ( Saint Joseph church of Wangfujing).
Then I went to a beautiful renowned restaurant. I was so starving that I stayed there during 2 hours. At nightfall, I went to the paifang at the Wangfujing's night market. It was full of people and since I was about to spend a long time in China, I began to speak with some people I met. One of them, Chang, came with me for the end of the visit. He told me that he was a policeman and that he had a really funny Japanese friend as a team member. So I explained too what my job was and as I was totally sure he knew that, I began to speak about Go. He was really surprised but glad that I played this game. He saw I was interested in it as a consequence he proposed me to join the club where he gave lessons. Without any hesitation I accepted and thanked him.
It was late, I went back home and I saw my two cats eating their pet food, I stroked them and I went to bed.
The next day I went to the Beijing Go club. Chang introduced me his Japanese friend Hikaru. I quickly understood why Hikaru was called as a funny person. Indeed he was very friendly and always had something amusing to say.
I stayed there half of the day and I learnt a lot. In the afternoon, I gave Chang my two cats to take care of and I visited the 故宫 (Forbidden City) with Hikaru. I was totally stunned, it was so beautiful, I took a lot of photographs and I spoke Japanese with my new friend.
Near the Forbidden City, there was a group of people training their martial art, especially Kung-Fu in China.
Hikaru added that he was excellent at it, more at karate than at Kung-Fu because he was Japanese but he liked practiced it. I did not want to disturb him so I asked a little bit awkwardly if he would agree to teach me what he knew. He answered me that it was pretty calm at this moment so he would have enough time. I thanked him.
Three months later, my Go became very good as well as my martial arts, I decided that it was the time to find a job for me so I took my laptop, I looked for some ads and I had an idea:
« It’s been a long time since I did not go to my facebook page, I think I can now… »
I checked my page but I saw nothing. I wanted to close it but I received a phone call, it was a wrong number. Then I went back to my laptop and I could not believe what I had in front of me, in two minutes I had received one message, I opened it, it was Taylor. First I believed it was an hoax then I read:
« China ?! Interesting choice… »
I did not understand. During five months there had been no message and now that I came back on my page I had one.
I took my phone and called Chang. If the police in France hadn’t done anything for me, this one would.
While I was talking to him I received 11 messages all from Taylor, all threatening me again !!!
I was scared and obliged to explain what was happening. Chang asked me to come and find him at the police station. When I arrived, Hikaru and Chang had already made some research data base to see if they had already had a case like this one but they didn’t find any answer. Yet Hikaru had the impression to have already seen something like that before.
I gave him my computer while Chang was calling the security of the Beijing airport to tell them to warn him if someone named Taylor Lowell came to Beijing.
I also specified his height, his age, and his double French-American nationality .
Hikaru told me not to be worried because if he came here they would know immediately.
Reassured I helped him to find some clues in my laptop. Hikaru wanted to find Taylor thanks to his sent messages but it took a long time. Moreover he was sure that another similar thing had happened therefore he called Chang and they searched in the international investigations during two hours before Hikaru found something. He was right. This investigation had taken place in Japan and he had been the one who had worked on it when he was still living there but it was a long time ago.
I thought it would be complicated to take this case to help us but Hikaru told me that one important witness had moved to China recently.
Chang added that they would meet her as soon as possible.
The next day, I wanted to join Chang and Hikaru at the police station but I received a phone call from Hikaru who told me not to come because they were asking some questions to their former witness. He also added that he had called the Tokyo airport to kindly request them to warn them if a Taylor Lowell was coming to Japan. I thanked him but I knew it was possible that it made me leave the country thus I decided to go on the Great Wall of China.
Once there, I walked during three hours. I climbed up onto a wall. It was immense:
« This wall well reflects what my life became: we never see the end, quite like my life which is indecisive. »
In the evening I called Chang to know what had happened during the day. He answered that the witness they had seen, had helped them well. Chang had a big new:
« When we arrived at her house, she knew at once who Hikaru was, it surprised me because it was a long time before. We asked her if she remembered something of the previously investigation in Japan. She explained us that according to her, nobody who had something to do with this investigation was outside prison today. Information that we had checked. Moreover, and it’s the most interesting thing she said. She had gone to France around three months before. She had an appointment with someone so we had to leave, but she will come back tomorrow you can come if you want »
It was strange, I thought:
« Ok I’ll be there, thank you »
At the police station, Hikaru authorized me to attend to the interrogation behind the window. The witness was talking about her trip in France:
« I went there for a sort of internship in a management school»
It was my first surge.
She continued:
« I was interested in working in France so I went to Nice at the Sophia Antipolis university to attend some lessons during two months. I came back one month ago. »
It was my second surge.
Then Chang asked:
« Which professor did you meet there ? »
« Professor FABBRI, Professor MARTIN and Professor ROUX »
She described them physically, Mr. Fabbri was small. He had long black hair and a short beard. Mr. Roux was also small, he was bald and wore glasses. Finally,
Mr. Martin was quite tall, he had short black hair. They were all between 28 and 35 years old according to the witness.
« Did you meet some particular students or did you make friends ? » asked Hikaru.
« Yes, of course I had some friends but one in particularly . Indeed he loved black color. It can be a stupid remark but if you ask. This one had black hair, he usually wore black pants, black boots and black mitts. His name is Taylor, Taylor Lowell I believe. I have to precise that he was not a student anymore he had finished his studies. Apparently he came back to help Professor Martin with his lessons because « it was one of his best students » according to Mr. Martin, and Taylor had some difficulties to find a correct job. » she answered.
That was my last surge. In the room, Chang and Hikaru were looking at me.
« Are you still in contact with him ? » asked Hikaru.
« His last message dates from one week, normally we try to speak on the Internet every day. »
After the interrogation, Hikaru thought there was still something strange.
« This old business took place in Japan and this new very similar one started in France. She is the only witness we can question who has a link with these two businesses but she met Taylor only approximately two months before. If I do not make a mistake we could say that our witness is the one in reality who sponsored everything of these businesses. Now I do not believe in it one second, so what does not stick? »
After that, Hikaru called his former team members at the police station of Tokyo. He wanted to have some information about the person who had been arrested during the first case but at that time he was not authorized to have them he had to ask an authorization or he had to ask his actual chief to send him there for an international business. Disturbed Hikaru called Chang to tell him that he was going back to Japan to collect the information. Then Chang also asked his chief’s authorization to go with Hikaru. As he obtained it he came to inform me that I had to go with them for my security as well as for helping us.
In Japan, we directly went to the police station. I gave Hikaru’s friends my two cats to take care of.
I spoke with Chang while Hikaru searched the archives. When suddenly Chang received a phone call, so he fetched Hikaru. It was the airport. Eight days before a Taylor Lowell had arrived in Tokyo. Hikaru was angry because nobody had warned them before but he understood because Taylor had already arrived when he had asked the airport to inform him.
We drove on日(Sun)street, in direction to the airport. During the trip, Hikaru did not say word until we arrived inside the airport. Then he said:
« That explains she had had no message from him… »
I asked him to tell us what he meant :
« Taylor had arrived eight days before and our witness hadn’t had any message from him for one week so I think, or rather I believe, it is just because he was not at home, he had no access to the Internet because he was leaving… »
Then my two friends went to ask the video of these two last weeks. During the first ten minutes of the viewing, Hikaru was attentive but after these minutes Hikaru started thinking. During twelve minutes he said nothing. Chang noticed that and asked him what happened, Hikaru answered:
« You know I thought about it and until now Taylor is just living his life, he went to Paris to see Erin. He had apparently had some problems with his health and professor Dumesnil had helped him then he came back to Cannes and Nice to help his former teacher. The question is, what was he doing in Japan ? and who really sent the facebook messages ? »
I did not understand why he asked who had really sent the messages. I understood absolutely anything !!
He added:
« Yet he is just living his life, we should go to our university, something tells me that he is probably there »
Chang accepted and we left the airport for the university where as Hikaru had predicted it, we found Taylor in a classroom but I didn’t go there because it was probably too dangerous.
Hikaru and Chang brought him to the police station. I was not authorized to see him in any case. The last time I had received a message I was in China so nobody could have known that I was in Japan. As a consequence I stayed all day long at the police station. Chang came to see me to tell me that it was over, Taylor had many clues against him and he would be imprisoned. A great joy invaded me but at the same time, I was sad and disappointed too. I didn’t understand what had happened, why he had done that, why him.
One week later, I packed my suitcase. I took my cats and I went to see my two new friends who had helped me so much, so well and better than whoever else. I saw Hikaru again thinking as if he knew something and I thanked them for a long time.
At the airport, I took my plane ticket and I saw that the number of my plane was 252 so I said:
« Oh !! That’s funny it is the same as on the way out »
I arrived in Paris during the night and I went to my apartment. The moonlight lit my home a little bit . It was cold but that was normal, one of my window was broken and I could see that all my furniture and things were on the floor in a big mess. I moved a little and raised the head.
« Now, he is standing up there in front of me, in the darkness, it is him, it is the other one. Then ? Am I arrived at the end of the Great Wall ? I understand now, he knew it but he was there too. »
Perrine P...... 2nde2