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That was not the response she was expecting. “Then why are you here?”
“It’s what I can do for you. I figured out the cipher.”
“You did? It really is a cipher?” The longer it’d taken them to crack the code, the more her doubts had mounted.
He smiled and nodded. “I figured it out last night.”
“You did?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I worked on it.”
He hadn’t been able to sleep last night. The thought skidded through her mind, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. She had to know about the note. “And what did it say?”
“That’s the thing. It didn’t mean anything to me. I hope it makes sense to you.”
“How will I know if you don’t tell me?”
“It said, ‘Sundial. Five. Two.’”
“That’s it?” It sure wasn’t much to go on. “Do you think it ties in with my mother’s death?”
“The more important question is, do you believe it ties in?”
She gave it some thought. How many people possessed a coded message? And perhaps it would explain her father’s inability to let go of the past. But what was her mother doing with a coded message? What was she involved in?
“Annabelle, what are you thinking?”
The concern in Grayson’s voice drew her from her thoughts. “I honestly have no idea what to make of this. I’ve got more questions than answers.”
“Then if you’re willing, I think we should follow the clue. It will hopefully give you some peace of mind.”
“I...I don’t know. What if it’s something bad? I’m not sure my family can take any more bad news.”
“If you want, I can investigate on my own. And if I think it’s something you should know, I’ll tell you.”
Her gaze met his. “You’d really do that for me?”
He nodded. “You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. And you deserve the truth.”
He was right. She could do this. She slipped her hand into his. “We’ll do this together.”
“Good.” He squeezed her hand. “Do you know where we can find a sundial?”
She stopped to think. A sundial? Really?
“Annabelle, please tell me you know of one.”
Her mind raced. And then it latched on to a memory. “There’s one in the garden.”
“What garden? Do you mean the palace gardens?”
She nodded. “It’s overgrown with ivy now. When I was a kid, my cousins, my brother and some others would play in the gardens. It’s a great place for hide-and-seek. Anyway, we stumbled over the sundial.”
“Do you remember where it is?”
The gardens were immense. It would take a long time to search them without some direction. But she was certain that with a little time, she could lead them to the sundial.
“Come on.” She started off toward the palace at a clip.
