The drivers of both vehicles managed to escape prior to the intense fire observed by witnesses, but neither has been found since for questioning. No others injuries were reported. Authorities are now investigating the source of the materials that caused the fatal accident.
Tom glanced at the date of the Guwahati letter and shook his head ominously. Like the bombing in Port Harcourt, the letter was written and sent just three days before the accident. He quickly copied the text from the online article and pasted it into a document on his computer, then created a folder titled “Research” inside his personal folder and saved the document under the name “Petronus incident report”.
Going back to the search engine, Tom then typed the phrase “Al Jubail Petronus October”. The laptop screen flickered with results. After scrolling through the first eight pages of results, he again decided Al Jubail was a dead end and moved on to Puerto la Cruz.
Over 4,500 results were returned for Puerto la Cruz. Scrolling through them, Tom’s hand froze when he came to the fourth link on the second page.
“Renowned energy scientist fatally wounded after falling overboard”
The article linked to the headline was predictably brief, but Tom’s pulse again quickened as he read the summary of details.
October 29
Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela – Renowned American energy scientist and entrepreneur Derrick Birch was killed late yesterday evening after falling overboard from a private yacht and sustaining fatal injuries. Birch, who was reportedly in negotiations with Petronus Energy for an undisclosed position within the company’s alternative energy division, was suspected by authorities to be intoxicated at the time of the tragedy, which occurred in calm waters approximately six miles offshore.
46 year-old Birch was considered a leading scientist in the areas of oil refinement and fuel-cell development, and owned controlling shares in more than four separate energy development companies. According to witnesses on-board at the time of the incident, Birch appeared heavily intoxicated prior to the accident. At this time authorities have no reason to suspect foul play.
Tom read the article twice before saving a copy to his Petronus incident report. He then wrote a quick summary of the facts.
Guwahati, India:
Letter written – 9/25
Marcello Avogadro – Chemical engineer
Killed – fatal accident – 9/27
Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia:
Letter written – 10/5
No known incident
Large Petronus operation
Port Harcourt, Nigeria:
Letter written – 10/16
Shahid Al Dossari – Director of Research
Killed – homicide/bomb – 10/18
Puerto La Cruz:
Letter written – 10/25
Derrick Birch – Scientist
Killed – fatal accident – 10/28
Tom sat back and quietly contemplated the summary on his laptop screen. The facts were eerily similar. Three men, all of them researchers or scientists for Petronus Energy, were now dead. All three had died under extraordinary circumstances, and all three had died exactly three days after an unknown author had sent a letter from the very same location. Even the location that wasn’t tied to a death, Al Jubail, was linked to Petronus. And certainly none of the locations were common travel destinations.
Another thought suddenly occurred to Tom as he studied the dates on the screen. He sat up and quickly punched “Joe’s Last Stand Saloon Flagstaff” into the search engine. Almost immediately the address and phone number appeared on the screen. He grabbed his desk phone and dialed the number.
“Joe’s,” a low, gruff voice answered.
Tom hesitated, suddenly unsure of what to say.
“Hi, yeah… I uh, I had a few drinks at your bar a few weeks back and I happened to notice those letters the bartender had gotten.”
“Okay,” the man said impatiently. “So?”
“Oh, well I was just curious, has anyone figured out who that guy is yet?”
“Nope, not to my knowledge, and I own the place. There’s a free t-shirt for anyone that knows who he is though.”
“That’s what I heard,” Tom replied with mock enthusiasm. “By the way, have any more letters arrived lately?”
“Yep, Jeri just got another one today. Same deal as before, a letter and a photo.”
Tom froze in his chair. “Oh really? Would you mind telling me where it came from?”
“Russia this time,” Joe replied flatly.
“From where in Russia?”
“Oh hell, I don’t know,” Joe replied irritably. “Why are you asking?”
“Well, I think I might actually know who this guy is,” Tom responded, lying to the bar owner. “But I’d need to know what city he sent that last letter from to be sure.”