Stephen King - End of Watch

‘I don’t think that’s so funny,’ Angie says. ‘You all could have been killed.’

‘There must have been more to it than that,’ Hodges says.

‘Sure. It said that there were like two thousand kids there, a lot of them at their first concert, and they got screwed out of the experience of a lifetime. Although, um, screwed wasn’t the word they used.’

‘I think we can fill in that blank, dear one,’ Carl says.

‘And then it said that ’Round Here’s corporate sponsor had received a whole bunch of Zappit game consoles, and they wanted to give them away. To, you know, kind of make up for the concert.’

‘Even though that was almost six years ago?’ Angie looks incredulous.

‘Yeah. Kind of weird, when you think of it.’

‘But you didn’t,’ Carl said. ‘Think of it.’

Dinah shrugs, looking petulant. ‘I did, but it seemed okay.’

‘Famous last words,’ her father says.

‘So you just… what?’ Hodges asks. ‘Emailed in your name and address and got that’ – he points to the Zappit – ‘in the mail?’

‘There was a little more to it than that,’ Dinah says. ‘You had to, like, be able to prove you were actually there. So I went to see Barb’s mom. You know, Tanya.’

‘Why?’

‘For the pictures. I think I have mine somewhere, but I couldn’t find them.’

‘Her room,’ Angie says, and this time she’s the one with the eye-roll.

Hodges’s side has picked up a slow, steady throb. ‘What pictures, Dinah?’

‘Okay, it was Tanya – she doesn’t mind if we call her that – who took us to the concert, see? There was Barb, me, Hilda Carver, and Betsy.’

‘Betsy would be…?’

‘Betsy DeWitt,’ Angie says. ‘The deal was, the moms drew straws to see who would take the girls. Tanya lost. She took Ginny Carver’s van, because it was the biggest.’

Hodges nods his understanding.

‘So anyway, when we got there,’ Dinah says, ‘Tanya took pictures of us. We had to have pictures. Sounds stupid, I guess, but we were just little kids. I’m into Mendoza Line and Raveonettes now, but back then ’Round Here was a really big deal to us. Especially Cam, the lead singer. Tanya used our phones. Or maybe she used her own, I can’t exactly remember. But she made sure we all had copies, only I couldn’t find mine.’

‘You had to send a picture to the website as proof of attendance.’

‘Right, by email. I was afraid the pics would only show us standing in front of Mrs Carver’s van and that wouldn’t be enough, but there were two that showed the Mingo Auditorium in the background, with all the people lined up. I thought even that might not be good enough, because it didn’t show the sign with the band’s name on it, but it was, and I got the Zappit in the mail just a week later. It came in a big padded envelope.’

‘Was there a return address?’

‘Uh-huh. I can’t remember the box number, but the name was Sunrise Solutions. I guess they were the tour sponsors.’

It’s possible that they were, Hodges thinks, the company wouldn’t have been bankrupt back then, but he doubts it. ‘Was it mailed from here in the city?’

‘I don’t remember.’

‘I’m pretty sure it was,’ Angie says. ‘I picked the envelope up off the floor and tossed it in the trash. I’m the French maid around here, you know.’ She shoots her daughter a look.

‘Soh-ree,’ Dinah says.

In his notebook, Hodges writes Sunrise Solutions based NYC, but pkg mailed from here .

‘When did all this go down, Dinah?’

‘I heard about the tweet and went to the website last year. I can’t remember exactly, but I know it was before the Thanksgiving break. And like I said, it came lickety-split. I was really surprised.’

‘So you’ve had it for two months, give or take.’

‘Yes.’

‘And no shocks?’

‘No, nothing like that.’

‘Have you ever had any experiences where you were playing with it – let’s say with the Fishin’ Hole game – and you kind of lost track of your surroundings?’

Mr and Mrs Scott look alarmed at this, but Dinah gives him an indulgent smile. ‘You mean like being hypnotized? Eenie-meenie, chili-beanie?’

‘I don’t know what I mean, exactly, but okay, say that.’

‘Nope,’ Dinah says cheerily. ‘Besides, Fishin’ Hole is really dumb. It’s for little kids. You use the joystick thingie beside the keypad to operate Fisherman Joe’s net, see? And you get points for the fish you catch. But it’s too easy. Only reason I check back on that one is to see if the pink fish are showing numbers yet.’

‘Numbers?’

‘Yes. The letter that came with the game explained about them. I tacked it on my bulletin board, because I’d really like to win that moped. Want to see it?’

‘I sure would.’

When she bounces upstairs to get it, Hodges asks if he can use the bathroom. Once in there, he unbuttons his shirt and looks at his throbbing left side. It seems a little swollen and feels a little hot to the touch, but he supposes both of those things could be his imagination. He flushes the toilet and takes two more of the white pills. Okay? he asks his throbbing side. Can you just shut up awhile and let me finish here?

Dinah has scrubbed off most of her stage makeup, and now it’s easy for Hodges to imagine her and the other three girls at nine or ten, going to their first concert and as excited as Mexican jumping beans in a microwave. She hands him the letter that came with the game.

At the top of the sheet is a rising sun, with the words SUNRISE SOLUTIONS bent over it in an arc, pretty much what you’d expect, only it doesn’t look like any corporate logo Hodges has ever seen. It’s strangely amateurish, as if the original was drawn by hand. It’s a form letter with the girl’s name plugged in to give it a more personal feel. Not that anybody’s apt to be fooled by that in this day and age, Hodges thinks, when even mass mailings from insurance companies and ambulance chasing lawyers come personalized.

Dear Dinah Scott!

Congratulations! We hope you will enjoy your Zappit game console, which comes pre-loaded with 65 fun and challenging games. It is also WiFi equipped so you can visit your favorite Internet sites and download books as a member of the Sunrise Readers Circle! You are receiving this FREE GIFT to make up for the concert you missed, but of course we hope you will tell all your friends about your wonderful Zappit experience. And there’s more! Keep checking the Fishin’ Hole demo screen, and keep tapping those pink fish, because someday – you won’t know when until it happens! – you will tap them and they will turn into numbers! If the fish you tap add up to one of the numbers below, you will win a GREAT PRIZE! But the numbers will only be visible for a short time, so KEEP CHECKING! Add to the fun by staying in touch with others in ‘The Zappit Club’ by going to zeetheend.com, where you can also claim your prize if you are one of the lucky ones! Thanks from all of us at Sunrise Solutions, and the whole Zappit team!

There was an unreadable signature, hardly more than a scribble. Below that:

Lucky numbers for Dinah Scott:

1034=$25 gift certificate at Deb

1781=$40 gift card at Atom Arcade

1946=$50 gift certificate at Carmike Cinemas

7459=Wave 50cc moped-scooter (Grand Prize)

‘You actually believed this bullshit?’ Carl Scott asks.

Although the question is delivered with a smile, Dinah tears up. ‘All right, I’m stupid, so shoot me.’

Carl hugs her, kisses her temple. ‘Know what? I would have swallowed it at your age, too.’

‘Have you been checking the pink fish, Dinah?’ Hodges asks.