The Women Who Ran Away - Sheila O'Flanagan Page 0,49

now?’ wondered Grace. ‘Should I—’

She broke off as another message appeared.

Congratulations. Your photo is a match. Your final number is 3.

‘So will we go with 2 for the novel, 18 for the portholes in the museum’s boat and the 3?’ asked Deira. ‘Or 20 for the novel, 5 for the portholes in the bar and 3?’

‘I’m not a hundred per cent convinced about the museum boat,’ admitted Grace. ‘I counted eighteen portholes but maybe I missed one. And, like I said, there wasn’t a name on it.’

‘How many guesses do you have?’

‘Seven,’ said Grace.

‘Plenty.’ Deira gave her an encouraging nod. ‘Go for it.’

Grace tapped in the numbers 2183.

Password incorrect.

She made a face at Deira. ‘In that case it must be 2053.’

She entered the numbers.

Password incorrect.

‘What have we got wrong?’ asked Grace.

Deira shook her head slowly. ‘I don’t understand. I was sure this had to be it. Was there anything at all on the boat you saw that might point us in the right direction?’

Grace closed her eyes and called up the image. ‘It had three little cubes along the top with two portholes on each side of them,’ she said, her eyes still closed. The third cube – the one I thought was the bridge – had another cube on top of it with one porthole each side and two on another . . . or two on both – maybe that’s it! Maybe the three cubes had other portholes that I missed. They were very close together. What if they were like the bridge and had an additional one each on either side?’

‘So twenty-four altogether,’ said Deira.

‘Will I give it a try?’ asked Grace.

Deira nodded and Grace entered 2243.

Password incorrect.

‘For crying out loud!’ Grace was exasperated. ‘What’s wrong with this?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Deira.

‘Maybe I should reverse the numbers,’ said Grace. ‘Start off with the 3?’

‘We’ll run out of guesses,’ said Deira. ‘But it might be worth a try.’

‘Let’s do it on the first set we put in,’ said Grace. ‘After all, we were the most confident with that. I’m not sure about all these extra portholes.’

She tapped in 3812, and when she got the inevitable ‘password incorrect’ message, she tried 3502.

Password incorrect.

‘Shit,’ said Deira.

‘What now?’ Grace looked at her anxiously. ‘We have two guesses left.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Deira. ‘I’m sorry. Maybe I’ve pulled us down a rabbit hole with all my talk of portholes. Maybe it’s something else entirely.’

‘It can’t be,’ said Grace. ‘It really can’t. And I think it’s much more likely you’re right with the ship in the bar. Is there a chance you counted the portholes incorrectly?’

‘No,’ said Deira. ‘I was staring at it for quite some time. There were five. Oh!’

‘Oh?’

‘That’s it!’ exclaimed Deira. ‘That’s the mistake.’

‘What is?’

‘Try 2103,’ said Deira.

Grace stared at her. ‘Why?’

‘The second number is 10,’ said Deira. ‘I know it is.’

‘Good enough,’ said Grace.

Both women held their breath as she entered the numbers.

Password correct.

‘Oh!’ She turned to Deira. ‘You clever, clever thing.’

‘Ten portholes,’ said Deira. ‘Five on each side. I suddenly realised I’d only counted one side of the Atlantic Lady. And you can actually see them reflected in the bar mirror. It was stupid of me not to think of that straight away.’

‘I think you were brilliant to think of it at all,’ said Grace as she looked at the computer. ‘And we need that brilliance again. Because I haven’t a notion what this is all about. Do you?’

Deira looked at the unlocked document, which was headed ‘La Rochelle’.

‘No,’ she said.

Grace read the clue aloud.

Well done, Hippo. You did it! Your reward is the letter I. You need to keep that letter safe until the end, along with the others you’ll get if you solve the rest of the clues. And now for the next one. It’s no mystery that Georges spent some time here. Why wouldn’t he when it’s so beautiful, even if he did sometimes show the seedy side. You’ll need to upload a picture of his favourite café for your first number. You’ll also need the number of the place where the crime took place. Then tell me the day Brigitte arrived at your hotel. Only nine guesses this time, to keep you on your toes. Good luck!

‘Crikey,’ said Deira. ‘I’ve no idea. George. Brigitte. A crime. A café. Where it took place maybe? Did someone write about an unsolved crime in La Rochelle? Did anything happen when you were there with the professor?’

Before Grace had time to reply, Deira’s mobile vibrated and took her