“Yeah, your girl looks simpler than our guy. If you find something, pass it on. What’s your next step?”

“We’re going to visit some art galleries in Boston.” Decker gave a brief recap of his discussion with Maxwell Stewart and Jason Merritt. He purposely left out his appointment with Chase Goddard.

If something came up, he’d share it after the fact. No purpose in telling him about another blind alley that would no doubt turn into another dead end.

MCADAMS WAS PORING over the file as Decker, stuck in traffic, tried to make his way to Newbury Street. “Now I know why I moved to a small town.”

The kid didn’t answer, engrossed in his business. A moment later, Tyler sat up. “It’s Latin.”

“Pardon?”

“The words . . . at least the words in Greek . . . Greek script but Latin meaning. Words that don’t mean anything specific . . . like ipso facto or e pluribus unum. It’s a code within a code. I bet if we got someone who knew Chinese or Arabic, those words wouldn’t mean anything in the native language but would transliterate into Latin words also.”

“Wow, kiddo, that’s impressive.” Decker nodded. “Good for you, Tyler. Well done.”

The kid tried to stifle a smile. “If I show you the Hebrew, could you read it out loud?”

“Yeah, I could do that. Wait until I’m stopped at a light.”

Tyler waited and then showed the page.

Decker stared at the letters. He repeated them several times to himself. “Wait a sec . . .” A beat. “Kav-i-at em-f-tur . . . or maybe the fey is a pey . . .” He turned to the kid. “It’s caveat emptor.”

This time, Tyler grinned. “Really?”

“Really. Good work.”

McAdams couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “Now all we have to do is find the code within the code. Once we translate the words into Latin, we can work translating it into English. Not me, personally. Someone who can do codes.”

“You don’t do codes?”

“Not these kinds of codes. I haven’t a clue. But I know someone who can. What would a trip to Boston be without a stop at the big H. Shall we?”

“We need to tell Mulrooney about it first.”

McAdams’s face soured. “Do we really have to do that?”

“Yeah, we do. This codebook is his baby and he was nice enough to let us in. Besides, Latham’s murder was gruesome. I’m sure the killer would do it again in a heartbeat. The more people who know about what we’re doing, the better off we are. The bogeyman can kill off Latham and Moreau, he can even try to whack us, but he can’t kill off an entire police department.”