Before they will go to their destination, he felt the need to visit Kendrick’s grave. He stood there for a minute, then walked away. He noticed that someone is staring at him from afar. He looked around and see no one. Everywhere he goes, someone will follow him. He ordered Harvin to get rid of that person since they can’t go to Kendrick’s hometown if that person still exists.
After a few days, Harvin was able to catch the person. He is HIS person. This is expected. HE might have known already that Kendrick told him where the item is. So before they could proceed, they needed a plan. And that was how they were able to go.
They arrived at Kendrick’s hometown early in the morning. But the people in town woke up early to do their work. They could see that there are already people who are sweeping the market, plaza, and other places. Some are opening and preparing their stores for the day. And some are already buying things. It is a provincial town and is two and a half hours of travel away from the main city. It is also busier than the other towns. The municipality is not that big but it is quite adapted to the new technologies. There are two malls, a hotel, and small restaurants. They heard that there are good beaches in this place. He thought that maybe years had passed and this small town will become a city.
They decided to stay in the hotel since they will be staying in that town for two weeks. In the lobby, if you look at the left side, there is a pizzeria. In front of the hotel, a few meters away on the right side, there’s a clinic. Then next to the clinic is a pharmacy. The layout of this place is not the arrangement he was expecting. It could’ve been better. But he’s not planning to put up a business there, so he doesn’t mind.
The hotel is simple just simple. It is expected since it is new and there are no more than ten people who are accommodating this hotel. It seemed like putting up a hotel here is not that good and not that bad. They took a rest first and they will start their search tomorrow. The problem they have is that, how are they going to find him faster? He ordered Harvin to make a list of people who have Nathaniel in their names. And there are about fifty people on the list.
The land area of this town is thirty-three point zero two square miles and has a population of fifty-seven thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three, residing in thirty-seven districts. Out of thirty-seven districts, the fifty people on the lists are in twenty different districts. Now it sounds not that hard anymore. They will only go three to four districts a day to find the Nathaniel who Kendrick is referring. If only Nathaniel is the same district where Kendrick lived, it would have been easier. But it’s not included in the list. This means they have to meet each person one at a time.
They started on the first district on the list, which is the district four, and were the five Nathaniels residing there. They drove for ten minutes and finally arrived and ask the captain of the district for help. They went from house to house and all of them didn’t know Father Wesley. They proceed with the next and are still the same. Of all the people they asked that day, no one knew who Father Wesley is. They back to the hotel and changed their strategy. They continued searching for a week and still the same result.
On the eighth day of their search, they went to the thirty-seventh district. And on the list, it says that only two people with the name Nathaniel lived there. But when they found those two people, they are not the person they were looking for. They planned to just go back and tried another time. Then a man heard and approached them.
“You are looking for Nathaniel? The boy whom Father Wesley raised?” the man said. Both of them looked at the man.
“Yes sir. Perhaps you know where they are?” Harvin said.
“They left a few years ago. But I heard that they will be back here in three days.”
“Three days?” he said to confirm what he heard and the man nodded.
It turns out that there was a priest named Wesley but that was a long time ago. They said that he was traveling with a boy named Nathaniel. They are not in this town at that moment but they will be back in three days. Harvin gave him his number to contact them when Nathaniel and Father Wesley are back.
He didn’t know what to do during those three days so while waiting, they explored the place and tried the food in different restaurants. Every night, he would call the housekeeper to know what she was doing.
That night when he called, the housekeeper was busy with something and couldn’t answer her phone. He called twice but still did not answer. But on his third attempt, a sweet voice is what he heard. He was quiet for a while and the woman on the next line was still asking who the caller was. He recognized the voice. It was Kelly. He felt nervous all of a sudden. Not knowing what to say. But he kept his poise, cleared his throat, and answered her.
“It’s me. Alexander,” he said, and this time she was silenced.
“May I know where the housekeeper is, Kelly?”
‘Uh! She is working on something. I’ll go and tell her that you called.’
“No, it’s fine. I’m glad I can hear your voice, Kelly. How are you?”
‘I’m good. Thanks for your concern.’
“Is there anything you want? I’ll buy it when I came back.”
‘No. I have everything I need here.’
“I know you still hate me. And about Gunther- “
‘I’m not blaming you for what happened to him. I just want to know if what I heard is true.’
“Yes.”
‘So you did kill him. Honestly, I don’t know what to feel. Should I be sad? Or maybe should I be glad? I don’t know. I’m tired, Mr. Genovese. Goodnight.’ she said and hung up before he could say goodnight as well. He doesn’t understand what she meant.
They are at the hotel in the afternoon when Harvin’s phone rang with an unregistered number on the screen but still, he accepted it. It was the man he met three days ago. He said that they were back and they can meet them anytime.
They drove back to the thirty-seventh district to meet that boy. It’s a thirty-minute drive from the hotel. When they arrived, many people are wandering around. It is a festival. He heard one of those who passed them. The man that approached them last time was called Riko. He found them and invited them to eat. They denied and ask for Nathaniel. He then accompanied them to the church. He said that Nathaniel is a sacristan.
They entered the convent and Riko called the guy in a white shirt. He is not a boy anymore.
“These are the people I told you about,” Riko said and he left because he still needs to take care of his guests in his house.
“Okay. Hello sirs, I am Nathaniel.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Nathaniel. My name is Alexander. Kendrick’s a friend of mine. And this is Harvin.” he said and they shake hands.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Where is Father Wesley?”
Nathaniel looked at his eyes, then walked towards a picture hung on the wall. He remained while staring at the picture. A minute later, he finally spoke with teary eyes.
“Father Wesley is dead.”