“I have a question about the GPS numbers.” Pink smiled when Caelan turned to look at his shoulder. “We know that a geographic location has latitude and longitude. The numerical values for these come in different formats, some with fewer numbers. Which one does this app use?”
“All three.” Caelan directed Francine to a new cache and pointed at the monitor. “This cache owner used decimal degrees. See? There are only five numbers for north and five for west. But some of the others use degrees decimal minutes and others degrees minutes seconds.”
“What the bloody hell does this all mean?” Manny and Vinnie had similar frowns pulling their brows down.
“It means that it could be misleading.” The left corner of Caelan’s mouth lifted slightly. “If given only five numbers for north and west, a geocacher might think he’s using the decimal degrees format, but the cache owner could’ve given incomplete co-ordinates. Part of the riddle helps complete the co-ordinates, leading to the next cache. We have to figure it out. Add a countdown and it’s a really great challenge.”
Caelan droned on about co-ordinates, but I stopped listening. I looked at Pink, who was staring at me with an expression I’d seen every time he’d reached a pivotal conclusion. I gasped and turned to Caelan. “Would Jace have given you GPS co-ordinates as a clue?”
“Yes. Jace talked a lot about creating his own cache hunt. He wanted his riddles to be epic.”
Manny grunted. “What are you talking about, Doc?”
I searched through the photos of Jace’s crime scene and found the right one. The moment I put it on one of the monitors, Caelan uttered a keening sound, dropped the stress balls and started slapping his thighs.
“Bloody hell, Doc. Give a person some warning.”
I looked at the photo that I’d taken of the numbers Jace had written in the snow and sighed. I had looked at it enough times to have desensitised myself to the blood smears on the snow. “I apologise.”
“No need.” Caelan inhaled deeply, picked up his stress balls and squeezed them five times while staring at his hands. Then he lifted his eyes and studied the photos on the screen. I saw the moment his mind registered something important. “I know where this is! The Sahara desert expands at about one kilometre per month! The average iceberg weighs twenty million tonnes!”
“Take a breath, superman.” Vinnie walked closer and kneeled in front of Caelan. “Tell us what you know.”
Again Caelan looked at the stress balls as he squeezed them slowly and purposefully. He inhaled deeply. “This was Jace’s all-time favourite cache hunt. He loved the clues and the location made him very happy.”
“Where is it?” Manny turned to the door.
“Very close.” Caelan looked at my shoulder. “I don’t want to go there.”
“You don’t have to go anywhere, dude.” Vinnie got up. “You just tell us where it is and we’ll find whatever it is that Jace left for you.”
Caelan took a few deep breaths while staring at Vinnie’s torso. “It’s in a luggage locker at the train station.”
Daniel lifted his smartphone. “Is it one of the lockers where you have to enter a code into a keypad to unlock it?”
“Yes.” Caelan gave the number of the locker as well as the code. “I don’t think it’s possible someone would’ve changed the code. Jace wouldn’t have given me this clue then.”
Daniel nodded and left the room, already talking on his phone. Less than a minute later he walked back into the room, his phone still pressed against his ear, but looking at Pink. “Two officers are opening the locker. They’ll send you photos of whatever they find in there.”
No sooner had he said this than his eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. “What? Are you serious?”
“What did they find?” Caelan was rocking in his chair.
Daniel looked at Colin. “A statue of a demon. They’re sending a photo.”
“Got it.” Pink tapped on his smartphone screen and a photo filled one of the monitors in front of me. Inside a locker large enough for a big suitcase was a statue filling most of the space. It appeared to be made of stone, but I doubted something that heavy would be stored in the locker. It could be a good facsimile. Its stooped shoulders revealed large wings folded along its back and it was crouching as if ready to jump. Pointed ears, a flat nose, claws and a sneer that revealed sharp teeth were typical of the images frequently portraying evil spirits.
“Holy hell!” Manny took a step back. “What in the blue blazes is that, Frey?”
“It’s a gargoyle.” Colin looked at Caelan. “Does it have any meaning to you?”
Caelan’s rocking increased. “No. The water of Antarctica is so cold that nothing can rot there. I don’t know what this means. I don’t know. Every year, Alaska has about five thousand earthquakes. I don’t know!”
“It’s okay, superman.” Vinnie looked at me and widened his eyes.
“What?” I wasn’t clear on his communication.
“Help the dude.” Vinnie nodded towards Caelan muttering to himself and rocking in the chair.
“I don’t know how to help him.” I leaned away from them, tightness pressing on my chest.
“It’s okay, girlfriend.” Francine got up and slapped Vinnie hard on the shoulder. “I got this. Vin, go bake some cookies.”
“No. No.” Caelan’s rocking slowed and he squeezed the stress balls a few times slowly, his focus completely on his hands. “I want to help.”
“Why don’t we take a walk to clear your head?” Pink pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to the elevator. “A bit of movement and you’ll be able to understand why Jace left you that gargoyle as a clue.”
“I’m okay. I will be okay. I will help.” He looked down at his hands, then glanced at me. “It’s a riddle. Jace might’ve created a cache before he died. If I figure out the answer to this riddle and enter it into the app, it should give me the next co-ordinates.”
“For the next riddle.” Francine tapped a manicured nail against her chin. “Is there a way to check if Jace really created a cache hunt?”
“No.” Caelan squeezed the stress balls. “I know all the caches on the app and this one isn’t there. That means that Jace hadn’t finished creating it.” He looked at my shoulder. “I won’t stop thinking until I know the answer to this riddle. I will help you, Doctor Lenard.”
“I know you’ll help.” I understood the need.
Francine sat down next to me and picked up her tablet and Manny glared at the image on the monitor. “That is just bloody ugly.”
“It’s art.” Colin smiled when Manny’s frown deepened. “There are examples found in ancient civilizations of gargoyles. That’s how far back their history stretches. Their mouths were used as water spouts on the roofs of Egyptian temples. The same on Greek temples, but those figures were often lions or other vicious beasts. The whole purpose of gargoyles on the roofs of buildings has always been decorative, but also practical as water spouts.”
“I don’t care.” Manny pushed his hands into his trouser pockets. “It’s ugly.”
Vinnie crossed his arms and looked at me. “Any ideas what the answer might be?”
I had none. I had no frame of reference for geocaching or these riddles. I didn’t even know if the gargoyle was a riddle. I had to trust that Caelan knew his friend well enough to be accurate in this supposition. And I hoped Caelan could calm down enough to allow his mind to find the answer.
Francine shifted next to me and tapped her tablet screen. Her procerus and corrugator supercilii muscles pulled her brow in and down. It felt as if my stomach turned. The only times I’d seen that expression on her face had been when she’d been about to share something disturbing. I cleared my throat. “What?”
“Hmm?” She looked up from her tablet and blanched at my expression. “Oh, you saw that.”
“Saw what?” Manny stepped closer, but Francine raised her hand to stop him. He grunted. “Talk.”
Francine leaned forward to look past me at Caelan. “I downloaded all the footage from Jace’s glasses.”
Chapter FIVE
Caelan’s frontalis muscles pulled his eyebrows high on his forehead. “I don’t want to see him die.”