Canvas of Shadows

11

The balcony, unenclosed and bordered only by an open railing, offered no barrier to the man from upstairs who had made his way down to my level and then into the living room.

The small size of the apartment left me with no room to resist.

Frozen in place, I could only sit there, feeling the ominous presence drawing nearer with each passing second.

Suddenly, a hand gripped my throat.

"Then what happened?" Lucas Manning asked, leaning in with urgency.

I continued, "Charles Linden spoke, 'It's snowing. The railing is covered in snow, except where you blocked it.' He laughed coldly as his grip tightened, and I'll never forget the suffocating fear that followed."

Lucas nodded, understanding. "So he deduced it was you because the snow on your balcony railing had been disturbed when you leaned against it."

"Exactly. That's how he was sure it was me and came directly to me."

"And then? He had his hands around your neck. What did you say in that moment of life and death?"

Struggling to breathe, my mind unexpectedly cleared. "Can't you guess what I said?"

Lucas shook his head, "No, you mentioned it was a prophecy."

"More precisely, I said two things. The first made him release me, and the second, which was indeed a prophecy, made him let me go."

"I can't imagine what it was."

I nodded, "You said earlier that I'm a pragmatic egoist, and I agree. 'Egoist' is obvious, but the key here is 'pragmatic.'"

"Stop beating around the bush."

"People can't be selfish out of thin air. Every transaction is reciprocal; to benefit oneself, one must also offer something of value to the other. For instance, this interview: I share my story with you in exchange for hearing yours. Similarly, to prevent someone from harming me, I must pose a threat to them. When Charles Linden had me by the neck, I realized this was a matter of life and death, a transaction where he wanted my life, so I had to make him see the cost of taking it."

Lucas pondered, "But you forgot to call the police. What cost could there be for him?"

"Exactly, which is why I had to compensate for that oversight."

"So, what did you say?"

"It seems you haven't grasped my point yet," I sighed. "Let's consider Charles Linden. You know he's intelligent to the point of inhumanity. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because he's an even more pragmatic, intelligent, and ruthless egoist who understands the essence of transactions better. You're familiar with his childhood; he and his mother were kidnapped, and due to his family's poverty, his mother was killed."

"Yes, but wait, if the ransom couldn't be paid, why kill only his mother and spare him?"

"That's the crux," I explained. "The killer wasn't the kidnapper; it was Charles Linden himself."

"What?!"

"Without ransom, it's unlikely the kidnappers would just let them go without any assurance. No criminal would trust a promise of 'I won't call the police.'"

"So, to save himself, Charles Linden provided the kidnappers with evidence of him killing his own mother, making a grim transaction. They both held leverage over each other, with Linden's crime arguably worse, ensuring the kidnappers believed he wouldn't dare report them, leading to his release."

Lucas was speechless, "It's a known tactic, but I never imagined he'd be so cold-blooded. So, did you...?"

"No, it was just Linden and me; who could I have killed? I had to leverage a previous mistake and take a gamble."