from: "Condry, Mark"
date: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 7:44 AM
subject: re: an old friend

Eric,

Thanks for quick reply. I didn’t mean to sound cryptic in my first email, I’m just... Reluctant I guess. I hadn’t really seen or thought about Andrew since he stopped showing up for game night, and that was five years ago. That was about the time we all went our own ways, back in 1999. You moved out west, I moved up to Dallas, etc. So when I got this article in my mailbox, it caught me by surprise.

And yeah, I’ll transcribe the thing for you. I wasn’t sure if maybe you were the one who sent it to me. I’ll put it into this email, at the bottom.

> I remember him. He was never the kid with the idea, he was
> the kid who agreed with yours. Slowest to get the joke, usually
> laughed the longest.

That’s Andrew in a nutshell yeah, at least that’s how I remember him. He got on my nerves sometimes, but damn if he didn’t love being part of the gang. He’d ask me for some poker chips on card night, or borrow dice from my bag, that sort of thing. Whenever we played Tecmo Bowl on your Nintendo he always wanted to be on my team. Which would’ve been fine if he was any good.

> I haven’t heard from Travis or Dave in years. They fell off
> the radar about the same time you did. None of us made
> much attempt to stay in touch. It was just one of those things.

That’s okay. I wasn’t trying to point fingers. It happens. But I was hoping you had already heard about Andrew, like you’d gotten a copy of the article. I still haven’t been able to get a number or email for Travis or Dave. Maybe they know more about this than we do. Andrew usually hitched a ride with Travis most of the time. It was on the way home for Travis. Didn’t Andrew live with his mom? Like in an apartment? And his stepdad was a real estate broker, had that one house way out past Highway 6. You remember that?

Andrew was scared to death of that house.

Here’s the article. There’s a photo of Andrew with it, looks maybe like his driver’s license photo. Still had messy hair.

***
GUNMAN SHOOTS TWO, KILLS SELF IN BOISE RESTAURANT

Diners at the Roadside Breakfast Café on Interstate 84 fled to the parking lot in a panic yesterday afternoon when a man entered and began shooting patrons inside, killing two.

The couple – John and Lucy Madson – were having lunch when 26-year-old Andrew Hughes entered, wielding a Smith and Wesson 59 pistol, according to police. Witnesses claim the perpetrator was muttering to himself as he approached the smoking section and opened fire into the first occupied booth, fatally wounding the Madsons. Soon after, he turned the weapon on himself.

All three were taken by paramedics to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where John Madson and the shooter were pronounced dead. Lucy Madson, 37, remained in critical condition for several hours but did not survive the night. Police are investigating Hughes’ work and personal background, but as of this morning a motive for the attack is unknown.
***

If there’s more to the article, I didn’t get it. That’s where it was torn off. The other side is part of a
Dillard’s ad.

This is really bothering me, Eric. What the hell was Drew doing in Boise? With a fucking gun?
He hung out with us for almost two years. I just don’t get it.

And something else is eating at me. I can’t figure it out yet.

- Mark