Sweet like Wine: Love Your Dimples Even More-Chapter 118 - 63: Other People’s Stories

The truth always reveals itself to Sean Lowell before he’s ready, stark and unforgiving.

Elder Ford had told Frederick that his apprentice would be heading to Islay to find someone.

But the information Elder Ford knew was limited; he couldn’t just use a photograph like Sean Lowell could to "find someone."

It was out of a very subtle psychology that Sean pulled out the photograph Catherine’s mother gave him to show Frederick.

In Sean’s memory, his mother had always remained at the age of seven.

Seven, the age when a boy still idolizes his mom and dad.

The local police all said that no one could get inside, indicating that visiting the Brunschwig Distillery was an extremely difficult task.

Yet his mother, Quinn Fairmont, not only got in herself but also took Catherine’s mother inside for a visit.

What does this mean?

It means his mother was an extraordinary and formidable existence.

It was that feeling of, "None of you can do it, but my mom can," that mindset of a seven-year-old.

After Sean turned seven, he never saw Quinn again, nor did he hear anything about her.

The resulting "back to innocence" mindset is, therefore, understandable.

It’s just that Sean hadn’t expected that his inadvertently revealed childish mindset would ignite such a shocking explosion.

In matters like this, Sean displayed a childish attitude, and naturally, local officer Frederick was reluctant to show weakness.

The tragic family massacre at his brother’s home thirty-seven years ago, the police at the time definitely went in, but back then, Frederick was not a cop, so he had no chance to enter and prove his bravery either.

Several years later, Frederick became a police officer, but by then, the old castle of Hieronymus had long been closed to outsiders after Brunschwig Distillery’s shutdown.

Even as a police officer, it’s impossible to just walk into someone’s property.

The population of the entire Islay barely numbered in the few thousands.

Though known worldwide for whiskey, Islay rarely had the kind of drunks wandering its streets.

The public safety was also so good that many households wouldn’t even lock their doors at night.

Murder cases on Islay were extremely rare.

So rare that many "brazen" kids treated visiting "crime scenes" as a rite of passage.

Frederick’s wish to see a crime scene had gone unfulfilled for many years.

Due to this, it became quite normal that, after nineteen years, Frederick could recognize at a glance the "protagonist" of any case he handled.

Most of the time, what Frederick did on Islay was the work of a "community cop."

The old castle where the Brunschwig Distillery was located belonged to Hieronymus personally.

With the distillery closed, there were no business dealings with anyone, and in such a situation, Hieronymus naturally had the right to refuse anyone’s visit.

But if something happened that required police intervention, that would be another matter.

A murder definitely fell within the scope that required police involvement.

Compared to Sean’s photo proving "someone went in nineteen years ago," Frederick’s involvement as someone directly handling cases matches a "higher level" of engagement.

According to Frederick’s psychological expectations, Elder Ford’s young apprentice, upon learning he was the one who handled a case nineteen years ago, should be very eager to discuss it with him.

And then ask if he could also take him in for a visit, at which point he would tell the little brat who’ve just been showing off that this is the local police’s privilege.

Having grown up influenced by Holmes, Frederick perceived Sean and Gordon Sterling’s appearance at Brunschwig Distillery at midnight as kindred spirits, who, like his younger self, occasionally wanted to explore a crime scene.

But soon, his many years of investigative experience made Frederick realize that Sean and Gordon were not the type interested in globetrotting to visit or buy murder homes.

Because he didn’t see the expected sparkle in Sean’s eyes.

Nor did he get the immediate barrage of detailed questions about the murder from Sean and Gordon.

Perhaps in this world, there has always been a dark hand, gathering all bad news together, making the unfortunate choke on even a sip of water.