Page 8 of Symphony for Lies (Tangled Truths #2)

I slept through the entire day after the park ordeal. The image of the body wouldn’t leave my mind. But honestly? Even before that, I had already felt exhausted.

The week felt never-ending.

I didn’t feel rested. Not even close.

But I still got up, got dressed, and forced myself to go to work.

For Grandma’s sake, I let a taxi take me. She didn’t think it was safe for me to walk around alone anymore. As we drove past the park, the scene was still sealed off.

The yellow caution tape. The officers. The flashing lights. My stomach turned violently, and I quickly looked away.

The moment I stepped into the clinic, I was immediately swarmed by Angela, Jenny, Rita, and Robert.

“Amelia, what did you see?”

“Was it terrible?”

“God, you poor thing! I would’ve fainted on the spot!”

Their voices blurred together. I couldn’t talk about it. I didn’t want to.

“It was… horrifying.” That was all I could manage.

I walked away without another word and went straight to the locker room. I just wanted to work. To forget.

I changed my uniform, clipped on my name tag, and breathed deeply. I knew the job, the routine, and the flow of the day. But before I could even start, Linda called me into her office.

She was sitting on the edge of her desk, arms crossed.Her dark raven-black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, and her usually warm amber eyes were dulled with exhaustion. Even her tan skin had a yellowish hue.

For a long moment, she said nothing. “Amelia, are you sure you’re in the right state to work today? I saw the news—”

“There was a cat next to the body,” I interrupted.My fingers felt clammy, and my heart pounded in my chest. “It looked exactly like Mr. Franklyn’s cat.”

A heavy silence filled the room.

Linda slowly dragged a hand down her face. “What?”

I swallowed hard. “I know it sounds unbelievable—”

“It’s beyond unbelievable.” Her sharp gaze pinned me in place. “But I know you, Amelia. You have a photographic memory. If you say it was the same cat, I believe you.”

Her trust meant a lot. But at that moment, it felt like a burden.

“I’ll get in touch with the police,” she stated, her voice firm. “Our interview was delayed again. This time because of the murder, but now we need confirmation.”

I nodded hesitantly and stood up to leave.

“One more thing.” Linda studied me for a long time.

“Call Mr. Franklyn.”

My stomach twisted.

“He has a right to know.”

I clenched my jaw. “Understood.”

I walked to the reception desk as a heavy weight settled in my gut.

The clinic had already opened, and my coworkers, Rita and Robert, were manning the front.

Robert was busy with a client while Rita flipped through some paperwork.

“Can you pull up Mr. Franklyn’s information? I need his phone number.”

Rita’s sun-kissed complexion was flawless, as always, and her makeup perfectly highlighted her big gray eyes. She flashed me a playful grin. “For you? Anything.”

I gave her a tired smile.

Robert, meanwhile, had just finished checking out a patient. His platinum blond hair was slicked back, but his face looked drained. His eyes had deep, dark circles under them. Even with large glasses covering most of his face, they were very noticeable.

“Didn’t sleep at all last night,” he groaned.“Amelia, you look like you need three cups of coffee. I’m going to the bakery. Would you like me to bring you something?”

The words of a saint.

“Yes, please. ”

At my instant answer, Robert grinned, hopping to his feet.“Good. Hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

I sighed, “That means you’ll be gone for half an hour.”

He was already heading for the door.“You know me!”

Rita chuckled, tucking a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. “That we do.”

“As long as he gets my coffee, I won’t complain.”

She turned the monitor toward me with a soft laugh. “Here’s the number.”

I started dialing, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Rita fiddling with the ends of her hair, an old nervous habit. Then there was the knuckle cracking.

Before I could ask if she was okay, the call connected. But it wasn’t Mr. Franklyn who picked up. It was his son. His reaction was instant, full of anger, frustration, and a sharp threat to sue.

I tried to explain that the police were handling it, but he hung up before I could even finish.

I stared at the phone. “Shit…”

Rita patted my shoulder with a gentle, reassuring smile.“Come on, Amelia. That kind of call is always challenging. Don’t take it personally.”

I exhaled slowly and nodded.

I needed to focus.

As my shift came to an end, that heavy weight from earlier still clung to my chest. I was drained. Exhausted. I just wanted to go home.

The familiar scent of my grandmother’s cooking greeted me when I walked through the door.

“Come, my love. You need to eat.” Her soft voice drifted through the house, pulling me from my thoughts.

I forced a small smile. But before I joined her, I took a long, hot shower, letting the knots in my muscles loosen.

When I trotted downstairs, my hair wrapped in a towel, the smell of mint tea lingered in the air.

Grandma was seated at the table, her frail hands wrapped around a steaming cup.

I bent down and kissed her soft cheek before sitting down to eat my dinner of salmon and salad.

I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I took the first bite. While I ate, she chatted about her day at work, and her voice was soothing against the storm in my mind.

But when I finished my meal, her fingers curled around mine. Her grip was warm. Comforting. And then she said,“My love… Mrs. Wales came to my shop today. She… She’s the mother of the boy who died.”

A sharp sting shot through my chest.

“I never expected to know someone affected by this… but the world… is small.” Grandma let out a long sigh and took another sip of tea. “She invited us to the funeral. The town is organizing a donation drive for the family.”

“When is the funeral?”

“Next Friday.” The words were gentle, but their weight pressed down on me.“The body will be released this week. She told me, through tears, that her son was only sixteen. He was just starting to make a name for himself in classical music. A talented young pianist…”

I felt a sudden pressure in my chest.

A suffocating realization.

Piano. Music. The wind chimes. Were they… connected?

“I’ll take the day off. ”

Grandma blinked, then smiled softly.“We’ll go together.” She squeezed my hand firmly as if anchoring me to reality.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Together.”

Later that night, I sat at my desk, staring at my checklist.

I should’ve gone to bed, but I flipped through my lesson plans and organized materials for the group tutoring session. It didn’t take long.

I had already prepped over the weekend. But I needed something to occupy my mind. Something other than the wind chimes.

The melody had stuck with me. I found myself replaying their tune in my head, the numbers carved into the columns, the haunting melody… The order, the number of chimes…

My fingers moved on their own, scribbling down the pitches on a piece of paper.

Was there… a hidden message?

At first, it was nothing but random tones. But as I started to remember what Mr. Watson taught me, I saw it. Each tone was assigned to a corresponding letter. A for the first pitch, B for the second, C, D… until G. Then I cycled back, using a simple alphabetical cipher.

A musical scale turned into a code.

T-H-E-S-E-C-R-E-T

I froze. “The… secret?”

My pulse pounded in my ears.

I kept writing, letting the melody I remembered guide me. Every pitch, every pause. It wasn’t random.

Someone had turned music into a message.

The next set of notes formed words.

T-H-A-T-W-A-S-J-U-S-T-T-H-E-B-E-G-I-N-N-IN-G

“That was just the beginning.”

My breath hitched. The melody had stopped too soon. The message wasn’t finished.

I stared at the page, my fingers gripping the pen so tightly it nearly snapped.

A shiver ran down my spine.

I tried to keep going to figure out the rest, but the melody kept cutting off abruptly. It was incomplete. Then I remembered the music sheets beneath the boy’s head; what if they held the missing part or… the real message?

I shoved the paper away, scribbling over the notes in frustration. Then, I ripped it apart and tossed it into the trash.

“I should stop this.” My voice shook. But the notes still rang in my head.

Not just the notes. The face of the boy, the bloodstained sheet music beneath him, and the ominous message that wouldn’t leave my mind.

My gaze fell on my nightstand, where Tristan’s rose lay. His soft and melancholic piano playing echoed in my mind, making my thoughts just a little more bearable.

That night had been pure torture. Nightmares haunted me as the line between reality and hallucination blurred, the scenes from the pavilion replaying repeatedly.The wind chimes held a message, a cryptic melody, a deadly clue that led me straight to a pile of corpses.

I woke up with a sharp headache, my body heavy with exhaustion. Every time I blinked, I thought I saw blood on my bed and on the floor. When I turned around, I was convinced a shadow was moving in my room. It was too much, so I dragged myself into the kitchen to grab some painkillers.

Surprisingly, my grandmother was already there, rummaging through the medicine cabinet.

“Good morning. Is everything okay?” I asked, instantly on edge.

She looked tired, but her face lit up in a warm, familiar way when she saw me. “Morning, my sweet girl. Didn’t sleep well?”

Grandma had ignored my question, so I pressed again, “Are you sure everything’s alright?”

“It’s nothing, sweetheart,” she reassured me with a soft laugh. “The doctor just prescribed me some new vitamins. I need to get used to waking up earlier and exercising more.”

I searched her face, trying to determine if she was telling me the truth. But the pounding in my temples blurred my vision, so I let it go.

“Okay… just listen to your doctor. We both want you to stay healthy.” I wrapped my arms around her, kissing her cheek. “I’ll only stop by the clinic to speak with the police, then take the rest of the day off and come help you at the shop.”

Her eyes softened. “That sounds wonderful. I’d love that.” Grandma squeezed me tighter, then leaned back to study my face. “But you, my dear, desperately need some rest.” Her warm palm cupped my cheek, and the gentle touch soothed me.

“I’ll take care of myself. And you, please do the same,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand before finally heading out.

By the time I arrived at the clinic, the entire staff and two police officers were already there. Among them was Officer Wilson, who greeted me with a polite nod.

We were questioned one by one, and my turn took much longer than the others.

I told them everything, what I’d found at the pavilion and the strange occurrences at the clinic. Then, my worst fear was confirmed. The dead cat at the crime scene was the same one that had died and went missing.

“The owner has been notified,” Mr. Wilson informed me, his voice steady. “They filed a complaint against the clinic when the body went missing. That may no longer be necessary, but we must investigate further.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Why was the killer targeting both animals and people? What was the point?

After a long pause, I gathered my courage and told them about my suspicion that the music sheets might contain a message. Officer Wilson and his colleague, Jonathan, took meticulous notes and paid close attention. That alone made me feel a little better.

After the interrogation, I spent some time at my grandma’s tailor shop. It was exactly what I needed. Peace and comfort. A break from all the darkness. But eventually, I had to leave for tutoring.

I was relieved to see Simon at the tutoring session with the group. His father had personally dropped him off and discussed the formalities with me.

The boy had been nervous initially, but to make it easier, I sat him next to Jade, a lively, friendly girl who I knew would bring him out of his shell.

Once we got started, the lesson went smoothly. The kids were energized. Friday was approaching, and I helped them finish their work early so they’d have more free time.

As a reward, I handed out chocolate bars at the end.

Most of the kids left quickly, but Simon lingered.

He packed his bag slowly, sneaking nervous glances at the clock.

“Everything okay?” I asked, watching him closely.

His gray eyes flicked to me. Then he rubbed his neck, hesitant. “Yeah. Today was just… really nice. I didn’t even realize how fast the time was passing.”

His words warmed my heart.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Jade was kind to me.”

I smiled. “She’s a great girl. Not just her, though. The whole group is awesome. I’m sure you’ll make some good friends here.”

I had just finished packing when I remembered something.Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a book.“I got this for you.”

Simon’s eyes widened as he took it with a small smile.“What’s it about?”

“That’s for you to tell me,” I teased. “I’m giving you two weeks to read the first ten chapters. Then we’ll talk about it.”

“And if I finish the whole thing?”

I grinned. “Then we’ll have a real conversation about it.”

Outside, the air was crisp but pleasant.

“Is someone picking you up?”

“Yeah. My mom. We are going to a gala tonight.”

I studied him, noticing for the first time that Simon was dressed in a suit.

“My brother’s performing. But he’s just going to play and leave. He has more important things to do.”

“I’m sure it’ll be nice.”

Simon didn’t look convinced. “It’s not fun. But I have to go.”

Oh.I didn’t know what to say.

But then he shot me a smile. “Thank you for waiting with me.”

“Of course, Simon.”

Moments later, a car pulled up with Mrs. Cole behind the wheel.

“Get in, Simon.” Her voice was sharp, dismissive. She didn’t even glance at me.

Simon sighed, gave me a quick wave, and climbed into the car.

I watched them leave, then turned and headed home.

My grandma was out with her friends, enjoying one of the crochet club meetings.Which meant I had the night to myself.

I freshened up, changed into something nice, and grabbed my favorite purse. I was going to Cozy Corner to see my friends.