The white stone

Deception

DREAM THREE: DECEPTION

I finally got it," said Báku, "the security tape from the day of the bank robbery.

-It's great! -Mariko exclaimed. Do you think there will be any clues about what happened seven years ago?

Let's hope so," said Báku and put the old tape into the player, and the player started to play back images.

It's a pity," said Báku, "the black and white tape leaves a lot to be desired, the images are very grainy.

Yes, you're right," said Mariko, frowning, struggling to recognize some parts of the tape, "look, I'm the one who walks into the bank, and that's my mom.

On the tape, Mariko could be seen with her mother, both of them sitting as if waiting for someone. After a while the initial emotion dissipated as nothing happened on the tape. Báku advanced the reproduction and saw how someone approached the women.

Stop the tape here! Mariko exclaimed excitedly.

You can't see the person's face because of the position of the camera, and since this tape is old, there's no sound.

I think he's turning around now, I think... But it's my dad!" Mariko shouted. It can't be, I don't remember meeting my father that day before the assault, in fact, he told me he was away that day so he couldn't go to the hospital where I was.

Are you sure?" asked Báku.

Of course I'm sure, you think that after what happened, I wouldn't remember perfectly what happened after the attack on the bank," she said strangely at the scene, it seemed that Mariko's mother was begging her father, but he wouldn't listen to her. Little Mariko was sitting behind her mother in the seat, while her parents were talking away from her, then her father withdrew from the bench and her mother grabbed his arm, but the man let go of her. It seemed that Mariko's mother was in shock as she did nothing but come back and sit next to her daughter without saying a word.

I know your father and I have no doubt that it is him, but why don't you remember any of that, will you have any repressed memories because of the trauma of the assault?

Do you think so? Mariko asked.

It is the safest thing," said Báku, "when a person suffers a great trauma, the mind suppresses that memory. I've seen It a few times.

How could I get that memory back? asked the slightly frightened girl.

That would be achieved with hypnosis, but you'd better ask your father.

Mariko went home and arrived at her home on autopilot mode as she did not realize she had come all the way. His father was sitting on the comfortable sofa in the living room, cleaning his reading glasses.

Hi Dad," she said when he saw him, "wait a bit, I'm making lunch now," she said without noticing that most of the time he went out to eat (his father didn't eat breakfast and always ate late at around 4:00).

Okay, now I have some time," he said as he greeted and grabbed the morning paper.

Mariko wished she could have been calmer, but she couldn't put her ideas in order, so she tried to concentrate on the food and thought to herself that when she was in her father's presence she would improvise something to get some information out of him.

Here's Dad, the way you like it," she said as she served the late lunch at the table.

-Are you going to eat too? -Asked the father.

Yes, I went to the mall this morning with my friends and didn't have time to eat anything, just a couple of diet sodas," the girl lied, making a face that didn't look suspicious.

The meal went by in silence, that was the rule as Mariko and her father were not used to talking at the table.

You should have more time at work," said Mariko, almost at the end of the meal, trying to set a casual tone, "so we could eat together more often.

I don't like to eat too early," said his father, his tone bored.

You know, your work takes up a lot of your time, like the time of Mom's death, you didn't have time to be with me.

I was abroad, but the first thing I did when I arrived was to visit you at the hospital," his father explained, then he got up to go to work and gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

Mariko went to her room, it didn't fit in the least, her father told her that the first thing he did was visit her in the hospital.

"Bullshit," a voice told her in her brain. "The first thing your father did was take care of Mom and then he visited you in the hospital."

Maybe he got confused," she said to herself.

"Perhaps but...", the voice insisted. "He kissed you on the forehead and then hugged you, didn't he?"

That was strange, what intrigued her most was that he was affectionate with her, since he was dry and sullen in his treatment, he only behaved like that when he made a mistake with her, like when he failed to keep his promise to go to school or something, that was like his tic and she knew it.

Mariko opened her purse, and saw the video Báku gave her, Why would her father lie like that? She thought of the suggestion his friend told her about hypnosis.

"It's funny," she continued, thinking. She always liked those programs where they hypnotized people and they did or said funny things and even forgot how to count numbers, but what she would try to do was not to forget, but to remember more clearly what happened seven years ago, and she didn't find that funny anymore, not funny at all.

.

.

The next day, the girl told Báku about the conversation she had with her father. He kept quiet until Mariko asked him where he had gotten the video.

Baku told her that he had got it from a pervert who liked to collect videos in which people were hurt or killed in real life.

He was a strange guy," said Báku, "he contacted me in a shabby bar, said he had heard about my interest in the video of the bank robbery seven years ago. I asked him to show me the video, he told me I had good taste (he thought I had the same twisted hobby as him), which was the jewel in his collection: "the massacre on the bank grill".

What a lunatic, what I don't understand is the name of the title," shouted Mariko, disgusted by the twisted taste of the man, "it's definitely some kind of dangerous pervert.

As a pervert he has the same thing as I have as a drunkard (Báku was an evangelist and therefore did not drink alcohol).

-What do you mean?

Of course, he said that he gave me only one copy, however, those kind of sick people are very selfish, he would never give me a copy, besides, I know how to recognize an original recording, the guy lied when he told me that he had re-recorded it on an old cassette but I'm sure it's the original.

So you think he gave you the video on purpose? Is that why you doubted him?

Yes, but that was not what made me angry," said Báku with a lost look in his eyes, as if he were remembering the image of the man who gave him the video.

Then what was it?

I don't know... he had a strange look and he showed his teeth a lot, and the perverts either wore very elegant clothes to attract the attention of their victims, or they covered themselves with sports clothes and covered their faces. This subject, on the other hand, could be placed in the middle, dressed in a suit, but this one was more casual than elegant, and the morello cherry shoes he wore, although they were very shiny, were more suitable for running than for displaying them there.

CONTINUARÁ...