Page 32 of The Grave Artist
In seconds . . .
Could it be that simple?
What if reading every second word created a message?
Far-fetched, but give it a shot. She had no other ideas.
Her heart began to pound as she read over the entire note again.
No priest would give me last rites before what I am about to do, so this will be my final confession, which I will have to give in seconds:
Please forgive me once I reveal my true guilt under oath.
I violated my clients’ trust by investing their savings in a risky fund, and I cannot go on in the knowledge of what I have done and the misery I have caused.
I now can admit to hoping that you, my goddesses, can ever live in peace, amen.
—RobertoMateoSanchez
Her gaze lingered on the signature. Why had her father underlined his middle name? She couldn’t recall him doing that before. With a resigned sigh, she decided to focus on the body of the message first and printed the words on the blank paper in her own neat writing.
priest give last before I about do this be final which will to in ...
Made no sense to her.
Okay, what if the secondletterof every word spelled out a clue?
She scanned the note again.
Oretolgvmatiebfr. . .
Well, guess not.
Still, she felt like she was onto something. Her father had to quickly come up with something that would be easy to write but difficult to catch without the key. And she was convinced he’d explained the code in the first sentence.
The first sentence.
She figuratively smacked her forehead. Why hadn’t she seen it before? The clue would be given in every second sentence.
She copied the note, but this time she numbered each sentence, and underlined the second word in every second one.
No priest would give me last rites before what I am about to do, so this will be my final confession, which I will have to give in seconds:
PleaseforgivemeonceIrevealmytrueguiltunderoath.
I violated my clients’ trust by investing their savings in a risky fund, and I cannot go on in the knowledge of what I have done and the misery I have caused.
