leading to a functional kitchen at one end that backed on to a shower stall and latrine. To the left and right of the hall were doorways to the lounge and
bedroom.
‘It’s the lounge you’ll want to see,’ Sears directed him.
Ethan turned right and walked in to see a tired-looking but clean room adorned with a coffee table and couch, a wall-mounted television and a tall mirror on the wall at the rear. As he walked in
and turned to survey the room, he froze in place and stared at the back wall.
‘See what I mean?’ Sears asked.
Across the wall was scrawled a message, written with a thick black marker.
PLEASE HURRY ETHAN WARNER!
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!
20:48, June 28
10
‘Jesus.’
Lopez stared at the message as she joined them in the room.
‘Charles Purcell told me to come here immediately,’ Sears explained to Ethan as they stood looking at the message. ‘He told me that I must contact you. He kept insisting that
time was of the essence and that if I didn’t do what he was asking, the killers of his family would never be brought to justice.’
Ethan found himself still transfixed by the scrawled message on the wall.
‘Today is June 28,’ he said.
‘Yup,’ Sears confirmed. ‘Whatever that time means, it’s referring to something that hasn’t happened yet. Given what Charles Purcell has managed to do so far, my
guess is that he’s completely lost his mind and that this is all some kind of goddamn freak show that he’s arranged, all based around him. Most killers are severely narcissistic and
display exactly this kind of behavior.’
‘Like I said,’ Lopez nodded, ‘this is the start of his game and it’s all about him. He’s the star, we’re the audience, and he’ll continue to crave more
and more attention right up to the moment he’s captured or gets himself killed.’
Ethan looked at Sears.
‘Except for the fact that he did accurately predict the future, right?’
‘He did,’ Sears conceded. ‘That part, I got no explanation for.’
‘Anything else?’ Ethan asked.
‘The opposite wall,’ Sears said, and gestured behind them. ‘We haven’t got a clue what the hell it means.’
Ethan turned and strode across to the window, pulling aside threadbare net curtains to reveal another message written on the wall just above the window pane in small, precise strokes.
‘Looks like some kind of equation written backwards,’ Lopez said as she moved alongside Ethan and peered at the strange symbols. ‘Same person wrote both
messages?’
‘Purcell was a physicist,’ Ethan suggested. ‘He’d have spent much of his life using math. It fits his history, if nothing else.’
‘You actually know what it means?’ Sears asked.
‘Not in the slightest,’ Ethan admitted. ‘And how did he know I would come here at all?’
Sears smiled but it was tinged with anxiety.
‘I got a letter this morning, sent by UPS, from Charles Purcell. It had a picture of you, taken off a website from your old high school in Illinois. It helped us track you down, and
that’s how your man at the Defense Intelligence Agency got involved. We called the FBI when we realized that we were getting out of our depth. They wrote us off, but the DIA picked up the
case.’
Sears slipped a print from his pocket and showed it to Ethan. The image showed a young man in his late teens, his light-brown hair still scruffy despite having been combed for the shot, his gray
eyes clear and sharp. Ethan’s jaw looked slightly leaner than it did now, and the creases etched into his skin by years of physical and mental hardship were missing, but there was no
mistaking the defiant set of his shoulders and the crooked grin on his face.
‘You were actually almost cute once,’ Lopez said, with a smirk. ‘The hell happened?’
‘Life,’ Ethan replied. ‘This code must mean something. Why did he write a huge message for me on that wall, but then conceal a tiny one over here?’
‘Either the guy’s crazy or
bedroom.
‘It’s the lounge you’ll want to see,’ Sears directed him.
Ethan turned right and walked in to see a tired-looking but clean room adorned with a coffee table and couch, a wall-mounted television and a tall mirror on the wall at the rear. As he walked in
and turned to survey the room, he froze in place and stared at the back wall.
‘See what I mean?’ Sears asked.
Across the wall was scrawled a message, written with a thick black marker.
PLEASE HURRY ETHAN WARNER!
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!
20:48, June 28
10
‘Jesus.’
Lopez stared at the message as she joined them in the room.
‘Charles Purcell told me to come here immediately,’ Sears explained to Ethan as they stood looking at the message. ‘He told me that I must contact you. He kept insisting that
time was of the essence and that if I didn’t do what he was asking, the killers of his family would never be brought to justice.’
Ethan found himself still transfixed by the scrawled message on the wall.
‘Today is June 28,’ he said.
‘Yup,’ Sears confirmed. ‘Whatever that time means, it’s referring to something that hasn’t happened yet. Given what Charles Purcell has managed to do so far, my
guess is that he’s completely lost his mind and that this is all some kind of goddamn freak show that he’s arranged, all based around him. Most killers are severely narcissistic and
display exactly this kind of behavior.’
‘Like I said,’ Lopez nodded, ‘this is the start of his game and it’s all about him. He’s the star, we’re the audience, and he’ll continue to crave more
and more attention right up to the moment he’s captured or gets himself killed.’
Ethan looked at Sears.
‘Except for the fact that he did accurately predict the future, right?’
‘He did,’ Sears conceded. ‘That part, I got no explanation for.’
‘Anything else?’ Ethan asked.
‘The opposite wall,’ Sears said, and gestured behind them. ‘We haven’t got a clue what the hell it means.’
Ethan turned and strode across to the window, pulling aside threadbare net curtains to reveal another message written on the wall just above the window pane in small, precise strokes.
‘Looks like some kind of equation written backwards,’ Lopez said as she moved alongside Ethan and peered at the strange symbols. ‘Same person wrote both
messages?’
‘Purcell was a physicist,’ Ethan suggested. ‘He’d have spent much of his life using math. It fits his history, if nothing else.’
‘You actually know what it means?’ Sears asked.
‘Not in the slightest,’ Ethan admitted. ‘And how did he know I would come here at all?’
Sears smiled but it was tinged with anxiety.
‘I got a letter this morning, sent by UPS, from Charles Purcell. It had a picture of you, taken off a website from your old high school in Illinois. It helped us track you down, and
that’s how your man at the Defense Intelligence Agency got involved. We called the FBI when we realized that we were getting out of our depth. They wrote us off, but the DIA picked up the
case.’
Sears slipped a print from his pocket and showed it to Ethan. The image showed a young man in his late teens, his light-brown hair still scruffy despite having been combed for the shot, his gray
eyes clear and sharp. Ethan’s jaw looked slightly leaner than it did now, and the creases etched into his skin by years of physical and mental hardship were missing, but there was no
mistaking the defiant set of his shoulders and the crooked grin on his face.
‘You were actually almost cute once,’ Lopez said, with a smirk. ‘The hell happened?’
‘Life,’ Ethan replied. ‘This code must mean something. Why did he write a huge message for me on that wall, but then conceal a tiny one over here?’
‘Either the guy’s crazy or
Similar Books
