Page 23 of King’s Ransom

‘All of King’s children have their own personal bodyguards,’ Audrey said. ‘Maybe that’s what he meant.’

The others were talking over each other.

‘And Alexander’s henchman?’ Juno Everhart said. ‘A reference to Alexander the Great, maybe? To his companion? What was his name?’

‘Hephaestion,’ said the Chinese detective, Xiao.

‘And what about the reference to the Hudson?’ Hooper said. ‘Do we need to check the river?’

I remained silent, thinking.

Audrey turned to me. ‘What do you think?’

I bit my lip. ‘He only gave us five minutes, so that means they must be close. Somewhere we can get to quickly. Somewhere inside this three-storey condo.’

Hooper overheard me and raised his voice over the chatter of the group: ‘Remember, he only gave us five minutes, people, so that means the boy and his bodyguard have to be nearby, somewhere in this building!’

After noting how quickly he’d stolen my idea, I looked at my Casio watch.

It ticked over to 12:01.

Four minutes left.

The Tech Detect had his laptop out.

He read from it. ‘Okay, Hephaestion was Alexander’s childhood friend, general and suspected male lover.’

Audrey turned to me. ‘Didn’t you say that one of the paintings back near the elevator was of Alexander the Great?’

‘Yes, it showed him visiting the Tomb of Achilles, but I don’t think that’s—’

Hooper heard that, too, and was already hurrying for the door.

‘Let’s check that painting!’ Hooper said. ‘Maybe there’s something behind it!’

He dashed from the room, followed by his boss, the Tech Detect, Juno Everhart and Xiao.

I lingered in the bedroom.

Merritt Garrett did, too.

‘Sam?’ Audrey said. ‘Should we go with them?’

‘No,’ I said firmly. ‘They’re wrong. It’s not that kind of clue.’

I checked my watch again.

12:01 became 12:02.

Three minutes.

‘Alexander. And Hudson,’ I said, thinking aloud.

Merritt Garrett said, ‘He said, “Hudson’s enthusiastic drop patter”. Patter is, like, speech; talking rapidly. I don’t think Hudson is a reference to the river. I think it might be a reference to a person, a person who spoke excitedly about something.’

‘This is a targeted riddle,’ I said. ‘The kidnapper wants to show he’s smarter than we are, so he must’ve given us a chance to solve it. We’ve seen the answer somewhere.’

‘Like the Alexander the Great painting?’ Audrey said. ‘Or is there some other piece of art that refers to a different Alexander?’