"I agree with your judgment. This isn't a code, but if these numbers represent fractions, intended to convey some kind of probability, then whoever wrote them down was a bit careless.
Many of them aren't reduced, like 9/12 and 12/15. Therefore, I believe they're a statistical set of numbers, containing the numbers before them, indicating the number of times a certain situation occurs."
Because Red was busy with a case, Jack had sent the strange numbers to Chris last night. He and Reacher chatted late into the night, and just woke up and was still brushing his teeth when he got a call from his accountant.
"The problem is, we don't know what this specifically refers to. We've found nothing except these two files. We've checked the USB drive, and there's no sign of any deleted files," Jack replied vaguely while brushing his teeth.
Chris's voice remained flat when discussing business matters. "I don't like making assumptions, but I've noticed that the total number of number groups registered on each page of this file is 27 on the fifth page, while the rest are 26."
"What does this mean?" Jack rinsed his mouth clean, then picked up a towel and began to wash his face.
"First of all, we can confirm that these data can obviously be put on one page, but they are divided into 7 pages. Since we know that the data on each page has its specific meaning..."
"Uh, Chris," Jack, who was confused, interrupted Chris's explanation, "just tell me the conclusion."
"I think each page represents a month, and this is a data record that has been continuously recorded for 7 months." Chris followed suit.
Jack paused while wringing the towel. "But as far as I know, except February, uh, excluding leap years, every month has at least 30 or 31 days."
He was suddenly stunned at this point. As a civil servant, he suddenly realized what he had overlooked. "Excluding Sunday?"
"Yes, that's right. If you work six days a week, then excluding February, the number of days you work is either 26 or 27, unless the first of the month happens to be a Sunday and the month has only 30 days."
Chris seemed to be able to see what Jack was going to do through the phone. "No need to look at the calendar, it should be the past seven months of this year, from April to October, excluding statutory holidays."
"That sounds a bit inhumane." Jack muttered and hung up the towel. He picked up his phone and went back to the living room. He put the A4 stack in front of him and pretended to look at it.
"Anything else?"
"There's something a little strange. If you're counting by month, the data gets worse the later the months go. Especially in the last month, with 10/15 and 14/21, the difference is horrific.
If this is some kind of experiment, this is unusual and suggests it's failing."
Chris could tell he was enjoying this simple data analysis; it was rare for him to get so much out of his mouth at once.
Jack sighed. "Then we'd better hope this isn't some biochemical vaccine experiment. Originally, 9 out of 10 mice died, 11 out of 12, but then the results got better. Only 10 out of 15 died, and 14 out of 21 died."
Chris was silent for a long moment before finally speaking. "Shouldn't it be 1/10, 1/12, then 10/15, 14/21?"
Jack laughed. "Just kidding."
However, his good mood didn't last long, because just as he hung up and prepared breakfast, Danny, looking sullen, and Stella, also looking a little grim, arrived.
After hearing the two's explanation, Jack hurried upstairs and was about to wake Reacher, who was still asleep. As he reached the door, he heard a loud shout from inside. "No!"
Jack was startled, and with a slight slump in his shoulders, he rushed open the door. He saw Reacher, sweating profusely, sitting up in bed with a ferocious expression, as if he had seen a ghost.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Jack felt relieved.
"I dreamed about Franz." Reacher didn't hide it and took a few deep breaths.
"Come downstairs as soon as possible. I have some bad news for you." Jack said nothing more, closing the door with its broken lock.
"For the past few days, the CSI New York lab, working with the local police department, has been searching the Catskill Mountains, where your friend's body was found, trying to find new leads. However, due to a shortage of manpower, progress has been very slow. Yesterday evening, we found two more bodies. Although they weren't severely decomposed due to the weather conditions, they had been eaten by animals, making facial identification impossible. That's when our medical examiner discovered a tattoo on the back of one of the bodies that resembled a service number."
Stella said, pushing two files on the table toward Reacher.
Reacher had already guessed something. He took a deep breath, opened the folder, and stared blankly at the photos of the bodies inside.
The folder contained little information. The two bodies belonged to José Sánchez and Manuel Orozco, both of Reacher's colleagues and former members of the 110th Special Investigations Unit.
"When Orozco joined the Army, his sister was terrified that if he died in battle, his body would be difficult to identify or his identification tag would be lost, and he'd be listed as missing.
So he got his name and service number tattooed on his back, just to comfort his beloved sister. It was a bit silly, but Orozco didn't care."
Reacher's expression was half-smiley, as if he were telling a funny story.
When some people are at the peak of their rage, their expressions reveal nothing, but they can be awakened by nightmares, like a dead comrade suddenly appearing, bleeding and screaming for revenge.
Jack didn't know what Reacher dreamed of, but he knew New York was in deep trouble, and he was even secretly glad.
Instead of trying to solve the case while notifying the big guy through other channels, he immediately flew to find him in person.
The thought of having to follow this big man around to clean up the bodies was overwhelming. New York wasn't some remote town in some rural state. Even Margrave's minor incident had been cleaned up by the IRS.
As one of the leaders of the FBI's New York office's most wanted criminal squad, the last thing Jack wanted was his friend's photo to appear on the wanted list.
"I'll personally notify Orozco's sister. She's his only family, Detective Reagan, right? Could you please call Sanchez's mother?" Reacher's tone was eerily calm.
Jack was preoccupied with another issue.
"Do you have a way to contact the other members of the 110 Special Investigation Team? From the report, the wounds on Sanchez and Orozco's bodies are very consistent with Franz's.
This means that they were also thrown out of the helicopter after being tortured, and the time of death was just one or two days after Franz."
Danny was also a soldier and empathized with Reacher's experience. "Maybe you can make a list. The murderer may be someone who holds a grudge against your team."
"I will do all these, but before that, I have a question." Reacher looked at Jack.
Jack sighed, "There are enough weapons, but you have to promise not to abandon me and work alone, otherwise I will immediately notify Joey and drag him into this mess. You don't want me to do that, do you?"
"You have my promise." Reacher took the phone Jack had given him before and strode upstairs without looking back.
Jack watched him disappear before turning to Stella and saying, "I need the CSI lab's help."
He then wrote down the address of Franz's office, which he had visited yesterday. "I know the NYPD's evidence team has already searched this office, and now I need the CSI lab's help to fill in the gaps.
It's been severely damaged. Don't waste time on trace evidence. I need you to help me look for clues from a different angle."
(End of this chapter)