The weekend?
Next week?
Hopefully, sooner than that.
9:40P.M.
BRENT SHOWEDHANK WHAT HE’D DECIPHERED SO FAR.
034156901 William Mesnan, May 23, Heart attack
456913276 Patrick Brown, May 21, Kidney failure
343016692 J. J. Jordon
295617833 Brandon Pabon, June 6, Drug overdose
178932515 Tim Featherston June 7, Anaphylactic shock
236987521 Melvin Bennett
492016755 Paul Zimmerman, June 13, Hunting accident
516332578 Michael Ottman
“You got this on June 6,” he said to Hank. “Pabon died that same day. Featherston dies on the seventh. Zimmerman a week later. Something’s wrong here. If this is a list of deceased employees, how did Featherston and Zimmerman get on it?”
“That’s a really good question.”
Yes, it was.
“Jordon, Bennett, and Ottman have been retired a long time,” Hank said. “Let’s see what I can find out about them.”
They were parked in the grassy lot for the county’s main recreation center, where the two baseball diamonds and football field were located, not far outside Concord. Nobody else was around. That, and the darkness, offered a great measure of privacy. They’d driven straight here from Hickory Row. Hank worked the cell phone for twenty minutes, making calls until he learned that all three men were also dead, along with the dates that it happened.
034156901 William Mesnan, May 23, Heart attack
456913276 Patrick Brown, May 21, Kidney failure
343016692 J. J. Jordon, June 6, Heart failure
295617833 Brandon Pabon, June 6, Drug overdose
178932515 Tim Featherston, June 7, Bee sting
236987521 Melvin Bennett, June 8, Anaphylactic shock
492016755 Paul Zimmerman, June 13, Hunting accident
516332578 Michael Ottman, June 9, Heart attack
“All total,” Brent said, “two died on the sixth, the same day you got this list. Four died after.”
“What about Mesnan and Brown? They were before that.”
“We have no idea how long that list was in the company computers. It could have been created even before those two died, meaning this is a list of people who aregoingto be dead.”
He could see that Hank agreed.
