Page 35 of King’s Ransom

The call clicked off.

‘Another riddle?’ Xiao said.

‘But this one has a price for failure,’ Juno Everhart said.

‘He’s escalating,’ Merritt Garrett said gravely. ‘That’s not good.’

Garrett was right.

In my own experience, extortionists who played games had power issues. And once they had power over someone, they enjoyed making their victim squirm more and more.

I said, ‘The clues to the first test were in the riddle itself. So what’s in this one.’

‘Ajax and Cassandra are 25 and 23, the children of King’s second wife. He said they’re in an apartment in this building, but not their own one,’ Xiao said.

Hooper checked a document on his phone. ‘It says here that Ajax and Cassandra share an apartment on the 42nd floor.’

Juno Everhart said, ‘He used the word “worm” twice. Once for King and then regarding “the other worm” who was once in L.A. Who is the other worm? The previous world’s richest man? Elon Musk?’

Xiao typed on his phone. ‘It says here Elon Musk first bought a house in L.A. in 1998. Could be the 98th floor? Isn’t that one of the mechanical floors—’

‘No,’ Garrett said forcefully. ‘It’s not that floor.’

‘Why not?’ I said.

‘98 is not a prime number,’ Garrett said. ‘Judging from the first riddle, everything he says is part of the clue. He said Ajax and Cassandra were in the prime of their lives. I think the correct floor will be a prime number.’

I nodded. That made sense.

I actually wished I’d figured it out.

Garrett was smart. Quick, too.

I checked my watch.

Nine minutes to go.

Juno Everhart also had her phone out.

‘Ajax and Cassandra are very popular on Instagram. I’m looking at their feeds now. Cassandra has a bunch of endorsement deals: a tequila company, a jewellery company, and, er, bondage collars and whips—’

Audrey said, ‘Didn’t Ajax get in trouble recently for saying something mean about working-class people?’

‘Yeah,’ Merritt Garrett said. ‘He was caught on camera at a party calling regular people stupid proles—’

‘Wait!’ Juno Everhart shouted, holding up her phone. ‘I got something! A couple of weekends ago they both attended the opening of Club 61, a new rooftop nightclub on 61st Street. It’s on the Upper East Side and has views of Central Park. And get this, the guest DJ that night was named Worm.’

‘61 is a prime number,’ I said, glancing at Garrett.

‘It is, but . . .’

‘What more are you after?’ Juno Everhart said. ‘It’s the two kids, Ajax and Cassandra; it refers to Instagram, an exclusive club with views of the park, and even a guy named Worm.’

Special Agent Hooper nodded. ‘I agree. Let’s move.’

He and Juno raced for the elevator.

I hesitated. ‘I just don’t—’