Chapter 43: The Time of Disappearance
After receiving a pager from Abramo, Arthur and Carter say goodbye.
Carter gave him back the sushi that Arthur brought, saying that he didn't like to eat sushi, and Gina liked it, so leave it to Gina. Arthur left the apartment with the box of sushi, and when he went downstairs, he found a public phone booth and called Abramo back. On the phone, Abramour asked Arthur to set an address, and the two made an appointment to meet once, and he said that he had something to hand to Arthur to show in person.
Arthur thought for a moment and set the meeting place at St. James's Cathedral, where he was about to go.
Half an hour later, Arthur arrived at St. James's Cathedral on his motorcycle. It's been a month since Good Friday, and the raging fire still lingers in Arthur's mind for a long time. After that, he would take time to come once a week to donate some money to the church, and became a regular visitor to the church services, gradually getting acquainted with the priests of the church, hoping to get some information.
Walking into the hall of St. James's Church again, Arthur stepped on the shiny tiles and walked to the bench near the canopy, and found a seat to sit down. He was not religious, and every time he came to the church, he had a feeling of unease, as if the whole church was about to collapse. But he insisted on coming every week, knowing that there must be some answer hidden here.
Because it was a Saturday, not Sunday, there weren't many people at the church. Behind the canopy, several workers stepped forward to the stained window and set up a ladder that looked like it was going to be repaired. When Arthur saw the window, he thought of the four-sided glass window that he had been led by the old priest in black that day. Later, he went to the New York Library to check that the four horses should represent the four horsemen of the apocalypse in the Bible, also known as the Four Horsemen of Doom.
They appear in the sixth chapter of the New Testament of the Bible, Revelation, and depict the end of the world when four horsemen wreak havoc on the world and bring death and disaster to the world: the knight on the white horse representing conquest, the knight on the red horse representing war, the knight on the dark horse representing famine, and the knight on the gray horse representing death. This is consistent with the depiction on the glass grille.
Arthur thought to himself, it's 1994, is this a sign that 1999 is really coming? So what did I come to this plane for? Is it to bring disaster to the world? No matter how you think about it, Arthur feels that he is still quite decent, even if he secretly manipulates the mafia, he has not done anything harmful, and he still wants to unify the rivers and lakes to bring peace to the American people.
With his hands clasped together and his eyes closed, Arthur looked like he was praying sincerely, but in fact his mind was cranky. To tell the truth, he still likes his current life, no mobile phone, no Internet, no family burden, doing seemingly simple and boring work every day, and planning plans behind his back. After getting through the initial panic and a flurry of killings, everything seems to be in order.
He walked one step at a time, one step at a time, and he didn't know how far he would go, and where he would go. But since there was a road sign ahead, of course he had to figure out where it pointed.
"Arthur."
A gentle voice sounded in his ear, and Arthur opened his eyes to see a priest standing in front of him, Father Wals of St. James's Cathedral. Arthur had approached him before, and instead of claiming to be the chef of Luciano's restaurant, he disguised himself as a successful young businessman who was a good talker and was valued by Father Walls.
For a religion that does not produce things, the donations of believers are an important source of income for them to maintain their daily lives, Arthur is not a believer in this parish, but for such an extraordinary-looking and seemingly wise young man, the priest will naturally be taken to his heart. Today Arthur wore a black coat and looked very dignified.
Arthur got up and exchanged a few words with Father Walls, who led him to the stained glass windows that the workers were repairing, and said, "These three stained windows have been around for a long time, and we are going to renovate them and replace the paintings on them." "For churches, stained glass paintings need to be updated, and what to update often depends on who is willing to afford the cost of replacement. Many groups with religious backgrounds donate flower windows as a sign of devotion.
Arthur's eyes rolled, he was a clever man, but the dignified appearance of a twenty-three-year-old only concealed it. He sniffed a glimmer of opportunity from Walls's words, and immediately said, "Father Walls, I very much want to donate this flower window, no matter how much money it is, I can afford it." If I could, I would have drawn one of the most ornate pieces to show my devotion to Christ. ”
Father Wals smiled, admiring Arthur's clever movements, and that clever conversations would save a lot of trouble. St. James's Cathedral has three large windows, the largest of which can be affordable if it is to be replaced, but it would be better if someone donated.
Arthur doesn't have money, but the Luciano family does, and the Abramo family also has it, and Arthur doesn't care much about money. After making the pledge, Arthur said that he did not bring a checkbook, and that when Abramo came, he would donate $5,000 to the church first, and the subsequent donation would be made in one step. Father Wales was very pleased with Arthur's generosity and took Arthur directly to the office for a cup of coffee.
The two chatted a few words in the office, and Arthur finally found an opportunity and asked, seemingly unintentionally, "I heard that St. James's Cathedral was burned down before, and the current church is rebuilt?" ”
Father Walls paused and shook his head, "Hmm... Well, it was a long time ago, and people said it was burned, but in fact it was just demolished. That was in 1903, more than ninety years ago. The original church was a bit small, and the parish needed a bigger one. Of course, the church is still a little smaller now. ”
In the Diocese of Brooklyn, St. James's Cathedral has not been large enough to carry out some large-scale religious activities here, and it is often necessary to move to nearby St. Joseph's Church. Father Walls had always been concerned about this, and he certainly did not know Arthur's purpose in asking this question, thinking that he was going to discuss the size of the church.
"I've always been interested in the history of the church, but I don't know where to find out about it?" Arthur wanted to know more and asked.
"Oh, we have a library with some stuff from the past, so you can always come and look through it if you're interested. Oh yes, what do you think of the pattern of the flower window, Arthur? Wales was still more concerned about the church's new stained windows.
"If I could, I would like to paint a picture of the end times to warn the world."
Father Walls was taken aback by Arthur's answer, who did not expect Arthur to say this, and did not know how to respond for a while. Arthur hurriedly joked that he was joking, and if he could, he would like to draw a scene of the crucifixion of Jesus and walk on the road with a cross on his back. Walls's expression softened a lot, indicating that it was okay.
The two chatted for twenty minutes, and Arthur came out to take a look, and found that Abramo had arrived. He hurried in through the door of the church, and when he entered, he looked around for Arthur. Arthur beckoned to him, invited him to the priest's office, and asked if he had brought a check.
Abramo pulled a checkbook out of his inner pocket, wrote a $5,000 one at Arthur's command, tore it out and handed it to Father Wals. Father Walls took the donation very solemnly, and for the record, he hastened to say that Arthur could come to the church at any time and that any need would be met. Sure enough, in capitalist countries, money can be channeled.
$5,000 was not a small amount, but Abramo didn't blink an eye and didn't ask. Father Wall saw this in his eyes, and decided in his heart that Arthur must be a man of authority.
When the donation was done, Abramo pulled Arthur out of his office and sat down in a corner. Only then did he take out the paper from his pocket, and the paper that Hunter handed him in Madison Garden Square carefully placed it in front of Arthur, and said softly, "Look at it, it really looks like it, but I'm not sure at all, or I can't believe it." ”
Arthur took the paper from Abramo and examined it, revealing a copy of the National Missing Persons Information Sheet. In the photo column is a little girl with short hair and a handsome face, Arthur knows at a glance that this is Anna! Anna's profile has been found! He hurriedly looked down and saw that the information read:
Georgia Jean Wakeler, from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, disappeared, May 1, 1947.