Read No Hope for Gomez! for Free Online

take another look at those boxes we talked about?”
    Hicks shrugged noncommittally.
    “Or maybe you could update the window display again?”
    Hicks shot a quick look at the window, then shook his head.
    “I don’t suppose you’d like half a day off? Fully paid?”
    Fear welled in Hicks’ eyes.
    “No. I guess not.”
    “So what’re you doing?” He came over to look at my screen. “You seem very engrossed in something.”
    I turned the laptop so he could see better. “I was reading this blog,” I explained. “It was written by someone who died recently. I think he might’ve died of unnatural causes and I’m sure there’s something important in here, something that’ll explain what happened. I just can’t find it.”
    “Let’s have a look.” Hicks made a good show of pretending to examine the blog, but then sighed and said, “Looks pretty boring, if you ask me.”
    “That’s part of the problem,” I said.
    “Maybe what you’re looking for isn’t in the blog,” Hicks suggested. “Maybe what you’re looking for is what’s not in the blog.” He arched his eyebrows in what he probably hoped was a mysterious manner.
    “Yes,” I said. “That, in fact, is incredibly helpful.” I turned the laptop back round.
    “Don’t mention it.” Hicks glanced over his shoulder. “I guess I could take another look at those boxes,” he said. “Maybe come up with a preliminary plan of action. Something to help whoever is going to move them.”
    When I didn’t protest, he disappeared back into the shadows.
     
    Blog entry: Resumed my analysis of Joseph’s blog entries, hoping to find hidden meaning in one of the messages. ( Today, I almost cut my finger. Must be more careful! ) Or a cryptic warning sign. ( Took an extra jumper to work. Looked like chilly weather. ) Or even a supernatural omen. ( Cut my finger. Somehow, I knew that was going to happen! ) But I didn’t find anything.
    While I was trying hard to read meaning in nonsense, I had no idea that the actual clue was already clearly visible.
    As I sat back, about to give up, it occurred to me that Hicks had made more sense than I gave him credit for. There was a lot more to the blog than just its sidebar and the actual entries. And, while I considered this, my eye fell upon the one bit of text in the blog that actually contained some useful information. Or, to be more precise, the one bit of text that didn’t contain the information it should.
    I’d found an error. And I had a suspicion it was going to turn out to be a very important error.
     
    Blog entry: Hicks returned from the back to don his oversized coat. “It’s five,” he said, almost accusingly. “I have to go.”
    “Ah.” I checked my watch. “Right you are. Where did the time go?”
    Hicks shrugged.
    “Well, I’ll see you on Monday then.”
    Hicks nodded and left. I shut down my laptop and closed up the store.
     
    Blog entry: On my way home I realized I wasn’t sure what my next move should be. I’d discovered something, but there was nothing I could actually do with the information. It did seem to exonerate Dr. Hargrove, so that was a good thing. The only sequence of events that could still implicate her made her so incredibly evil, it wasn’t worth contemplating. So didn’t contemplate it. But there weren’t any follow-up steps I could take to further my investigation.
    Decided to give it a rest for the evening.
     
    Blog entry: Took the elevator and got off one floor early. Rang Warren’s doorbell and waited patiently for him to open. When he appeared, I asked him for his new manuscript. I had a neat little speech prepared, one which explained rather cleverly and conclusively that I wasn’t requesting the manuscript in order to stop the drilling, while at the same time making it subtlety clear that the drilling did in fact need to stop in order for me to appreciate the script fully. Before I could launch into this speech, Warren had already handed me the script, no