Roses Manor, Weston Chapter 5
By the time she got back to work after lunch, Gabriella was actually slightly dreading being back on the Sixteen Roses grind. That excitement from this morning was completely gone as she logged back in. What was so appealing to so many people about this game? All she could think as she played it was that she had so many other things she could be doing. And that if this was what killed her on the job after everything else they’d fought, she was going to be pissed.
About an hour before they were leaving to meet Charlotte, Madelyn came into the back bedroom, where Gabriella had the laptop on the desk beside the desktop computer. “How’s it going?”
“This is mind numbing,” Gabriella admitted. “I don’t get the appeal and I don’t get what’s going on. But I’ve collected seven roses, so, you know, there’s that.”
“I don’t know either,” Madelyn admitted. “But I’m hoping Charlotte has some more insights into it. I’m still looking, but the message boards I found are locked down.”
“What’s the point of that?”
“No clue. But I’m trying to get to their earlier email newsletters to see if they sent out the codes that these players mention online, but apparently can’t bring themselves to go into detail about. I’ve had no luck there either. There is a code of some kind on their website, right in the About Us. But I think that’s what got that guy an international ban. So I’m looking into that, and what the codes actually do.”
All of that sounded about as painful as Gabriella’s task. “Though the thing that is exciting is the fact that we’re actually investigating online,” Madelyn said as she sat down on the side of the bed. “This is field work in a totally different realm.”
When Gabriella thought about it that way, it was really cool. They were in the field, just as much as she would have been if she’d taken that field case earlier. Only it was warmer and drier in here. And there were no beautiful orbs, just eye strain from the computer. “The idea of a ghost in the machine has been around for as long as there’s been machines,” Madelyn said. “Well before that, since the expression was originally about the body and mind. But if the internet is a plausible place for investigation, then maybe the Foundation will put some more focus and resources into that. And for someone like me, that’s an amazing opportunity.”
“Do you think they will?”
“You’re asking me what the Foundation is going to do? The Foundation doesn’t know what the Foundation is going to do.”
“Fair,” Gabriella admitted as the computer display went to sleep. “But the potential here is so cool.”
“It really is.”
“Excuse me.”
Bradley’s voice made Gabriella jump as he stepped into the room. “I’m just getting my glasses,” he said.
“That’s fine,” Madelyn said. “We’re talking about online investigation. Like as a possibility in the Foundation’s future.”
“Maybe. Or maybe not because they don’t know what a computer is.”
“Or that.”
“Did you do the field thing?” Gabriella asked him.
“Yeah.”
“How was it?”
“Cold. Wet.”
So not beautiful, no comment about sparkling orbs in the field. Nothing romantic about it. Of course not. Would it be weird if she drove past the field some night to look again for herself?
“Did McManus set you up with Jessamyn yet?” Bradley asked Madelyn as Gabriella wiggled the mouse and lit the screen back up.
“No, I’m going to ask him about it later. Unless you were going to?”
“No?”
“I’ll let you know,” Madelyn said.
“Thanks.”
He picked up his glasses case from the bedside table, then left. Madelyn checked her watch. “Want to go now and grab a coffee on the way?” she asked. “Unless you want to get that level done first.”
Despite the boringness of the task, Gabriella kind of did. Just to cross it off the to-do list before she shut the laptop down. “Give me ten minutes?”
“Done.”
***
A little while later, Gabriella, Graham, and Madelyn were on their way to meet Charlotte Lau on the Fitchburg State campus. Graham drove while Madelyn sat up front and Gabriella took the middle seat of the van.
“You okay?” she asked Graham. “You don’t have to come with us.”
“No, I want to,” he said. “I want to see Charlotte. I had no idea that Ezekiel had died, I’m worried how she’s doing.”
They got to the campus center and Graham immediately made his way toward a young woman sitting at a nearby table. She was beautiful, with her long dark hair piled on top of her head in a way that had likely only taken seconds, but looked artfully messy in a way Gabriella would never be able to accomplish. She wore a long black skirt and a hot pink blouse. As Graham reached her, the woman stood up and then fell into his arms.
They talked too quietly to hear for a brief moment, then Graham motioned for Gabriella and Madelyn to come sit at the table Charlotte had been saving. “Thank you for doing this,” Charlotte said as they approached.
“Of course,” Gabriella said.
“That’s Gabriella,” Graham said, motioning toward her. “She’s one of the investigators on the case. And this is Madelyn, the lead investigator. She’s also my girlfriend.”
Charlotte gave Madelyn a quick appraising look as she shook her hand, then apparently decided she liked what she’d seen there. “It’s really nice to meet you,” she said. “Professor Becker, I knew you left, but I had no idea this is what you were doing now. When Captain McManus told me, it felt like… like maybe Ezekiel had set this up.”
She tried to discreetly wipe her eyes, but there was no getting around the fact that Charlotte was crying. “I’m sorry,” she said as Graham handed her a tissue. “It’s been a year, but I miss him so much. And I’m so grateful that the Foundation took the case now, but it’s just stirred everything back up.”
She looked around the busy student center. “I still expect him to show up,” she said softly. “I’m a senior now, so he’d be finishing his last credits this semester. I keep looking for him, even now.”
Graham nodded, and Gabriella was unsure what to do. But she was saved from doing anything when Madelyn spoke.
“Is it alright with you if we record this conversation?” she asked.
“Of course,” Charlotte said. “Anything you need.”
A lot of what Charlotte shared lined up with the records from her original interview. Which, while not providing anything new, confirmed the information they already had. She talked more about social media and her scattershot way of handling research.
“I’m really sorry to ask like this,” Gabriella said, “It sounds cold and I swear that’s not at all how I’m trying to be. But do you know how far into the game he got before he got sick?”
“I’m not positive,” Charlotte admitted. “But pretty far. It’s sixteen levels, right? Sixteen roses or whatever. At least, I assumed that was what it was. He didn’t beat it, I would have heard about that. But… God, I blocked this out. Um, I found him in his room. His alarm was going off, and I thought he was going to sleep through it, so I went to nudge him before I left. And his computer just said Game Over. He was dead. Ezekiel was lying in his bed, he was dead and his laptop just read Game Fucking Over in this cheery little font, taunting him. Taunting his dead body.”
And then she was sobbing. Graham was there in seconds, pulling her in tightly, tears shining in his own eyes as Charlotte cried against him. Madelyn glanced at Gabriella, who mentally committed the fact that it said “Game Over” and not “You Won” or some variation to mind. He hadn’t beat the game. So where had he been stopped?
The interview only lasted a few more minutes. Charlotte was doing her best, and she was cooperating fully. But there wasn’t much more to tell, and she was clearly incredibly upset. Madelyn offered to drive her home, but she refused, saying she lived nearby and would prefer to walk.
As they got back to the parking lot, Gabriella spotted Bradley’s car at the far end of student parking. She was walking a little behind Madelyn and Graham, who were talking quietly with each other and didn’t notice him. Bradley got out of his car and started toward the student center they’d just left, but he was too far away for her to get his attention. Not that it mattered. If he wasn’t working, it was none of their business what he was doing here. And he made it clear he had no interest in mixing his work life and personal life any more than they already were. So she just followed the others to the van.
When they got back to headquarters, Gabriella saw that James’s office door was open, and the light was on. Graham went straight down to the gym while Madelyn moved toward the bedrooms. Gabriella walked over to say hi, but James was on the phone when she got to the doorway.
“I can do Thursday night,” he was saying. “No, that sounds perfect. Yeah, I’m on call for the night shift tomorrow, but then I’m out pretty early on Thursday. I’ll pick up some dinner on my way over. I don’t have to be at work until ten on Friday.” A pause. “Oh yeah? I think I can stay awake for that.”
He laughed, sounding happy for the first time in days, and Gabriella decided that unofficially briefing him on the interview could wait. Instead, she’d work on getting her eighth rose.
