Double-sided memory(三)

Under the mask

One night a week later, Ou Li's mobile phone suddenly rang. An unfamiliar number is displayed on the screen.

"Miss Oli," it was Leo's voice, but more hoarse than usual, "I've found him."

Ouli suddenly came to her senses. That robber? Where is it?

"An abandoned warehouse in the east city," Leo said, with a faint siren in the background. "The police have surrounded the area, but..." I need you to confirm.

Twenty minutes later, a black car without any markings stopped downstairs of Ouli Apartment. Leo was sitting in the driver's seat, wearing a dark coat, and his face looked extremely pale under the street lamp.

"Sorry to disturb you so late," he said, in a low voice, "but eyewitness identification is very important."

The car drove into the night. Ouli secretly observed Leo's profile. His jawline was taut and there was a deep shadow under his eyes, as if he hadn't had a good rest for a long time.

"You..." How are you doing? Ouli couldn't help asking.

Leo's fingers tightened on the steering wheel for a moment. "Just work," he replied briefly, and then, as if forcing himself, added, "There have been quite a few cases recently."

The car was parked outside a cordon. Several police officers surrounded a man in handcuffs who was being escorted into a police car. Even from a distance, Ouli could recognize that tall and thin figure and the strange, dilated pupils.

"It's him," Ouli whispered, a chill climbing up her spine. "It's definitely him."

Leo nodded, but his expression was extremely complicated. It was neither the relief after solving the case nor the joy of victory, but a deep emotion that Ouli couldn't interpret.

"Thank you for your confirmation," he said, his voice almost in a whisper. "Now you can rest assured."

On the way back, the silence inside the car grew heavy. Oli noticed that Leo's breathing had become irregular. His fingers tapped the steering wheel from time to time, as if calculating some invisible rhythm.

What are you thinking about? Ouli finally asked.

Leo didn't reply immediately. The car turned into a quiet path and stopped by the roadside. The street lamps cast dappled shadows through the leaves, dancing on Leo's face.

"Do you know," he said suddenly, his voice strangely drifting, "sometimes I feel like we both have two sides." ,"While showing the world, on the other hand... Keep it to yourself only."

Ouli was astonished by this sudden confession. What does it mean?

Leo turned to her. In the dim car, his eyes presented a strange sense of transparency. "For instance, that robber, "he said," was a ruthless criminal in the surveillance footage, but who knows what story lies behind him?" ,"Perhaps he is a good father, or perhaps he needs money to buy medicine for his sick child."

Ouli frowned. "He pointed a gun at my head."

"I know," Leo said quickly, as if suddenly coming to his senses. "I'm not trying to excuse him." Just... His voice gradually faded away, and his fingers unconsciously touched something under the passenger seat.

Ouli looked down. By the faint light, she recognized it as a small black handbag, with the zipper half-open, revealing something flesh-colored, smooth inside - it looked like a human face.

Leo noticed her gaze and suddenly pushed the bag deeper. "Just work supplies," he said stiffly, suddenly starting the car. "I'll take you home."

The rest of the journey was spent in silence. When the car stopped downstairs of Ouli Apartment, Leo seemed to have regained his professional composure.

"The case is over," he said, handing her a business card. "If you need anything else, feel free to contact me at any time."

Ouli took the business card and accidentally touched Leo's hand with her fingertip. His skin was strangely cold, like a temperature that didn't belong to a living person.

"Thank you, Leo," she said sincerely. "I don't know what I would be like without you."

Leo's expression loosened for a moment, and a certain deep pain flashed across his eyes. "Don't thank me," he whispered. "Really not."

Ouli stood by the roadside, watching the black car blend into the night. She didn't know what drove her to do so, but when the car was about to turn, she quietly wrote down the license plate number.

After getting home, Ouli tossed and turned, unable to sleep. At three o 'clock in the morning, she turned on the computer, entered that license plate number and some simple search terms. After a thorough search for twenty minutes, she discovered something strange - the car had been captured by traffic cameras driving on the other side of the city in the first half of the night, and Leo should have been on his way to pick her up by then.

Even more strangely, the enlarged blurry image shows that the person in the driver's seat is wearing some kind of hat, and the profile of his side face is similar to Leo's but not exactly the same, just like... It's just like wearing a delicate mask.

Ouli's fingers were hanging over the keyboard, and her heart was racing. She recalled the flesh-colored object peeking out of the black handbag, Leo's strange remarks about "two-faced", and the deep pain in his eyes that didn't belong to a detective.

Outside the window, the first ray of morning light pierces through the clouds. Oli made a decision - she wanted to get to know Leo Kraus more deeply, the man who had saved her but seemed to be trapped in her own maze. For some reason, she felt that their story had just begun..