Jesse followed her train of thought. “And Jonathan found this device and possibly something else that went on his computer.”

“Yes. Parker had his luggage packed to flee the country. He would have kept both the hardware device and his computer close.”

“If we’re lucky, Jonathan made his last backup right before he left Richmond Sunday night so that we’re not missing any information.”

“If we’re lucky,” Ethel repeated. “Do you know how this KryptoFold thing works?”

“The slip of paper contains a long sequence that sure looks like a private key. I’m hoping all I have to do is back up my internal drive and then restore Jonathan’s in its place. There should be an app that recognizes when the KryptoFold is plugged into a USB port and we go from there. It could be as simple as typing in that sequence at the appropriate time.”

Ethel gave him a smile. “Ah, the optimism of youth.”

Jesse examined the KryptoFold again. Then he used WhatsApp to send an encrypted text to Tracy in London.

Found a KryptoFold model 7-HVX. Research how to activate. Tell no one.

Ethel’s cell phone rang. She took her eyes off the road just long enough to check the screen. “It’s Frank.” She handed it to Jesse. “Put him on speaker.”

He accepted the call. “You’re on speaker, Detective Mancini.”

“Ethel, you say that license plate was on a Toyota Camry?”

“Yes. White like yours. I couldn’t give you the exact year.”

“Did you see both front and back plates?”

“Yes. They matched.”

“Well, the tag number is registered to a silver Hyundai Santa Fe. For your information, Ethel, that’s an SUV. Even you couldn’t confuse those two vehicles.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I was memorizing car models when Studebakers were on the highways.”

“Anything else I should know before I pass this along to the Richmond PD and Highway Patrol?”

“Do what you have to, but I’d prefer you pass the info to Cory Bradshaw. Someone could be casing Finch’s house, and our best bet might be not to jump them prematurely.”

“But the wife and boy?”

“Cory should get an agent from the Richmond office to the house immediately. I’ll call Susan Finch and urge her to leave the house until she gets word from Cory that her protection is in place.”

“Do you want to tell Cory?” Mancini asked.

“No. You and he are officially on the case. Besides, I’ll be in the air soon.”

There was a long beat of silence. “You flew to Richmond?”

“Yes, Frank. I flew to Richmond in my plane. And I’ll be flying back. Why so shocked? I’m only seventy-five.” She winked at Jesse and gave him the cut sign.

He disconnected before the detective could reply. He offered her the phone but she waved it away.