Lenox to come to Hartford.
The majority of the publishing world hasn’t a clue about all this yet, although between you and me, I’ve had a nagging suspicion that someone is aware that I have the manuscript and intends to get his or her hands on it. This may simply be rampant paranoia, but I still felt it prudent to take precautions. Trague’s will also included instructions to destroy the single hard copy that existed, which I have done. Since I received the flash drive, I’ve been enjoying the hell out of my little secret and looking forward to a bright financial future. Bad timing, I know, but it struck me about an hour ago that W.Z.B. has given me an incredible opportunity to go out with a bang instead of the whimper my doctors are offering. So what say we have some fun, you and I?
Once word gets out about Trague’s defection, all hell will break loose, so you must act quickly. I want you to find the flash drive, publish the manuscript and reap the rewards you so greatly deserve. I trust that this language, written in my own hand, will satisfy any legal eagles who may wish to dispute my decision, so guard it with care until I can have my lawyer tweak my will.
So now all you have to do is find the flash drive before anyone else gets wind of this arrangement. I remembered how much you enjoy setting up puzzles for your sleuth, Ariadne Merriwether, to solve, so I’m betting you’ll have fun finding the solution to this one yourself. The drive is not hidden in my house, my car or my safe deposit box, so don’t waste your time searching there. The key to the drive’s location is contained in this list of song titles. Once you crack the code, which isn’t very difficult, since I am rather pressed for time, you’ll know exactly where to look. Here goes:
My Secret Place
My Heart Is an Open Book
I Will Stand By You
Six and Seven Books
The Best Things in Life Are Free
Best of My Love
Hidden in My Heart
Hometown Girl
Paperback Writer
6,3 … 1,2 … 2,3 … 7,1 … 3,4 … 5,7 … 4,4 …
5,4 … 9,2 … 8,1
Off you go now. As for me, I’ll be incommunicado, traveling to the Galapagos or Australia or maybe Africa while I still can. My attorney, Robert Henley of Lenox, MA, will wind up the details of my estate and close down the business, finally earning the fat retainer I’ve been paying him lo these many years. Since I have no spouse or children, I have only myself to please for whatever time I have left.
Must wind up now as I have an over-eager room service waiter knocking on my door. I said I wanted coffee very early, but 5:30 a.m.???
Have fun, be well,
Lizzie
“Initial thoughts?” she asked over the top of her reading glasses.
Becky was the first to speak from where she sat on the rug, cross-legged. “I think she was smart to hide the flash drive, that’s for sure.”
Duane sprawled beside her, propped up on his elbows, in front of the fireplace. “And smart to shove the letter under the pillows. It’s too bad she got tricked into opening her door to whoever was knocking at 5:30 a.m. I’m really sorry about what happened to your friend, but I’m glad the intruder didn’t get what he was after.”
May regarded him fondly. “Our job is to see that he—or she, by the way, since we don’t know that it was a man—never does. I may not have been able to help Lizzie last night, but I surely plan to carry out her final wishes. What do you make of this code?”
“It can’t be terribly complicated, can it?” Isabelle mused. She took a thoughtful sip of wine. “May had to make it up on the fly. She had her laptop and, presumably, internet access via the hotel’s Wi-Fi, so she could look up the song titles.”
“She could look up everything about them, including the composers, lyricists, every singer who ever covered them and for what labels. Emma does that all the time,” I put in. “There are thousands of databases on line.”
Margo tapped the sheets of paper in her
The majority of the publishing world hasn’t a clue about all this yet, although between you and me, I’ve had a nagging suspicion that someone is aware that I have the manuscript and intends to get his or her hands on it. This may simply be rampant paranoia, but I still felt it prudent to take precautions. Trague’s will also included instructions to destroy the single hard copy that existed, which I have done. Since I received the flash drive, I’ve been enjoying the hell out of my little secret and looking forward to a bright financial future. Bad timing, I know, but it struck me about an hour ago that W.Z.B. has given me an incredible opportunity to go out with a bang instead of the whimper my doctors are offering. So what say we have some fun, you and I?
Once word gets out about Trague’s defection, all hell will break loose, so you must act quickly. I want you to find the flash drive, publish the manuscript and reap the rewards you so greatly deserve. I trust that this language, written in my own hand, will satisfy any legal eagles who may wish to dispute my decision, so guard it with care until I can have my lawyer tweak my will.
So now all you have to do is find the flash drive before anyone else gets wind of this arrangement. I remembered how much you enjoy setting up puzzles for your sleuth, Ariadne Merriwether, to solve, so I’m betting you’ll have fun finding the solution to this one yourself. The drive is not hidden in my house, my car or my safe deposit box, so don’t waste your time searching there. The key to the drive’s location is contained in this list of song titles. Once you crack the code, which isn’t very difficult, since I am rather pressed for time, you’ll know exactly where to look. Here goes:
My Secret Place
My Heart Is an Open Book
I Will Stand By You
Six and Seven Books
The Best Things in Life Are Free
Best of My Love
Hidden in My Heart
Hometown Girl
Paperback Writer
6,3 … 1,2 … 2,3 … 7,1 … 3,4 … 5,7 … 4,4 …
5,4 … 9,2 … 8,1
Off you go now. As for me, I’ll be incommunicado, traveling to the Galapagos or Australia or maybe Africa while I still can. My attorney, Robert Henley of Lenox, MA, will wind up the details of my estate and close down the business, finally earning the fat retainer I’ve been paying him lo these many years. Since I have no spouse or children, I have only myself to please for whatever time I have left.
Must wind up now as I have an over-eager room service waiter knocking on my door. I said I wanted coffee very early, but 5:30 a.m.???
Have fun, be well,
Lizzie
“Initial thoughts?” she asked over the top of her reading glasses.
Becky was the first to speak from where she sat on the rug, cross-legged. “I think she was smart to hide the flash drive, that’s for sure.”
Duane sprawled beside her, propped up on his elbows, in front of the fireplace. “And smart to shove the letter under the pillows. It’s too bad she got tricked into opening her door to whoever was knocking at 5:30 a.m. I’m really sorry about what happened to your friend, but I’m glad the intruder didn’t get what he was after.”
May regarded him fondly. “Our job is to see that he—or she, by the way, since we don’t know that it was a man—never does. I may not have been able to help Lizzie last night, but I surely plan to carry out her final wishes. What do you make of this code?”
“It can’t be terribly complicated, can it?” Isabelle mused. She took a thoughtful sip of wine. “May had to make it up on the fly. She had her laptop and, presumably, internet access via the hotel’s Wi-Fi, so she could look up the song titles.”
“She could look up everything about them, including the composers, lyricists, every singer who ever covered them and for what labels. Emma does that all the time,” I put in. “There are thousands of databases on line.”
Margo tapped the sheets of paper in her
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