Murder The Dream Guy Chapter 144 - At Ease

Chapter 144 At Ease

Translator: MintCatnip | Editor: Atla.s.studios /Atlas Studios

Not the average person?

Xiang Wan’s eyes were wide-opened as she took a breath. “How special is he then?”

Bai Muchuan’s eyebrows were closely knitted to a frown. He looked as though she wanted to poke her forehead, but he eventually held back as a glimmer of light flashed past his eyes.

“Weren’t you asking me why Xing Liehuo looked me up?”

Pausing for a while, he seemed to be considering something. After looking left and right, he disclosed, “What we’ve encountered is not a normal criminal, but a criminal syndicate.”

A criminal syndicate? In other words, she was targeted by a criminal syndicate?

Xiang Wan’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing that. She stayed silent and looked at Bai Muchuan without batting an eyelid.

He glanced at her faintly with a touch of rea.s.surance in his eyes. “When I was back at the capital,” he continued, “the ministry has already talked to me once that they’re preparing to setup a special department dealing with serious criminal cases and wanted me to go over… This time, Xing Liehuo came over and talked about the same matter. He suspected that a criminal group they recently came in contact with was involved in many crimes across the country. He hoped that I go back to the capital to lead this department and cooperate with them…”

“Okay.”

Xiang Wan derived a conclusion from his long speech.

“So, are you going back to the capital?”

After having worked and hung out together with him during this period, Xiang Wan more or less understood Bai Muchuan’s temperament.

She knew that he was someone who had his own career development plans and pursuits. He was fond of crime investigation. If the Ministry wanted to form a Serious Crime department at this critical juncture, that would be a key unit directly under its jurisdiction. She believed that he would give it a serious consideration.

Moreover, they had actually looked him up directly. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and would be a pity if he did not go.

Xiang Wan felt that he would not reject the offer.

Well, no matter who encountered this, they should not reject this offer.

“This is a good thing,” she smiled, “congratulations.”

Bai Muchuan narrowed his eyes slowly as he studied her pale face under the lights. “If I go to the capital, will you be coming with me?”

Xiang Wan was taken aback.

The two of them gazed at each other for at least five seconds before Xiang Wan ran her fingers through her hair and smiled at him.

“Don’t joke around. What can I do there? I know my own limits. I’m just a greenhorn at criminal profiling, that kind of department would not want me.”

As she said that, she was worried that Bai Muchuan would misunderstand or reject the offer because of her and, in turn, affect his career development. “This is such a good opportunity,” she smiled as she continued, “you better don’t reject it or I’ll look down on you. Don’t get too immersed in love and forget about your goals!”

Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “You want me to go?”

“I hope that you’ll do better and advance further! I hope that you’ll realize your ambitions! I know that this is what you wanted to do.”

Bai Muchuan’s gaze was deep like a well.

He just looked at her without saying a word.

Maybe the lights at night were too mesmerizing or maybe his gaze was too hot. Xiang Wan felt her heart pounding furiously. She couldn’t help but say how she really felt.

“I don’t know if I’m right about this, but I feel that such an opportunity does not come to just anyone. If you miss it, you’ll definitely regret it later. Our current relations.h.i.+p really should not be a hindrance to you pursuing your dreams… You’re a smart person. You know what to forgo, I believe that you’ll know what to do.”

After a short pause, she pursed her lips and put on a smile.

“No matter what, you have my support!”

“What a professional encouragement you just gave!” Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh and gave her a glare from the sideways, but his tone sound indifferent. “Enough, let’s get down to business first. We can always talk about this in future! No matter what, we need to get down to the bottom of this matter. Even if I want to leave, I can’t leave a mess behind.”

Future? Can this matter be delayed?

Xiang Wan wanted to look at his eyes, but he avoided her gaze and pointed at the interrogation room.

“Don’t you want to see the hot young stud by coming all the way here in the middle of the night? Well, he’s right inside there and has waited for almost 50 minutes…”

Uh!

Xiang Wan remembered about Bai Muchuan’s one hour rule.

Pffft! She couldn’t resist laughing. “Don’t joke around. There isn’t any hot young stud that’s hotter than our Captain Bai. I’m warning you. If I hear this again, I’m going to bash you up!”

“Cunning woman! Do you think I’m going to forgive you so easily just by saying a few nice words to me?” Bai Muchuan gave her a chilly glance, and the moment Xiang Wan stopped smiling, he immediately smiled. “You’ve guessed right that I’m exactly going to do that. Little Xiang Wan, I forgive you.”

“…”

A warm hand landed on her head.

“You’re really!”

Bai Muchuan habitually patted her head, messing up her hair before turning away arrogantly.

“Come in!”

“Yes!”

Xiang Wan held her back straight and followed him into the interrogation room.

There were two parts to the Interrogation room, the interior and the exterior. The large one-way gla.s.s on the outside gave a clear view of what was happening in the interior room.

The hot young stud that Bai Muchuan was referring to was sitting quietly on the simple wooden chair. He was leaning on the chair with his head slightly tilted, his legs crossed lazily, and his eyes shut as though he had fallen asleep. There was not a trace of tension or panic of being detained in the interrogation room.

Xiang Wan crossed her arms as she looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows. “This Ye Lun is young but he sure has a strong mentality!”

Bai Muchuan grunted as he stood beside her. “Why? Hats off to him or a sudden rush of good impression?”

Xiang Wan looked at him through the corners of her eyes. “Why? Are you jealous or curious?”

Bai Muchuan said seriously, “Jealous!”

Xiang Wan’s mouth twitched. “It’s so rare to see someone so open about being jealous. I admire you for this!”

Bai Muchuan’s lips formed a smile. “These celebrities really should thank me!”

Why should they thank him? Xiang Wan looked at him seriously with a puzzled look.

Next, she saw Bai Muchuan showing his attractive side profile while bragging shamelessly. “They have to thank me for not having an interest in acting! Otherwise, how would they be able to get so popular?”

“…”

Xiang Wan tried to hold back her laughter by clearing her throat.

“Captain Bai, I know you can definitely do it! You can act as Yang Guo1… as his huge condor friend. Definitely a fitting role for you.”

“Guess you need to be taught a lesson?” Bai Muchuan played along by pulling a long face.

Xiang Wan immediately put up two hands to surrender and pointed to the clock inside the room with her mouth. “Five more minutes and it will be an hour!”

Bai Muchuan looked at his watch and dialed a number on the desk phone to get both Tang Yuanchu and Xie Hui.

In no time, the two young detectives arrived, yawning away with their tired-looking red eyes. When they saw Bai Muchuan and Xiang Wan standing together looking alert and refreshed.

Tang Yuanchu was astonished. “Captain Bai, Teacher Xiang, aren’t you both tired?”

“Why are we tired? The day just started…” Xiang Wan smiled brightly with her eyes forming a curve. “Let’s start the day energetically!”

“Sigh! We are the early twenties ‘elderly’ after all, can’t be compared to you late 20s ‘youngster’—”

Tang Yuanchu yawned and took a sip of his tea before turning to Bai Muchuan. “Boss, you need to help us,” he said pitifully, “to help the early twenties ‘elderly’ get more bonuses!”

“You rascal!” Bai Muchuan swept a glance from the corner of his eyes. “What is our purpose?”

“…”

“Say it!”

“To serve the people!”

“So…”

“I don’t want a bonus anymore. I want to apply for overtime allowance!”

Pffft! The few of them burst into laughter.

“Sure, no problem!” Bai Muchuan laughed. “We have limited funds, but in order for us to do our job better, Commissioner w.a.n.g has specially applied for the special cases allowance.” As he said so, he suddenly sounded solemn. “Attention! Perk up and do a good job!”

“Yes, Sir!” Tang Yuanchu gave a salute with a straight and a proud posture. “To serve the people!”

“Let’s get to work!”

“Go, go, go!”

Seeing this sight, Xiang Wan had a lot of after thoughts…

The image of this group of unpretentious, upright and adorable colleagues was becoming clearer in her heart. Her feeling toward the job of the detective was starting to be different as well.

She did not know how long she could stay in the Criminal Investigation Unit. She did not know if Bai Muchuan would get a transfer, and whether she would have the chance to stay there. Nevertheless, she really treasured the time she had with them.

No matter what, she would work hard for as long as she stayed there.

No matter what the future will hold, the experience and knowledge gained will never betray oneself.

Xiang Wan pinched herself on her thigh to clear her head of all these thoughts. She walked straight together with the three men and entered the interrogation room.

She was calm and quiet as she sat inside the interrogation room.

She did not notice that she had changed…

The first time when she entered this room, she was very nervous, but now, she was entirely a different person.

Ye Lun, who was monitored all around, did not have much reaction. There was no trace of fatigue on his face, either. He lifted his head slowly, looking at them with his pair of clear eyes and his mouth curved. He had a faint smile on his face, but he did not say a word.

“Ye Lun.”

The one in-charge of the interrogation was Tang Yuanchu.

In this case, Tang Yuanchu was being put in charge of interrogating Ye Lun and his staff. Even when Bai Muchuan was there, he did not steal the limelight from Tang Yuanchu.

“Yes, detective.” Ye Lun straightened himself lazily. “What is it again that you have to come looking for me in the middle of the night?”

“We have some doubts in Mao Guigui’s case that we need your cooperation to verify some facts.”

Currently, Ye Lun was only related to the case. He was not considered a suspect as there was currently no evidence to suggest he killed anyone. Hence, Tang Yuanchu worded his sentence and watched his own tone carefully.

“All of you are so energetic. You don’t sleep in the middle of the night, yet you want to find people to join you in doing so—”

After pausing for a while, he raised an eyebrow. “Ask away. I’ll tell you all I know.”

Tang Yuanchu looked at him sternly. “What is your relations.h.i.+p with Mao Guigui?”

Ye Lun still had his usual haughty expression on his face. “If I remember correctly, you have asked me this question for three times. Of course, the police has so many things to do, it’s understandable that your memory is failing you. So, I don’t mind telling you one more time.”

Showing both of his hands, he said in a proper and innocent manner, “I have no relations.h.i.+p with her. If you really want me to say something, I’m the idol and she’s a fan. Is that considered a relations.h.i.+p?”

Tang Yuanchu looked at him, deliberately putting on a more dignified expression as he spoke slowly, “But as far as we know, you have an improper relations.h.i.+p with Mao Guigui.”

“Hah!”

Ye Lun laughed at Tang Yuanchu’s words.

He rubbed his forehead and smiled brightly. “If you take others’ words for it, then I think I would have at least a dozen children. Mr. Detective, go take a look at the internet. There are thousands and thousands of women calling me as their husband. Everytime I open my eyes, there would be people declaring their love for me. Does that mean they are all my wives if they call me their husband?”

He was an arrogant and unyielding person.

Xiang Wan sat quietly beside Bai Muchuan as audience.

At the same time, she also a.n.a.lyzed Ye Lun’s character in her little notebook.

This celebrity was calm and eloquent. He could answer the queries of the police smoothly without any hesitation.

Generally speaking, there are only two possibilities for people who could maintain such an att.i.tude under such circ.u.mstances.

The first would be that his mentality was so strong that he was fearless toward the police and thus easily gain the upper hand in an interrogation.

To put it in another way, a person like this was beyond the normal human cognition. They would not take evil as evil. They would even see evil as justice. They could totally convince themselves to accept their evil deeds and felt no guilt for committing crimes.

The second type would be those who had a clear conscience. If one did nothing against his conscience, he could face up to anything fearlessly.

Which one did Ye Lun belong to?

Tang Yuanchu had prepared himself for the tough interrogation before he went inside. After numerous times of entering the interrogation room and dealing with different people, he was no longer the rookie detective who would get excited or agitated whenever he faced a suspect. With Bai Muchuan staying beside him to help out when necessary, he was even calmer and at ease than before.

“On the 23rd of this month, did you see Mao Guigui?”

“No.”

“Where were you on the 23rd of this month, at night?”

Ye Lun furrowed his brows, and after a few seconds, he looked at Tang Yuanchu and shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

“Try to recall again.”

“Detective, if you can tell me who you ate dinner with on the 23rd of this month, what you’ve eaten; which dishes had chili, which dishes had no chili; which dishes had garlic and onion; and which dishes had none of those… Maybe then, I can also recall what happened on that day?”

Such nimble thoughts!

He could easily make one dumbfounded.

Tang Yuanchu was so irritated by his reb.u.t.tal that his face went red and unable to find any word to respond.

At the moment when the atmosphere went stagnant, Bai Muchuan suddenly gave a sneer.

“Excuse me, Mr. Ye!” He pointed at the National Emblem which was hung on the wall. “This is the Criminal Investigation Unit. We are the detectives as well as public servants who are interrogating you according to the law. If you want to know the above question, when you get out of here, you can go apply to the police academy and take the exams for being a detective.”

Ye Lun narrowed his eyes.

The two of them were a couple of meters away as they looked at each other.

Bai Muchuan wore a casual smile on his face as he tapped on the table.

“You can talk now!”

Ye Lun had a mocking smile on his face. “I can’t remember what happened on the 23rd. If all of you really wanted to know, you can ask Dong Bu, my personal a.s.sistant, who return kindness with ingrat.i.tude by framing me. He knew where I went on the 23rd, he also knew what I’ve eaten, drank, as well as if there’s chili, garlic and onion on my food…”

He shrugged as he showed both of his palms, wearing a half-smile.

“That’s how it is! He knows about my whereabouts and my lifestyle more than myself!”

“…”

Xiang Wan’s heart sank slightly at Ye Lun’s words

n.o.body told Ye Lun who and what that a.s.sistant had told the police.

Yet he could derive who had betrayed him immediately just from picking up the clues.

“Of course, we’ll interrogate your a.s.sistant.” Bai Muchuan looked at him coldly, totally in his business-like tone. “Right now, we need to investigate you and not your a.s.sistant. Ye Lun, please do not avoid the question and answer our queries honestly!”

“I can’t remember. What to do? You can’t expect me to just anyhow come up with an answer, right?” Ye Lun smiled frivolously. “Besides, will you believe whatever I say? If you believed my words, we wouldn’t be talking here in the middle of the night.”

“Naturally, we’ll be verifying what you said if you do so.”

“Detective, I’m sorry to inform you that from this moment onward, I’m not going to answer any more questions that are not relevant to the case. At the same time, I need to make a few requests.”

Bai Muchuan raised his chin as an indication that Ye Lun could say his requests.

“First of all, I want to meet my lawyer.

“Secondly, I’ve already been detained here for an hour. It’s now the wee hours, and I’m feeling very cold. I want to sleep and I think I can reject a persistent interrogation!

“Thirdly, I have illnesses like low blood sugar, anemia, and depression. If you’re going to use the tactic of fatigue interrogation on me, please contact my family and my attending doctor in advance so as to ensure my safety.”

“…”

D*rn!

What a crafty person!

Xiang Wan could not resist retorting inside her head.

He’s such a hard nut to crack! Xiang Wan thought it must be rare for the detectives to meet anyone like him in a year?

Xiang Wan felt that if she was the one interrogating Ye Lun, she would have vomited blood because of him.

As for Tang Yuanchu and Xie Hui, both of them wore brooding expressions, obviously holding their anger.

Bai Muchuan, however, was unperturbed. After hearing Ye Lun’s words, he smiled casually and gave a glance at Xie Hui.

“Arrange what he asked!”

Xie Hui was gritting his teeth, and one could hear his knuckles as he held his fists. Still, he dutifully listened to the instructions under Bai Muchuan’s stern gaze…

“Captain Bai is sure magnanimous and knows what to do!” Ye Lun gave a thumbs up with a relaxed expression. “Don’t be in a rush, you still have time to ask me slowly.”

Tang Yuanchu took a deep breath. “You and Mao Guigui—”

“Excuse me, Detective!” Ye Lun interrupted him. “Could you give me a gla.s.s of warm water? I’m thirsty!”

His request was not overboard.

This was also the personal rights and interests of the interrogated party.

Bai Muchuan examined Ye Lun with a squint for half a second before giving a chuckle and getting up from his seat. He personally fetched him a gla.s.s of warm water and gave it to him.

“Thank you!” Ye Lun felt the surface of the gla.s.s with a finger. “Is it very hot?”

“Try it and you’ll know.”

“Okay!” The corners of Ye Lun’s lips lifted upward as he held the gla.s.s of water. He blew on it before taking small sips of water. “Captain Bai seems particularly interested in me?”

“I’m only interested in solving crimes!” Bai Muchuan returned to his seat, his posture unchanged and his eyes revealing an authoritative aura.

Both he and Ye Lun were good looking men. However, Bai Muchuan’s good looks was different from Ye Lun’s effeminate, beautiful face with a dark aura. He was manly and das.h.i.+ng with a natural aura of brightness, symbolizing justice.

“If you think that you can change the result by deploying the delaying tactic, I’ll have to tell you that it’s no use. Better tell us what you know sooner!”

Ye Lun looked up from drinking. “How do I tell you what I know when I don’t even know what is happening? Captain Bai, why don’t you teach me?”

Bai Muchuan took out a piece of evidence he had and slammed it adequately on the table before Ye Lun. “This is the room record of Jin Xi Hotel.”

Then, without waiting for Ye Lun to answer, he continued to pull out another piece of evidence and put it on the table as well.

“This is from the footage of Jin Xi Hotel on that day! Look at this person. Is this you?”

The one who booked the room that day was the deceased, Mao Guigui, who used her ident.i.ty card.

The hotel was booked by Mao Guigui using a certain mobile app. The backend of the system only indicated her as the occupant.

However, from the surveillance footage of Jin Xi Hotel, on that very day, a man was with Mao Guigui and entered her hotel room. He had stayed inside her room for about an hour before he left—

“An hour? What kind of joke is this? Oh, you’re looking down on me?” Ye Lun’s expressions and behavior were exceptionally exaggerated. “Taking a bath, foreplay, then followed by the act. How can an hour be enough, right? So, this man is definitely not me!”

He brushed off the picture of the footage lazily.

After a second, he frowned and scrutinized the man in the picture carefully.

“He really does look like me!”

Xiang Wan was in a daze while watching his behavior.

How would a wily fox like him place a rope around his neck by saying this?

This was because the entire conversation in the interrogation room was being recorded. Any sentence could be used as evidence…

“He does look like me! He really does! This is kinda interesting!” Ye Lun looked at the black and white picture several times before lifting his head to face Bai Muchuan. “He wore the same clothes as me, similar stature as me, he even had a hoodie, as well as a mask and walked with his head lowered… He can totally pa.s.s off as me!”

Pa.s.s off?

Seems like he wouldn’t be admitting it.

“There’s evidence and witness,” Tang Yuanchu snorted, “no point arguing to cover up the truth!”

“If there’s evidence and witness, of course, I’m unable to argue my way through. But will you say clearly where the evidence and the witness are? You can actually use this obscure footage as evidence? Aren’t you sorry to all the taxpayers who are feeding all of you?”

“You…” Tang Yuanchu was so angry that he jumped from his seat.

“Tang Yuanchu!” Bai Muchuan roared in low tone.

Tang Yuanchu felt a lump in his throat and sat back down again.

Ye Lun raised an eyebrow and looked at him provokingly. “Do you believe that if you wear the same clothes as me, use the hoodie to cover your head and wear a mask, you’ll look almost the same as me?”

Subconsciously, Xiang Wan took a look at Tang Yuanchu and then Ye Lun.

The two of them were of similar age, and their built was very similar.

Ye Lun did have a point that if they couldn’t see the face and someone just put on the same clothing, they would have a problem of telling them apart due to the poor quality of the surveillance footage.

“What about the witness? How are you going to explain this?” Tang Yuanchu gnashed his teeth as he said so.

“Witness! Hm, Dong Bu? My personal a.s.sistant, right?”

Ye Lun rubbed his forehead and chuckled lazily. “I was thinking earlier why did this ungrateful person do this to me? I’ve always treated him well! When he bought a house, I lent him the sum of money for his down payment. When he got married, I gave him a big red packet. Not to count the usual petty favors he’ll get, he even borrowed a huge sum of money from me to pay off his gambling debts. Why did he hate me so much?”

He lifted his head and made a strange expression as though he was deep in thought as he continued to shrug his shoulders.

“No choice, as the saying goes: benefactor for the first bucket of rice, enemy for the second bucket of rice! Maybe this should be how he felt toward me? Dong Bu likes to gamble. He asked me for help again to repay his gambling debts which I refused. I never expected that he would do this to me…”

He laughed again and continued, “If the police is interested, please feel free to investigate this matter. Many people know how Dong Bu is like. Do you think a gambler’s words should be trusted?”

Bai Muchuan knew about Dong Bu’s gambling habits.

When Dong Bu and the other staff members of Ye Lun were being interrogated, Dong Bu had refused to reveal anything at all. The police had also made use of this point when they caught him inside a casino, and the moment he heard he would go to jail, he was so scared that he spilled the beans.

Of course, the law never stipulated that a gambler’s testimony was invalid.

Nevertheless, if the police did not have a more direct and strong evidence, just from this point alone, they were still unable to relate the death of Mao Guigui to this matter.

Being a suspect does not mean one is a criminal. This is the law.

Therefore, Ye Lun withstood a two-hour interrogation where he drank numerous cups of water and went to the toilet again and again before his lawyer finally finished with the procedures.

And the lawyer took Ye Lun away.

“This b*st*rd! He better pray hard that he’ll not get caught by us!” After walking out of the interrogation room, Tang Yuanchu released his anger that he had kept in control for a couple of hours. His eyes were red and looked so angry as though he was going to gobble someone up.

“Youngster, don’t be so angry.” Xie Hui patted his shoulders and puffed a sigh.

Looking at his expression, he was also unhappy.

After keeping the records, he turned to Bai Muchuan. “Boss, I’m going to the duty room for a short nap. Call me if there’s anything!”

Bai Muchuan waved and let Tang Yuanchu follow him along.

The two of them walked away indignantly.

Bai Muchuan turned to Xiang Wan. “I’ll send you back home. You need not come tomorrow—”

“It’s today, right?” Xiang Wan chuckled.

Bai Muchuan was dazed for a while and gave a slight slap on his forehead as he looked at the sky which was still somewhat dark. “Yes, it’s today,” he laughed, “you need not come today. Go and have some sleep and write your story comfortably at home…”

Write her novel…

Looks like he had not yet seen her discontinuation announcement…

“Hm.” Xiang Wan lowered her head. “Let’s go!”

…

In the street before dawn, the cleaners were at work.

The rustling sweeping sounds were as though the wake-up call for a new day.

In Xiang Wan’s neighborhood, there were some early risers who were walking out of the estate.

The rain had stopped, the ground was still wet, and the air was very fresh.

Bai Muchuan stopped at the entrance and got Xiang Wan to tell him the spot where she nearly got abducted and also said their h.e.l.lo to the security guards. “I’ll send you up first. I’ll come down later for the footage…”

He still wants to work?

“You don’t need sleep?” Xiang Wan hesitated for a while. “Why not do it later in the morning? No rush.”

Bai Muchuan patted her shoulders and accompanied her while entering the neighborhood. “If you’re willing to lend me your bed,” he said softly in a sly tone, “then I’ll do that.”

“…”

This man could always joke around at any time of the day.

Xiang Wan rolled her eyes, gave him a glare, and walked faster ahead. As she had stayed up overnight, she was not alert and accidentally kicked a beverage can which was littered by some inconsiderate people. That crisp sound made Xiang Wan nearly jump out of her wits.

The sound of kicking a beverage can was very loud and resonated throughout the quiet dawn. Xiang Wan staggered and nearly fell onto the floor.

Bai Muchuan supported her. “Why are you so stupid!”

“…”

Stupid? When?

She was just slow witted as she had not slept for a night.

“You’re the stupid one!”

She muttered and he slowly called her name.

“Xiang Wan.”

His s.e.xy voice must have been made used of by him to tease her?

“Hm,” Xiang Wan responded, her heart racing as she lowered her head and followed him.

His hand touched the back of her hand.

Their hands brushed against each other as they walked along the path.

The warm touch made the sensitive heart jump in joy.

However, even though her heart was stirring like a tsunami, Xiang Wan pretended as though she was all calm and peaceful.

Bai Muchuan was the same as her too. He did not show many emotions but just accompanied her along. His hand would brush against hers as though it was not deliberate… This persisted for a good while until he slowly held her hand.

She was stunned for a moment but did not move.

Bai Muchuan’s face revealed a smile under the still dark sky and finally held her hand tightly.

Their palms felt warm. The feeling of first love caught Xiang Wan by surprise…

In the past, the two of them might have behaved intimately and joked around with each other. But this was the first time that they held hands and walked around the neighborhood before daybreak.

For the first time, they had different emotions.

The feeling had caught them off guard and they were defenseless against it.

Huff!

Bai Muchuan heaved a deep, relieved sigh. His voice sounded as though he was smiling in the breeze. “I’m finally at ease!”