“Correct.”
“So you just saw two dead bodies, and you still managed to, ” Darnell flicked the sheet of paper absently, “figure out this complex riddle?”
“One.”
“Pardon?”
“You said I’d just seen two dead bodies. I’d only seen one up to that point—Dr.Moorehead was the second, which I didn’t see until after.”
Darnell didn’t appreciate being corrected.
“Sure—fine. One, then. But you were also attacked by a man with a knife. And despite all of this, you still managed to figure out the note? The correct location?”
Ivy didn’t care for the insinuation.
“It’s math. My brain went into math mode. It isn’t that complicated once you understand what it’s actually asking.”
Darnell made a ridiculous face.
“Looks pretty damn complicated to me.”
But you’re not a math professor, a Clark Fellow, blah, blah, blah.
Not hearing a question, Ivy elected to remain silent.
“Why twenty-seven minutes?” Darnell asked abruptly. “Seems strange, doesn’t it?”
“It’s a prime number. Just like—” Ivy froze.
She realized why these—twenty-seven minutes and three days—had seemed familiar to her.
The email! That stupid spam email she received right before this all started. It had a rhyming scheme, just like the one that she’d found in Dr.Moorehead’s office.
How did it go?
Ivy closed her eyes and it came to her.
1092 —three days to the date.
Twenty-seven minutes, why were you late?
Thirteen will fall, if their problem is unsolved,
Reduced to a constant, your death is involved.
By her count, there were thirteen dead: ten original victims, one in the second game, Rebecca, and Dr.Moorehead. Did that mean that this was finally over?
“Dr.Reeves?” Darnell probed.
Ivy’s eyes snapped open.
Should I say something?
She would have, but Darnell was being such a dick, and Vaughn had told her to keep it simple.
“Sorry. I’m just tired.”
Darnell grunted, but before he could speak, Daniels took over again.
