Page 60 of King’s Ransom

I was still thinking hard.

When it hit me.

‘Oh, man, why didn’t I see it before . . .?’ I said.

‘What?’ Audrey said. ‘What didn’t you see?’

But I was already running toward the elevators.

Fifteen seconds later, we all stood in the vestibule of the 95th floor, looking at the two framed editions of Superman No. 1 and Batman No. 1.

‘In the Batman comics,’ I said, ‘Batman is often referred to as the world’s greatest detective.’

I pulled the frame off the wall and turned it over, revealing its rear side.

And there it was.

Another yellow Post-It note.

With handwriting on it, the same handwriting as on the other one:

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

OPRAH WINFREY

IT’S MR KING’S TAWDRY SECRET.

FIND IT AND YOU’LL FIND MY PRICE

FOR MR KING’S LIFE.

‘His tawdry secret?’ Audrey said.

‘There are two parts to this,’ I said. ‘That first clue gave us the location of Mr King, but this one leads to the price.’

‘So what do William the Conqueror, Alexander Hamilton and Oprah have in common?’ Heidi asked.

Bill answered. ‘They were all illegitimate children.’

‘Nice, Bill,’ I said.

(I knew Bill read many history books but I hadn’t known he was an Oprah fan.)

‘King must have an illegitimate child . . .’ Garrett said.

As he said this, Garrett glanced at Yasmina, observing us from down the hallway with her six-year-old son, Alexei.

She scowled. Clenched her teeth.

She said tightly, ‘Ari had a son with our former nanny, Madison. The boy would be five now. Ari puts them up in an apartment in this building, down on the 44th floor. That tart got everything she wanted: apartment, money every month, the whole luxury lifestyle.’

I saw the burning anger in Yasmina King’s eyes.

I thought it was interesting that a woman who was both objectively beautiful and married to the richest man in the world was still so obviously unhappy.

I also noted the age of the illegitimate child.