SHORT STORY · PSYCHOLOGICAL SYSTEM THRILLER
Elena Vasquez: The Notary
Elena kneels beside the dead man in the wet snow. The service ID at his collar is still lit. Someone used his authorization several times after his death. His body was still lying between the trucks. The last clearance leads Elena to Block 18, where residents fear she has come to take their homes. A woman is waiting with a stranger’s card. ELENA VASQUEZ is written on the back. The stranger knew Elena would pass through this building. How did he know her route?
THE WATCH · FIRST CASE
Why Are the Residents Afraid of Elena?
In the apartment block, Elena wants to learn who last saw the manager. An older man evades her questions and presses his letters against his chest. When he reads her ID, he says, “You’re the third one this week. Two came before you. Both had IDs and questions.” Elena asks whom they were looking for. “They asked,” he says. “I didn’t answer.”
A resident leaves Elena outside her apartment. “I paid this month. My children are asleep in there. Don’t take my home.” A child pushes a toy car to the doorframe and pulls it back. Elena sends the Officer downstairs and waits outside the apartment. The woman watches the Officer leave. Once she is alone with Elena, she talks about her payment to the manager.
Another resident has kept a card for Elena. The stranger told her to let Elena pass and give her the card when she came down the stairs again. He knew her name. Elena reads ALEXANDER ASHFORD on the front; ELENA VASQUEZ is written on the back. How did Ashford know she would return?
CHAPTER 00 AVAILABLE IN GERMAN