The café lights were low.Evening traffic hummed outside like it had no idea something sharp was unfolding inside.
Hawk folded his arms.
"I've already sent my informer after the stepbrother," he said calmly."He doesn't know it yet."
Barfi nodded once.He didn't ask how.He didn't ask where.
Hawk never moved without reason.
The café door opened with a soft bell chime. 🔔
Walter walked in, wiping his hands on a cloth.
"What did I miss?"
Barfi explained.
The ghost.Professor K.The stepbrother.The autopsy.The lie wrapped carefully as truth.
Walter listened without interrupting.
No jokes.No dramatic commentary.
When Barfi finished, Walter smiled slowly.
"Oh," he said."I can help with this."
Hawk's eyebrow lifted.
"Don't freestyle."
Walter ignored him.
The First Move ☎️
Walter picked up his phone and dialed a number.
Barfi watched quietly.
The call connected.
Walter didn't shout.Didn't threaten.
His voice was calm. Almost bored.
"I know what you did to your brother," Walter said."And why you did it."
Silence on the other end.
Barfi felt something shift in the air.
Professor K appeared briefly near the counter.Watching.
Then—
The call was cut.
Walter placed the phone down gently.
"Hook set," he said. 🎣
Hawk stared at him.
"You just poked a snake."
Walter shrugged.
"Snakes move when poked."
Three Hours Later 📞
Hawk's phone rang.
He answered without greeting.
The informer's voice came fast and low.
"He's nervous. Just left his house. Met a guy named Guy."
Walter blinked.
"…His name is Guy?"
"Yes," Hawk replied flatly.
The informer continued.
"They're talking about old things. Files. Something about an autopsy."
Then the line went dead.
Hawk lowered the phone.
"Good."
Barfi frowned slightly.
"That's it?"
Hawk nodded.
"We wait."
He leaned back in his chair.
"You don't pull the net when the fish touches it."
He looked at Barfi.
"You wait until it jumps in."
Professor K stood near the window.
Silent.
Waiting too.
Two Days Later 📂
The café was closed again.
Four chairs.Four men.One file on the table.
Hawk placed it down slowly.
"I got it."
Walter leaned forward immediately.
"Got what?"
"The truth."
Barfi's chest tightened slightly.
Hawk opened the file.
"Professor K performed an autopsy," he said."On Guy's brother."
Barfi listened carefully.
"The official result was heart attack."
Walter frowned.
"And?"
"And three days later," Hawk continued,"Professor K demanded a second autopsy."
Silence thickened.
Barfi spoke softly.
"Why?"
"Because something didn't match," Hawk said."The internal report didn't align with the physical findings."
Dr. Putin nodded thoughtfully.
"He suspected poisoning."
Hawk glanced at him.
"Exactly."
He flipped another page.
"But before he could proceed…"
He closed the file.
"The harassment case exploded."
Barfi understood instantly.
"It stopped him."
"Yes," Hawk said."And a month later— Professor K died."
Walter leaned back slowly.
"So the stepbrother and Guy used a fake assault case to…"
"Destroy him," Hawk finished."And bury a murder as a heart attack."
The café felt colder.
Professor K appeared again near the table.
Not angry.
Just… tired.
What It Means ⚖️
Barfi looked at the file.
"He didn't come back for revenge."
Hawk nodded once.
"He came back because the truth was buried with him."
Walter cracked his knuckles dramatically.
"Well," he said, standing up,"looks like the fish is fully inside the net." 🐟
Hawk picked up his phone again.
"Next move," he said calmly,"we don't scare them."
He looked at Barfi.
"We let them hang themselves."
Barfi felt Professor K step closer.
"You see now," the ghost whispered.
"Yes," Barfi replied quietly.
Walter blinked.
"Did he just—"
Hawk raised a hand.
"Let him talk."
Professor K's form flickered slightly.
"My stepbrother feared exposure more than prison," he said."He feared losing reputation."
Hawk's eyes sharpened.
"Then we attack reputation."
Walter grinned slowly.
"Public pressure."
Dr. Putin added calmly.
"And controlled leaks."
Hawk nodded.
"We reopen the autopsy request. Quietly. Let them panic."
Barfi asked softly,
"And if they try to run?"
Hawk's voice turned steel.
"Then we arrest them while running."
Between the Living and the Dead 🌫️
Outside, the city moved normally.
Cars.Voices.Light.
Inside the café, something heavier shifted.
The dead had spoken.The living were moving.
Professor K looked at Barfi one last time before fading again.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Barfi didn't respond with heroics.
He simply said,
"We're not done."
Hawk closed the file.
Walter turned the café sign slightly.
OPEN.
But not for coffee.
For truth.
And somewhere between guilt and fear—
Justice leaned closer. 👁️⚖️