Chapter 5: He Went Missing at Sea

Though they were skeptical, Sophia was convinced, though she wasn't sure if the accounts had been exaggerated.

"By the way, Sophia, where did you hear the name William Mason from?" Quinn asked her, just now remembering.

Sophia didn't know how to respond and instead changed the subject. "Let's not talk about that. Based on this information, can you find any more about him?"

"Why not just ask this Raven Mason directly?" Quinn said straightforwardly, clicking the mouse to open the profile page. "There's an address. Since the article was written by him, he must know."

Sophia leaned over to take a look. Raven Mason's profile picture was of a middle-aged man in his forties with a kind smile, clearly a very amiable person. The account's location was displayed as a villa area on East Castle Road in Queens, a very famous place where only the wealthy and noble reside.

"Do you have a contact method?" Sophia asked her.

Quinn nodded, "I can find it for you if you want."

"Sure, send it to me later. By the way, have there been any updates? The news has been out for a few days, and no family members have come forward?" Sophia suddenly remembered and asked again. Quinn shook her head, "No."

Sophia was silent for a while, then suddenly wanted to see the skeleton. Samuel, seeing her about to leave, followed her.

When the skeleton was first moved, it was wearing a suit, overcoat, and a red scarf. The time of the incident was obviously winter, and the forensics team had estimated the height to be around one meter eighty. Sophia recalled William's height; he was about one meter eighty-seven, quite tall, but she couldn't confirm yet that this skeleton wasn't him.

After lunch at the station, Sophia decided to visit Raven Mason's home. But because this matter was too strange, Sophia didn't want Samuel to follow, afraid he would find out and start asking questions. She herself wasn't clear on everything, let alone explain it to him.

So, she hailed a taxi and went there alone. As for her car, the rear had been severely damaged and had been sent for repairs.

At two in the afternoon, Sophia arrived at the villa area on East Castle Road and, based on the detailed address Quinn provided, came to the gate of Raven Mason's mansion.

She rang the bell and waited for a moment before a middle-aged man came out. It was Raven from the profile picture, also wearing glasses, but he didn't resemble William.

Sophia initially suspected that this Raven Mason might be William Mason's son, but the information showed he was unmarried, and Sophia dismissed the thought.

Raven Mason came to open the gate of the courtyard and asked her, "May I ask who you are?"

"Hello, I'm Sophia Walker, a criminal police officer." Sophia took out her police badge. Raven glanced at it and, without asking further questions, invited her in.

Sophia followed him into the hall. After Raven invited her to sit and made tea, Sophia took the opportunity to look around.

The villa was magnificent, with a long staircase leading straight to the top, like an exhibition hall, luxurious and splendid. She couldn't even see how many rooms were on the upper floors. The high-quality maple wood floors waxed to a shine seemed to make the entire hall glow.

But in such a large mansion, there was no one else besides him. Sophia asked him, "Mr. Raven, do you live here alone?"

Raven Mason smiled, his eye corners deeply wrinkled, "Yes, but this isn't my home. I just look after it for someone."

As he spoke, Raven handed her a cup of tea. Sophia took it with both hands, took a sip, and then asked him if he knew about the news from a few days ago.

Raven nodded, "I've heard about it, but it has nothing to do with me."

"In your memory, has anyone in your Mason family gone missing?" Sophia asked another question.

Raven picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then said, "There was one, his name is William Mason, my cousin, but he went missing at sea."

"You do know William!"

Sophia was pleasantly surprised and hurriedly asked him, "His stage name is James Hayes, right? Since you know about him, you must know why all the information about him has been erased?"

Sophia had thought that finding him would reveal everything, but Raven Mason shook his head and said he didn't know.

He said, "I don't know much about my cousin. After all, I was just a teenager when he disappeared. But before he disappeared, he told me to help look after his home."

Sophia was stunned. Was this William's home?

"Miss Sophia, you just asked me about the accident in the news, but you also know about my cousin. May I know who you really are?" Raven Mason's scrutinizing gaze fixed on her.

Sophia said solemnly, "I am a criminal police officer; you don't need to doubt that. The reason I came to find you is that the gentleman named William Mason may be related to a missing case from decades ago, and even possibly related to me!"

Hearing her words, Raven Mason frowned, somewhat confused.

His cousin had disappeared decades ago, and all information about him had been cleaned up.

Logically, no one should know of his existence; how did she know?

Sophia knew this matter was complicated, but she still explained to him what she had discovered last night.

Learning that she knew of James from a film, Raven didn't doubt this because he also had movie discs about his cousin.

However, he didn't understand how she knew James was William.

Hearing him ask, Sophia knew she couldn't avoid it and told him what had happened that morning.

Sophia was prepared to be regarded as a lunatic, but after hearing that she had seen his cousin, Raven Mason showed a surprised expression and said, "No wonder I feel so familiar with you..."

"What do you mean? Have you seen me?" Seeing that he didn't doubt her words, Sophia hurriedly asked.

Raven Mason stood up, told her to wait, and went upstairs to bring down an old, faded photo album.

After sitting down with the album, Raven quickly flipped it open and found a photo, pointing it out to her: "Take a look at this! Is this you?"

Sophia glanced at it, her face showing surprise once again.

The photo was even older! A black and white photo, filled with a strong sense of history.

There was an old-fashioned piano in the photo, and in front of it stood a woman in a white shirt and overalls, with a tightly fastened belt showing a slender waist that could be encircled by two hands.

Her gaze was fixed in a certain direction, her brows furrowed, her eyes filled with worry, as if she was concerned about something.

Sophia didn't need to look closely to see that the woman in the photo was herself.

"Mr. Raven, where did you get this photo?" Sophia immediately asked him.

Raven didn't hide it and honestly said, "I found it when I was sorting through my cousin's belongings. It's a very old photo, and the piano in the photo was in my cousin's room."

For some reason, hearing the word "belongings," Sophia felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Besides this one, are there no others with me?" Sophia stared at the photo for a while before asking him.

Raven flipped through it, shaking his head, "No, because I've seen this photo many times, so when you mentioned it just now, it reminded me."

"And who are these people in the photos?" Sophia wanted to take the whole album to look at, but he kept holding it, and Sophia didn't want to snatch it directly.

"They are all old photos. You can take a look if you want." Raven Mason handed her the album, being very careful due to its age, fearing it might get damaged.

Sophia took it with both hands and quickly looked through the entire album, confirming they were indeed old photos.

But there were very few of William, only a few, and the rest were strangers.

Flipping through these old photos, Sophia had a sense of déjà vu, like when she was a child visiting her grandfather in the countryside and looking at his old photos from the Vietnam War, with a strong sense of history.

"Miss Sophia, you said you saw him because of a photo with my cousin. Could it be that the photo took you back in time?" Raven Mason speculated.

Hearing such words from a middle-aged man, Sophia felt somewhat amused.

She herself didn't quite believe in such things, yet he was already making such speculations and seemed to find it reasonable. He said to her, "Miss Sophia, I think this matter is not that simple. In fact, my cousin's disappearance back then was very unusual and may really have something to do with you!"

"You don't think I had something to do with your cousin's disappearance, do you?" Sophia said, both crying and laughing.

Raven Mason shook his head, looking into her eyes, and said seriously, "I don't mean that. It's just that many things back then are indeed hard to explain. Perhaps it was all destined, Miss Sophia, I think the person in the photo is you."