Simple Genius

The door to the cottage opened and Alicia walked in. She was holding a bundle of papers and looked very tired. She seemed surprised to see them here and then said in a scolding tone, “Okay, you two, I’ve run every possible configuration of these damn notes through our strongest computer programs and came up with gibberish every time. So either the code is beyond our capability to decipher it, or it’s not code at all, which is the conclusion I’m fast coming to. I did find out the name of the song. It’s ‘Shenandoah,’ from the nineteenth century. Anyway, what do you know, it has lyrics, not many, none of it spectacular, but it has words. So I had the brilliant idea that perhaps the lyrics were the key to the code. I hit them with everything we had, in every conceivable combination. And do you know what? It was still all gibberish.”

They just stood there staring at her.

“What is it?” she said suspiciously.

“Where’s Viggie?” Michelle asked quietly.

Alicia looked at her watch. “She’s in school. She’s been in school since eight o’clock.”

“She’s not there, Alicia,” Sean said. “The teacher said someone left a note on her desk this morning saying that Viggie was sick.”

She gave them both searching looks. “I’ve been up all night trying to make sense of this garbage. You were supposed to look after her.”

“She was fine early this morning,” Michelle explained. “She came to my room a bit before dawn. Then she went back to her room.”

“Then what?” Alicia said.

Sean and Michelle looked at each other. Sean said in an uncomfortable tone, “Then we left to run down some leads.”

“Leaving her alone!” Alicia exclaimed. “You left Viggie alone? Again!”

“We thought you were here,” Michelle explained.

Alicia threw the papers up in the air. “You thought I was here? How the hell could I be here when you gave me this mess to deal with?” She drew several deep breaths. “Her guard is supposed to escort her to school. I requested a new one directly after that other fool let Viggie wander away and almost drown.”

Sean looked at her curiously. “Who did you request the guard from?”

“Champ.”

Michelle said, “Champ picked me up at nine to go to the plane.”

“What are you talking about, what plane?” Alicia said fiercely.

“Just calm down, Alicia. Viggie might have just gone off by herself,” Sean said.

“Look what happened the last time she did that!”

“She’s right, Sean. I’m going to check down by the river.”

“I’ll get a security team to start looking over the grounds here,” he said.

They both headed out, leaving Alicia Chadwick staring helplessly down at the mess of papers.

CHAPTER 74

VIGGIE WAS NOT ON THE RIVER. All watercraft were accounted for. A search of Babbage Town had turned up nothing. The note that had been left with the teacher had been written on a computer. No one had seen who’d delivered the note.

The guard that had been assigned to look after Viggie said he’d gone to the cottage that morning at a few minutes before eight, but there had been a note on the door inside the screen porch saying that Viggie was ill and would not be attending school that day. So he’d left. He produced the note.

Like the other, it had been written on a computer and was untraceable.

“So anyone could have done it,” Sean said. He, Michelle and Horatio were standing outside the grounds of Babbage Town. The psychologist had joined them in the search for Viggie. They had just scoured the area with Sheriff Hayes and a group of volunteers and turned up not a single clue as to what had happened to the girl.

As they were standing there a black sedan pulled up.

“Oh, shit,” Sean exclaimed. “Not him. Not now.”

Special Agent Ventris climbed out of the car and walked over to them.

“I understand you lost the girl. Again!”

“What do you want, Ventris?” Sean demanded.

“I want you to get out of here. Your presence here is counterproductive.”

“What exactly have you produced? Other than confusion?”

Michelle put a warning hand on Sean’s shoulder. “Just stay cool, he is a federal agent,” she muttered.

“Better listen to your friend,” Ventris said, who’d overheard her warning.

“If the girl has been kidnapped, we’ll find her. It’s a Bureau specialty.”

“Would that be dead or alive?” Sean said bitterly.

Ventris got back in his car and drove off as Sean stared angrily after him. “You son of a bitch,” he screamed after the departing FBI agent.

Horatio said, “Okay, I think we all need to take a deep calming breath.”

Sean snapped, “I don’t want to take a deep calming breath. I want to kick the shit out of Special my ass Agent Ventris.”

“Okay, venting violent thoughts can be positive,” Horatio said awkwardly.

All three turned their heads toward the road as a line of passenger buses rumbled up, stopped at the front gate and then were allowed through.

Sean and Michelle hustled over to the guard stationed there. “What’s going on?”

“We’re clearing out Babbage Town, at least for now.”

“Why?” Michelle asked.