Chapter 4

4: 4

Because of that video and my attendance records, I was hauled into the police department.

I explained frantically that Jordan Lambert's death, all of their deaths, had nothing to do with me. It was all coincidence.

They didn't buy a word of it. “Still lying! We've already verified it. The times of death for all five victims match your clock-in times exactly!”

“And you had a serious grudge against Lambert and the others. He framed you for stealing company R&D, got you blacklisted across the whole industry. You've got a strong motive.”

The truth was, I couldn't explain it either. Why did the times I clocked in for work

match the exact moments Lambert and the other four died?

But I knew one thing for certain. I hadn't killed anyone.

I looked up, defeated, at the homicide captain across from me.

“Captain Mitchell, please, believe me. I didn't kill anyone!”

“Yes, I had bad blood with them before, but I'm not going to murder that many people over something so small!”

“I didn't even know clocking in could kill people. So how did Lambert know?”

Clearly, Captain Mitchell wasn't buying it.

“Don't try to change the subject. You had grudges against several of the victims. It's no surprise Lambert suspected you.”

“He looked into you quietly, found that three of the victims died at the same times you clocked in. There's nothing contradictory about him suspecting you.”

“Your company's time clock was linked to their phones. The moment it read your fingerprint, it killed them. Isn't that right?”

I was so furious I couldn't even speak.

Just when I thought I was about to be beaten into a murderer, an officer walked in holding a report.

“Captain, the results are in. It's just an ordinary time clock. And there's no hidden software of any kind installed on the victims' phones.”

Captain Mitchell's face changed at once.

In the end, with no substantial evidence, they had no choice but to let me go.

Once I got home, I collapsed onto the bed like every ounce of strength had been drained out of me.

My head was full of the images from the past two days, Lambert and Acevedo dying horribly.

Just then, in the quiet, pitch-black room, a familiar sound suddenly came out of nowhere.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I shot upright, every hair on my body standing on end.

That sound……

Step by step, I moved toward where it was coming from, and pulled open the drawer.

A time clock. The same familiar machine, sitting right there in my drawer.

My pupils shrank to points. “This... how is this here?”

I picked up the time clock with shaking hands, and a wave of raw terror closed over me.

Before I could even make sense of it, the door slammed open from outside with a bang.

Captain Mitchell charged in with a squad of officers, and I was pinned face-down against the desk on the spot.

“Everard Gilbert, what have you done? Are you trying to kill every single employee at Zenith Tech?”

As he spoke, he held up his phone and opened a photo.

My former coworkers, every one of them covered in blood, collapsed on the ground with agony written across their faces.

Just then, Veronica came in, weak, propped up by an officer. She stared at me, horror all over her face.

“Everard, why did you want to kill me too?”

I shook my head, panicked. “It wasn't me! I never clocked in!”

Captain Mitchell drove a fist into me, furious.

“The killer time clock turns up in your own home, and you're still trying to talk your way out of it!”

With that, they moved to drag me away.

Sheer survival instinct made me fight with everything I had, and my body slammed hard into the time clock on the desk.

Bang! The machine hit the floor, and a flash of red light streaked across it.

My mind roared, and all at once I understood everything.

I finally knew why someone died every time I clocked in.

I wrenched myself free and screamed until my voice tore.

“Wait! I'm not the one who killed them! I already know who the real murderer is!”