Page 41 of Murder By Misdirection

But now Elisha was sobbing in earnest. “You hated your father all these years because I lied to you. You thought he didn’t care. He was willing to come back to New York, just to be with you, but I told him no.”

“Momma, you did the best you could…”

“You wanted to know why I defended him, why I never said anything bad? It was ‘cause I knew the truth. I let you blame him and that was wrong…”

“Momma…”

“I’m sorry, honey. If it wasn’t for Joe, I don’t know what we would’ve done.”

She raised her mother’s tear-streaked face to meet her eyes. “You did good. And Joe did good. You loved me and raised me. But Max is the problem right now. He’s a fugitive and he might get himself shot…or worse.”

“What can I do?” Elisha sniffled.

“Call me or the police if he gets in touch at all. Locks seem to be no impediment to him, so keep aware that he might be back.”

Elisha nodded and grabbed another napkin to wipe her nose. “Okay, honey, I will.”

“I love you, Momma.”

“I love you too, baby. Please don’t shoot your father.”

“I’ll try not to,” Pro said and rose to her feet. Her mother stood as well and hugged her daughter fiercely.

“Now, go find the real killer, because I know it is not your father.”

12. Signed Card

Back in the Midtown North Precinct, Pro had reprinted the select coded emails and was halfway through translating them as Chu entered the bullpen.

“You got an early start,” Tom said as he sat at his desk.

“Had a heart-to-heart with my mom. By the way, Max visited her house yesterday and delivered about a gazillion flowers.”

Chu shook his head. “Honestly, forget superheroes. This guy can do anything.”

“Don’t attribute supernatural powers to him just yet. I let Max glance at the emails yesterday to see if I was right about the Houdini code.”

“Maybe you should have handcuffed him to a table.”

“Tom, he left me a note in my pistol lock box! He picked the lock on a holding cell. You really think handcuffs are a challenge to him?”

“Okay, okay,” Chu relented. “So what was your point?”

“Max has a photographic memory. I think when he saw those papers, he translated them in his head. He saw something that pushed him to take them. I think Max’s next move is going to be based on something in those coded emails.”

“And what do you propose?” Chu asked skeptically.

“Well, I’ve decoded about half of them. Mostly they are short messages about the fact that the ‘[email protected]’ guy had worked out the techniques behind ‘Prism.’ He was looking for a front man to do the deal, and he was willing to split the take.”

“Okay, well if you keep converting the messages, I’ll try to track down the emails of the buyers to find out who they are.”

“I also need you to track down these guys,” Pro added, and pulled a page from her detective notebook.

Chu read the paper aloud. “Adrian Novack, aka Adrianna Gray, and Michael Mystique. Who are they?”

“Magicians and potential buyers. Which means Max might be going to visit one or both of them.”

“I’ll get started on those names first.”