by Kathi Daley
“Yep. And all three were doing really well and climbing up in the ranking until they went missing.”
“And have they played since they went missing?” I asked.
He frowned. “I’m not sure. I guess if knowing that is important, I can take a look at the activity logs for each of the boys.”
“You can track their play?” Jemma asked.
“For this specific game, I can. The creator provided a program that all those who play can sign up for. Once you’re signed up for the program and playing the game, stats are made available to both the user and everyone else with an account. The program allows all the players to track play and ranking for themselves and their competitors. Most gamers are competitive, and they want to see their name, or at least their username, up on the leader board, so they sign up and allow access to their user logs.”
“And how exactly does one get listed on the leader board?” I asked.
“You can make it to the board by logging a lot of hours or leveling up.”
“Leveling up?” I asked.
“Winning one level and making it to the next.”
“And how do you win End Days?” Jemma asked. “What is the overall objective?”
“The objective is ascendance, and the way to be invited to ascend is to make it to the final level. I’m not sure what level that might be since no one I know has ever achieved it, but supposedly once you reach the final level, you leave the challenging world you’ve been fighting to survive in behind and enter some sort of nirvana. I heard that there are only a few who have gotten that far in the game. Like I said, I’ve never spoken to anyone who has actually ascended, but I heard there was a team in New Mexico who managed to ascend around the first of March and another team in California who conquered the game just a month or so after that. I guess you can ask them about it if you can track down anyone from those two teams, but as far as I know, they aren’t sharing their experience, so the whole thing is really mysterious.”
“You were going to check the activity log to tell me when the three missing boys from Gooseberry Bay played last,” I reminded him.
“Oh, sure.” He pulled up a log on his computer. “The log only shows usernames, which might not help others, but since the boys are in here so often and we chat, I know the usernames of all three.”
“And what are their usernames?” I asked.
“Zane is Trident, Kalen is Raith, and Trevor is Hadron.” He typed in a few commands, pulling up the sheet he was looking for. “It looks as if all three boys logged a serious number of hours Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning, but none have played since.”
“Did anything odd happen in the game Friday or Saturday?” Jemma asked. “Something unique or significant that might explain why the three boys played so long Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning but then quit playing altogether.”
“I wasn’t online, and I haven’t managed to reach the level the three of them have, so I really have no idea what might have happened in the game. I suppose the boys may have quit playing because they went missing.”
“Kalen was last seen Saturday, but Zane didn’t turn up missing until late in the day Sunday, and Trevor was actually home all weekend and didn’t turn up missing until Monday afternoon, yet none of the boys logged into the game after they logged out early Saturday morning.”
The man crossed his arms over his chest. “I really have no idea why they didn’t log in over the weekend. Like I said, only one other local team has made it past level fifteen, and no team made it as far as these three have, so I doubt you’ll find anyone who will know what sort of challenges they faced and why they might have decided to quit when they did.”
“Can you provide the names of anyone who was logged into the game Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning at the same time as Zane and the others were?” I asked. “I realize they might not be on the same level, but they might have interacted. Shared tips. That sort of thing.”
“There are a lot of players if you take into account all the levels. Only one other local team has made it past level fifteen. I would guess if there was chatter, it would be between Zane’s group and the guys who had leveled up to level twenty and the other local group currently on level eighteen.”
“And who was in this group on level eighteen?” I asked.
“Zork, Halo, and Nomad. It appears the three have formed an aligned team.”
“Aligned?” I asked.
“Once you reach level fifteen, the only way to continue successfully is to form an alliance. Zane, Kalen, and Trevor formed an alliance when they all reached level fifteen around the same time. Since then, when they play, they play together.”
“And do you know the real names of Zork, Halo, and Nomad?” I asked.
“Actually, I don’t. I guess I can ask around if you think it’s important.”
“I’d appreciate that,” I said as I turned to leave. Just as we reached the door, Jemma turned back. “Do the words one life mean anything to you? Is that phrase part of the game?”
“Sure. As I just indicated, once you pass level fourteen and enter level fifteen, you form alliances for the quest ahead, which is the only way to make it to the final level where you’re invited to ascend. The mantra most recited by those who enter this quest is: ‘One life to live, one life to give.’”
Chapter 11
I had to admit I was nervous about meeting with Cora. The mantra: “One life to live one life to give” conjured all sorts of unpleasant images in my mind. As she indicated she would, Cora showed up at my office at exactly three o’clock.
“So?” she asked. “Do you have news?”
I hesitated. “Perhaps. I’m honestly not sure that the information I’ve been able to dig up is relevant, but it seems that Zane enjoyed playing video games.”
“So? All teenage boys enjoy playing video games.”
“I guess that’s mostly true, but I found out that Zane was involved in a multiplayer online role-playing game called End Days. As it turns out, Kalen and Trevor were players in the same online game.”
She just looked at me as if waiting for me to get to the point.
“I spoke to the man who was working the counter at the comic book and video game store today. He told me that Zane, Kalen, and Trevor had all been logging a lot of hours and that they’d all achieved a really high ranking and ultimately formed an alliance with one another for the quest ahead. I have to admit I don’t know a lot about online gaming, but it seems that all three were really into it and put a lot of hours into climbing through the levels.”
“That sounds like Zane. He’s always liked video games, and he does tend to become obsessive when things are rough at home. The rougher things are with Dad, the more hours he spends in his make-believe world, working hard to collect make-believe stuff. I guess I get it. It’s a good escape. But what does that have to do with the fact that he went missing?”
“Apparently, the goal of the game has to do with passing through levels, each with their own unique challenge until you reach the final level where you are invited to ascend.”
“Ascend?”
“I’m not sure what that means exactly. The guy from the video game store made it sound like the majority of the game is spent in some sort of post-apocalyptic world, and once you make it through all the levels, you ascend to some sort of perfect place. He referred to it as a type of nirvana.”
“Okay. So?”
“I guess those who make it to level fifteen are teamed up and sent on a quest of some sort. Apparently, the mantra recited by those who have entered the final quest is: ‘One life to live, one life to give.’”
Her eyes grew wide. “One life.”
I nodded. “Exactly. I can’t know for certain that the game had anything to do with Zane going missing, but the man I spoke to was somehow able to look at user logs, and he told me that Zane, Kalen, and Trevor logged some serious hours Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning, but that none of them has logged in since.”
“So what does this mean? How does this help us find them?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “It did occur to me that perhaps Zane left clues for someone to find. Have you had a chance to look around in his room since you’ve been back?”
“No. It never occurred to me to do so. Zane would have a fit if he knew.”
“Under the circumstances, I think that a peek at his personal space is a good idea. Do you know if Deputy Todd has been by to take a look?”
She slowly moved her head from right to left and then back again. “I don’t know. I spoke to Deputy Todd a bunch of times, but I haven’t seen him since I’ve been home. Do you think we should look now?”
I hesitated. “Do you think your parents will mind?”
She shook her head. “Dad is working and said he’d be late tonight, and Mom went to my aunt’s house since she didn’t want to be home alone. I don’t expect either of them until after dinner. If you want to come with me now, we can be in and out before either of them get back.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go and take a look. I’m not sure we’ll find anything, but at this point, we need any sort of clue we can manage to dig up.”
As I expected it would be, the Maddox home was a large home on a large lot with a view of the water. As Cora had indicated, no one was home when we arrived, so she invited me in, and we headed directly to Zane’s room. I half expected to find a mess since the few teenage males I’d known growing up tended to have messy rooms, but Zane’s room was actually pretty neat. The bed was made, the desk arranged neatly, and the television and video game system was tucked neatly into shelving built into the wall.
“So what are we looking for?” Cora asked.
“I’m not really sure. If Zane was a girl, I’d say to look for a diary or journal. I don’t suppose Zane kept anything like that.”
“Not that I know of. If he did, it would be on his computer rather than in a book.”
I glanced at the desk, which held a laptop, printer, and external drive I assumed was for backup. “I don’t suppose you can get into Zane’s laptop?”
She shrugged. “Zane probably has it password protected, but we can take a look.” She opened the unit and turned the power on. As predicted, the first screen to pop up asked for a six-letter passcode.
“Any ideas?” I asked.
She tried five or six different things, but none worked. She paused to think things over as I continued to look around. Deciding to turn on the video game system, I hit the power button. Unlike the computer, which featured a gate with a code before one could proceed, the video game console went directly to the home page when the power was turned on.
I paused to look more closely at the home page. There were icons for a bunch of games and a folder that contained links to games I suspected were older and no longer used much. There were links to various online groups, along with a folder with notes and what appeared to be usernames and codes of some sort.
I noticed a headset on a nearby table. I supposed that was how the gamer communicated with his or her team as well as their opponents.
“Do you play?” I asked Cora.
“No. You?”
“Not really.” I picked up the controller and began to poke around a bit. “I think these games have message boards and chat rooms so the gamers can communicate with each other. The thing is, I’m not sure how to find what I’m looking for.”
Cora just stood staring at me.
“I’m going to call my friend, Jemma. She’ll know. She can probably even walk me through it on the phone.”
As it turned out, Jemma knew exactly what to do. She told me what to click on and what to look for. When I got to the message center, I noticed that Zane had used the message feature to send and receive messages. I was really only interested in messages sent or received Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before Zane leaving the house, never to be seen again.
“There’s a message Friday morning to Zane from someone with the username Hadron, who I know is actually Trevor. They seemed to be making arrangements to go on a quest. There is also a message from someone with the username Raith, who I know is Kalen, confirming a meet-up Saturday evening.” I looked up at Cora. “I don’t suppose you know what Zane did Saturday?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea. It’s been a couple weeks since we spoke.”
I continued to look through the log. “There are three messages Sunday that seem to relate to a meeting of some sort between Trident, who the guy at the comic book and video game store told me is really Zane, and three individuals: Raith, Hadron, and Reaper.” I looked at Cora. “I know that Raith is Kalen and Hadron is Trevor, but I have no idea who Reaper is. I wonder if it would be okay to take the video game console so my friend, Jemma, can have a look at it. She’s a computer genius, and if there are clues on this unit, she’d be much more likely to find them than I am.”
“Yeah. Okay. I’m sure no one will miss it. Just tell your friend to be careful not to mess up any of Zane’s stuff. When he gets home, he’s going to be pissed if he finds we erased his high scores or all the imaginary stuff he’s collected.”
“I’ll tell her to be careful.” I began unplugging the unit. I glanced at the desk. “Maybe I should take the computer as well.”
She looked less sure but eventually agreed. I promised to call her tomorrow and let her know what, if anything, we’d found. If we did find something that seemed like a clue, maybe we could convince Kalen’s mom and Trevor’s parents to let us look at their video game consoles as well.
I’d just pulled into the parking area for the cottages when my phone rang. Once I’d started forwarding my calls from Ainsley Holloway Investigations to my cell when I wasn’t in my office, I’d begun answering my phone whether or not I’d recognized the caller ID.
“This is Ainsley Holloway,” I answered.
“Hi, Ainsley. My name is Caroline Brolin. I used to be Caroline Grant before I married. I spoke to Valerie, and she briefly filled me in on your quest to find the owner of a charm bracelet from the nineties. She suggested I call you.”
My heart rate increased just a bit. Caroline had to be the one I was looking for. She checked almost all the boxes. I just hoped she’d be willing to tell her story so I could confirm what I was sure I already knew.
“I’m afraid I’m not the person you’re looking for, nor do I know who is,” she continued.
Talk about having the wind knocked out of your sails. I was so sure that Caroline would be the owner of the bracelet.
“Yes, it is true that I participated in the Bay to Boardwalk Run in nineteen ninety-six, and I also completed the Brewster’s Books Reading Challenge,” she continued. “I did date a man who showed up on a yacht, and I did volunteer at both the carnival and on movie nights. Based on the charms displayed, that particular bracelet really could have belonged to me, but it didn’t. I’m so sorry. You must really want to find this woman to go to so much trouble.”
“I really appreciate you calling me and letting me know,” I said. “I will admit that I felt fairly certain that you were the one.”
“I understand. Like I said, given the clues you have to work with, it really could have been mine.”
“Are you sure you don’t have any idea who the bracelet might have belonged to? It’s possible you might have run into the person who did own the bracelet since you ran in the run, participated in the reading challenge, and volunteered for the carnival and movie nights.”
She paused before she answered. “I have to admit I was pretty absorbed with Justin that summer, so I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to anyone else. Valerie said you had a list of names. If you want to read them to me, maybe I’ll recognize someone.”
I took my sheet of paper with the seven names out. “So far, I’ve spoken to everyone from the original list with the exception of Rosalie Watts and Naomi Potter.”
“I’m sorry, but neither name rings a bell. If you’d like, I can think on it a bit, and if I
come up with a name, I can call you back.”
“I’d appreciate that. Thank you for offering.”
After I hung up, I took the lists we’d come up with out again. It looked like I was running out of names. Perhaps we’d missed something, and the owner of the bracelet was someone other than one of the seven people who’d participated in both the run and the reading challenge. It was possible Naomi was the person we were looking for. One of the charms was an ice cream cone, and someone named Naomi had worked at an ice cream shop that summer. I planned to talk to Troy Trauner tomorrow after the kiddie carnival. Maybe he’d be able to shine a light on things. Ellery was leaving town Sunday. I supposed I could continue to dig around after she left, but I really wanted to put this mystery to bed before she drove onto the ferry.
I’d just hung up with Caroline when Parker pulled into the lot. She informed me that she was there to see Jemma and ask a favor of her, so I explained about the computer and video game console, and she suggested we head over to the roommates’ cottage together. I agreed that might be a good idea, but I wanted to let Kai and Kalie out for a bathroom break before bringing them over, so Parker agreed to take possession of the computer and video game console and deliver them to Jemma while I took care of the dogs.
Jemma logged on and was able to navigate the video game console. She confirmed that the messages we’d found weren’t the only messages associated with the account and was able to pull up the activity log that I hadn’t been able to find.
Jemma began to speak. “Based on the message history, it looks as if Zane, who as we already know, went by the username Trident, began sending messages to and receiving messages from Raith, Hadron, and Reaper, as well as a handful of others a few months ago.”
“The guy from the video game store mentioned that Halo, Zork, and Nomad were another team currently participating in the quest,” I reminded her. “He said that he wasn’t sure who any of them really were.”
“The message sent Sunday relating to a meeting involved Raith, Hadron, Trident, and Reaper,” Jemma informed us.