Chapter 20
Thursday noon
Edward parked his motorcycle in front of Ferg’s Sports Bar right across the street from the St. Petersburg Police Department’s dated headquarters. Ferg’s was one of the first eateries that had opened in the district. The owner had quickly staked out his location when the whispers of a baseball stadium began floating around town. His gamble had been successful and he enjoyed the patronage of many loyal customers during the off-season months.
Edward pulled off his helmet, fastened it to the Indian, and pulled the file folder from the left side leather bag. He spotted Officer Williams at one of the rustic wooden tables near the sidewalk. She had a large glass of iced tea in front of her and another one setting across the table.
“Thanks.” Edward sat and drank deeply from the glass. “How did you know I liked this?”
“Savannah, of course. She thinks it’s funny.”
“Iced tea in Florida is bliss. Have you ordered?”
“Not yet, although they already have me down for my regular burger.” She glanced up at the server who had magically appeared at her elbow.
“Your usual, Officer Williams?”
Joy smiled and nodded.
“What will you have, sir?”
Edward smirked. “I’ll have the same.”
Officer Williams frowned. “Hey. You don’t know what it is. That’s dangerous.”
“Since moving to St. Petersburg, I’ve come to appreciate the fact that without fail the typical fare here is tasty, served with a smile, and the portions are generous.”
“Well, I hope you’re pleased with an old-fashioned medium rare hamburger with fries and coleslaw. That’s my usual. The trick is that I get mine wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun”
“In that case, I’ll have her regular the regular way, with a real bun.”
The server smiled and left.
“Savannah said to tell you that Jacob was remarkably inventive in his choice of key codes. If he hadn’t tried a few typical guesses, it could have taken months. Anyway, it turns out that the key was her birthday.”
Officer Williams had taken a sip of her iced tea and nearly choked. “Oh, that’s priceless. His daughter’s birthday. That’s so ridiculously typical that no one would have thought of it.”
“Sometimes the easiest thing is best. Anyway, here’s the file.” He gave the dusty package to Officer Williams.
Before she could open the file, the server plopped down two large hamburgers. The plates were heaping with hot French fries and a huge mound of coleslaw.
Officer Williams waved at Edward to start eating while she immediately opened the folder and looked at the number of encrypted words in the documents. “I can’t read this! Are you sure this is the right file?”
Edward put down his burger, wiped his mouth from the juicy bite he had just taken, and spoke indistinctly. “Jacob is translating everything for you.” He chewed and swallowed quickly. “It shouldn’t take too long now that the machine is set, but Savannah thought you could get a general idea of the contents. She wanted you to have as much as possible as early as possible. Right?”
“Of course, she’s right.” Officer Williams carefully gathered up her juicy burger. “That’s what makes her irritating sometimes, don’t you think?”
Edward nodded. “Oh, yes.”