CHAPTER 111

GREG WAS STILL WAITING for Martin's report when the phone rang. It was Clooney:

— Hey, my friend! — Clooney said cheerfully.

— Any news, Brad?

— I'm not calling for nothing, my friend! Listen carefully... About what you asked me, have you ever played coordinate chess?

— I've never done it, but I know the method.

— That's nothing more than a small board, six columns, five rows, from A to Z. Set it up and you'll have the answer!

— Thanks, Brad — he said, and then hung up the phone.

Greg immediately looked for something to scratch the floor with:

— Do any of you have a knife lying around?

— What for, Greg?

Greg looked unfriendly, but Tommy took a small pocketknife out of his sock.

— Will that do?

— Let's see...

And he began to scratch on the floor and write that, to find out what he wanted to say.

— You clever bastard!

— Did you find out anything, Greg? — Asked Floyd.

When he finished scribbling, Gregory could clearly visualize what he wanted to say. Martin watched, without any idea of ​​what would result from it:

— So...

— Wait! — Gregory said eagerly.

— How long will we have to wait?

Gregory soon turned his attention to the scribbles on the paper. He looked again at the text of the received message:

The case is a lie! Pawns moving!

D5— E2— A5— A1— B3— E5— C5— C3— B4— A5— B3— D4— C3— A2— E5— D3— B4— B4— A5— E2— E4— A2

Capture all.

Seeing that, he began to cross the pairs of digits and form something: D5 = D

E2 = W A5 = A A1 = Y B3 = N E5 = E

Dwayne! — That's it, then, names to investigate!

Martin watched, astonished, his friend's effort to unravel the enigma. The words continued to form:

C— O— H— A— N— J— O— S— E— P— H— H— A— W— K— E— S

— What are these names? — Floyd asked.

— I know as much as you do — Greg answered curiously.

— They seem to be two...

— I think so, Dwayne Cohan and Joseph Hawkes...

What could these two names be?

Two victims? Two terrorists?

The doubt made Gregory Evans desperate.

Where would he start?