Chapter 1
Dear Journal,
Johnathan Noire here.
This marks the start of something new—my journal series. A way for the reader to get to know me, not just as a fictional detective, but as the man behind the mystery. You see, Johnathan is my real middle name. The full name? Terrex Johnathan Corbin. But for this story, I decided to let the middle take the lead. A little sharper, a little darker—just like the city I walk through every day.
I turn 40 this September. Fitting. Feels like the perfect age to step into the trench coat, light the metaphorical cigarette, and start telling stories that linger like fog in the Waterbury streets. And yes, the city is real—my city. I just changed a few names here and there. Frank’s Grill on Freight Street? It exists. Ask the locals. Same booth, back left corner. That’s me, always watching.
I’m single. Never been married. No kids. Been in Waterbury my whole life—raised here, though I was born in East Hempstead, New York. Still remember those ’90s Halloween nights at Wendell Cross Elementary. Boo baskets in hand, I dressed up as Spider-Man, thinking I could climb walls and swing from streetlights. And Christmas? I had a Tonka crane—yellow and clunky. That thing didn’t just lift dirt, it lifted my dreams. Got me into construction. Still watch crane videos to this day.
Did I have my share of women? Sure. Most are now just names in a rearview mirror. Exes with their own stories. Some of them bittersweet, some better left untold—for now.
But that’s just the first page. This is only the beginning.