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"Did she ever say why thissudden interest?" Finn asked, studying Liam for any flicker of insight.
"Kept talking about losttime," Liam responded, his voice growing distant as if he were recalling adream. "Like she wanted to touch the past or something. I’m more of amodern kind of guy, but it seemed to bring Emily joy, so how could it hurt? Atleast, that’s what I thought."
"Mr. Holden," Amelia'svoice cut through the heavy air of Liam's cluttered apartment, her gaze sharpand focused on him. "In the days leading up to Emily's murder, did sheever express any concerns about her safety? I know you mentioned that shesometimes received strange messages from viewers, but were there any unusualencounters or messages that specifically troubled her?"
Liam shifted uneasily, his eyesclouded with remembered worry. "There were some strange messages shegot... from a guy named Tim Nolan."
Amelia's brows furrowed inrecognition. "Tim Nolan? The one who writes those anti-technology pieces,criticizing our reliance on gadgets and gizmos?"
Liam nodded slowly, confirming hersuspicion.
"I've heard of him,"Amelia continued, her tone thoughtful. "Did Emily mention why Tim Nolanwas reaching out to her? Any specific reasons for his messages?"
Liam ran a hand through hisdisheveled hair, his expression troubled. "She said he was targeting heronline presence, accusing her of being part of the problem with society today.Kept going on about how technology was ruining everything."
Amelia's lips pressed into a thinline as she processed this information. "Did Emily engage with him?Respond to his accusations?"
Liam shook his head. "Shetried to ignore most of it, but it weighed on her. Made her doubt what she wasdoing."
"Was Tim Nolan threatening inthese messages?" Amelia probed further.
"Not directly," Liamclarified. "But there was this underlying menace in his words, like heknew something others didn't."
“Can we see the messages?” Finnasked.
“As far as I know,” Liam answered,“Emily deletes her inbox. I wouldn’t even know the password, anyway.”
Amelia's gaze hardened at theimplication. "Do you think Tim Nolan could have had anything to do withwhat happened to Emily?"
Liam hesitated before answering,uncertainty flickering across his features. "I don't know... I hope not.If it was him, I should have paid more attention to it."
As the weight of their conversationsettled in the room like a shroud of suspicion, Amelia exchanged a significantglance with Finn before turning back to Liam, determination etched in everyline of her face.
Finn stepped closer to thecollection of timepieces, his fingers brushing over the cold brass of an ornatecarriage clock. "You said she argued with Tim Nolan? Did Emily ever sayanything public about him?"
"Right," Liaminterjected, rubbing at his temple with a shaky hand. "Emily thought hisfear of tech was a joke. Made a video about it and everything."
"Didn't go unnoticed, I takeit?" Amelia's voice cut through the cluttered space as she siftedcarefully through the detritus on a nearby coffee table.
"Hardly," Liam scoffed."Nolan tore into her online. Called her names... said she was warpingpeople’s minds with her content." He shook his head, the shadow of agrimace playing on his lips.
"Did he ever pass on anypoetry?" Finn pressed, eyes not leaving Liam's face.
“Poetry?” Liam sounded surprised.“Like a love letter or something?”
“No,” Finn explained. “More like acryptic message, perhaps about time and technology.”
Liam nodded. "Emily did say hewrote like someone from the past. All flowery language. She said somethingabout him calling her a ‘slave to the machine and a soulless cog’." Thebitterness in Liam's recitation hung heavy between them.
Finn nodded knowingly to Amelia, aflicker of recognition crossing his features as Liam's words echoed in hismind. The cryptic messages, the references to time and technology, it allsounded eerily familiar to the anonymous texts he had been receiving.
Amelia's gaze bore into Liam, hervoice steady but piercing. "Do you think Tim Nolan could have known Emilywas going to the Victorian Bathhouse where she was murdered?"
Liam shifted uncomfortably, hiseyes darting around the room. "I... I don't know," he stammered.
Finn stepped in closer, hisexpression inscrutable. "Why do I get the feeling you know something aboutthat? Did you tell Tim Nolan where she would be?"
Liam hesitated before finallynodding, a guilty look washing over his features. "I never messaged Nolan.But I did... I thought it would build hype for Emily's streams, get peopletalking about her, if I leaked some of the locations online ahead of time. Ihad no idea it might lead to this!"
