He stared incredulously at it. “How? I wasn’t able to decipher any of it with my machine.”
“It was easy,” Lily spoke up even though I had cautioned her to let Brodie discuss the matter with Alex. She went to the board and went through the sequence that she had discovered.
“Incredible,” Alex replied, then looked at her. “And you saw the sequence when you first looked at it?”
She nodded. “It happens sometimes. I look at something, like the word puzzles, and the letters just seem to be in the right place.”
“Incredible.”
That was two “incredibles” in the last few minutes.
“The question now is what does it mean…” Brodie concluded. “Sir Avery must be made aware of this, and we need to figure out what is to happen on the eighteenth of the month, and where.”
“Have you been able to find anything more about Soropkin?” Alex asked.
Brodie shook his head. “I have people searching for him, but… no. However, Mikalea may be able to provide some information that she has uncovered that could be useful.”
“I have the curator of the museum looking over Dr. Bennett’s notes and an old manuscript we found in Aldgate,” I explained when Alex looked over at me.
“Much of it appears to be in some Egyptian dialect. It may provide some insight to what he was working on and the reason he was murdered. And we do know that Brodie has learned that Soropkin was supposedly seen in Aldgate before he disappeared.”
“You believe there’s a connection?” he asked Brodie.
“We may very well know more tomorrow when Mikaela learns what was in the manuscript the doctor had in his possession when he was murdered.”
“I’ll let Sir Avery know about the code,” Alex replied. “He may have some thoughts on it as well. And you will let us know what you are able to learn tomorrow?”
“Of course,” I assured him.
Lily had been quiet after explaining how she had deciphered the code, with a great deal of interest it seemed, in our conversation with Alex.
“Murder?” she exclaimed.
Hmmm. An explanation was needed, albeit a very brief one.
“A case that Mr. Brodie is working on.”
“And that message has somethin’ to do with it?”
“Perhaps.” I gathered my bag, then went to retrieve my long coat.
“Where are we goin’?” she excitedly asked.
“You are going to return to Sussex Square,” I replied. She instantly pulled a face.
“You have given us a valuable clue,” I continued. “Without your assistance Mr. Brodie might have gone on for days. It was important and we are both most grateful. However…”
“There is that word again,” she grumbled. “Everyone uses it— however.”
“However,” I began again, “your education is very important.”
“Wot do I need with more education? Mr. Brodie never had any education.”
“Not true.”
His education had come from the streets and what he picked up along the way, pushing himself up out of the gutters as he once told me.
“He acquired his education along the way, and so must you.”
