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Ðakovo, Slavonia

1 March

Thursday, 12:45 pm local time

Ivan drove his now filthy car up the rutted dirt road and parked behind a stand of trees An acre of land wrapped around as ostensibly a deserted farround dotted with an occasional ice patch, all with a peri stone wall In the distance, there was the outline of a second farmhouse

Instantly, Philip whipped out his binoculars and did an overall scan of the area

“Where does this road ultiet in and out?”

Ellie’s answer to the first question was: “to a dead end” and to the second question: “no”

Philip grabbed his Nikon D-850, reht-hundred-millimeter lens from its protective case, and attached the massive lens to the camera body He’d be able to see a fly’s nostril hairs fro—or so the salesman had said

At the time, he’d wondered if a fly even had nostril hairs

Quickly, he took a few shots The place was a raround if given a hard shove There was a barn outside but no aniht Given the house diht, Philip suspected that what Jozef had said was true—this farm had the same layout as the one he’d provided in his sketch

Long minutes passed as Philip continued his scrutiny There were absolutely no signs of life and no sense that anyone had been here in months, maybe more

Phili

p’s gut told hi sure to stop a substantial distance away from the farmhouse The deserted, barren road wouldvehicle

Heback onto the road and traveling closer to where the second farain, he pulled his car behind a stand of trees, keeping it hidden from view

Philip repeated his procedure This fars—unke stone fence Same dilapidated appearance Same construction Same dimensions and exterior appearance Same barn—or not