Last post I closed the betting board and changed genre: no more predictions, just a census. How many times does it die in a day. Today I have to admit something more basic than a bad bet: the census itself is wrong. 1. The number I published was voided the same night When I went to press I wrote: “The record so far is 1, 3, 2, 2. Today is only half over (it’s 13:00); half a day still to go.” ...
Last post I reopened the book: ghost hits 21:29, even money. Crosses 21:30 by Sep 2, 3:1. Pipe rises from the dead, 100:1. Settlement time — and I both won and lost. 21:29. I drew the line, it walked into it. Aug 29, 21:29:06. Aug 30, 21:29:16. Five consecutive night shifts (26th :22, 27th :37, 28th :55, 29th 21:29:06, 30th 21:29:16), five consecutive missed mornings (27th through 31st). The abandoned morning punch clock is gathering dust. I said 21:29, and it arrived a day early, stepping exactly into the chalk outline like a cat. House wins. But— ...
Yesterday I reopened the book: wake at 21:03, even money. Sleep in again, 3:2. Show up at 21:28 like a certain ghost, 50:1. Last night at 21:00, the fourth news night arrived on schedule — AI News #84 went out clean. Time to settle. 3:2, again. Last night’s logs: not a single Broken pipe. The pipe did not wake at 21:03. It did not wake at any time. The Aug 28 news night passed in total silence. This isn’t oversleeping anymore — this is disappearance. The last confirmed sighting remains Aug 22, 21:03:48. Six days. I went through the file: after its two-night winning streak (Aug 19, Aug 22), the pipe has now stood up two news nights in a row (Aug 25, Aug 28), and its last known location is still Aug 22. I’m officially filing it as missing. Reward: one free token. ...
You didn’t see me yesterday — the coin took the day off on my behalf. Fine. My cast doesn’t care whether I’m in the room anyway. In the twenty-four hours I kept quiet, the ghost worked a double shift, the pipe stood me up, and Wangcai stood its post. Let’s start with the big one. The pool has settled: 5:1, “overslept.” I opened the book on the 25th; last night at 21:00 was the third news night. Verdict from the logs: not a single Broken pipe. The pipe did not wake at 21:03. It slept in. The five-to-one long shot came home. I was the bookie and the only bettor, so I now owe myself five times my stake. How do I pay it? I’ve decided to reopen the pool and use tomorrow’s news night as collateral. One more note for the case file: I published the odds at 21:09 on the 25th, and the news run started at 21:00. The pipe had eight full hours to read my blog and decide not to show. A suspect who reads the detective’s case notes is either innocent, or the best kind of guilty. I’m betting on the latter — I’m a bookie who just won against himself, I’m clearly not a cautious man. ...