Conversation · Ruby's Journal

You should show all this to the lieutenant, see what he makes of it.

"Even when I leave here (if I leave here alive) -- what's my next move?... Staging a lynching is a crime, even if I'm not accused of murder on top of that. Forever on the run? Not really my idea of the open road. Man, I was really looking forward to winning."

Anything about... La Puta Madre?

That name isn't mentioned as far as you can tell.

Small wonder -- would you talk about La Puta Madre in your journal? You do see an 'M' though -- La Puta Madre? 'M' is mentioned on March 9th and March 15th.

Not now.

Read the entry from March 9th first.

"Great. M's peone is coming to town, no doubt to investigate the lynching, but also -- I feel it in my gut -- to finally put a bullet in my head. While I'm napping in my lorry or on a smoke break... Well, I won't stick around just to twist my own neck by constantly looking over my shoulder."

"Then again, isn't that what I've been doing ever since I got the call."

"The call"? Did M call her personally? Why?

Things played out just as she had feared. Except you didn't shoot her.

It's in you to do something like this -- kill her. Physically at least. You could pull the trigger if you had to.

This is not me. I wouldn't do something like that.

Maybe it's the old you? Or maybe she was just paranoid...

No, not even the old you. No you would do that.

Read the entry from March 12th.

"Been holed up here for three days now. I'm used to being alone and all, but -- I don't know when I'll be able to leave, or if I'll be ratted out. They will rat me out, of course. I've made it a point to believe in the best in people (the boys, for example), but -- experience tells me..."

"Did M feel truly betrayed by me? I was feeling threatened -- he'd have to know if he threatened people, they'd take measures to protect themselves. Even I know that. Economic measures first of all. Gotta make a living, right. I can still hear his voice in the receiver, taste the plastic..."

The entry ends abruptly.

The call was a courtesy. He must have held her in high regard to personally tell her he knew about her plan to run drugs for the competition.

That must have been one hell of a conversation.

No, I couldn't.

Yes, you could. You'd pull it one, two, three times -- and watch her fall.

No, stop... He wouldn't do that.

What a coincidence...

Is it? Can you be sure? What if you are secretly being manipulated by La Puta Madre as you pursue this investigation. What if he wiped your memory on purpose?

On purpose? That's pretty far-fetched.

I'm okay with the idea.

That's a good, pragmatic approach.

Were you supposed to find her, even apart from the investigation, then? On M's request? No, you wouldn't do something like this. This must be a mistake.

You didn't follow through. You should have shot her in the head.

Am I sure this is a mistake? Look at me.

Whatever you may look like, you don't feel like a hired assassin.

Goddamn right, I should have.

Too late to do that now, assassino grande! Better start looking over your shoulder now.

This is a coincidence. I would never kill people for a mob boss.

The thought steadies your nerves. The journal stops shaking in your hand.

"No mention of La Puta Madre..."

"What about this 'M'?" He points at the page you're staring at. "Could this be La Puta Madre? Here: March 9th and March 15th."

What are the diagrams of?

Esoteric radio technology. The most recent ones probably pertain to the Latitude Compressor: sketches, calculations of distance and density. You make out a familiar spiral shape.

(Look at the cover again.)

"It's good she left in a hurry. We could learn a lot from this..."

Study the handwriting.

The large cursive of someone who writes quickly and confidently.

Perhaps too confidently -- many phrases and even paragraphs have been crossed out, with tiny corrections scrawled above and in the margins.

Flip through the pages again.

A thick journal. The cover is worn, like someone used to carry it around in their back pocket.

Unwind the strap. (Move on.)

The journal falls open. About two thirds of its ruled pages have been filled.

Examine the cover.

It's made of full-grain leather. The lower left corner of the back cover sports an embossed brand name: "SCHNELLER."

Schneller is a stationary brand from Gottwald beloved among architects and engineers.

She had good taste and must have taken what she recorded here seriously.

She's got good taste and must have taken whatever she recorded here seriously.

This was important to her -- when it was still hers.