Louise couldn’t sleep, resenting the fact that Arnie could, knowing she shouldn’t resent it, which made her even more resentful. At some point, she must have dozed off. Some noise woke her. Disoriented for a moment, thinking she was home in Helsinki, she then remembered that she was in a hotel room in Kuopio. She thought someone must have been at the wrong door and fell back asleep.
Twenty minutes later, she jerked awake and rushed to the door. She opened it, peering left and right down the dim hallway. Then she noticed the note at her feet that must have had been shoved under the door when she’d awoken earlier.
She quickly opened it. It was from Natalya. “J’ai dû partir tôt. Bon va obtenir tant d’aide pour les orfelins. Rendez-vous à Helsinki.”
Arnie had woken up and was sitting upright. “What’s that?”
“A note from Natalya.”
Arnie waited a moment, then said, “You’ve been in Finland too long. What’s it say?”
Louise looked at him, a puzzled expression on her face. “It says, ‘Had to leave early. Good going getting so much help for the orphans. See you in Helsinki.’” She looked at it again. “Only she misspelled ‘orphans.’”
“So?”
“Natalya’s written French is close to perfect.”
Arnie came over to her and she handed him the note. He shrugged. “Don’t speak French.” He looked at the note a little longer. “But I do know something about code. Anything out of the ordinary, if done on purpose. And you say she misspelled ‘orphans,’ but her French is flawless. So—”
Louise had grabbed him with both hands.
“What?” he asked.
“My God. She’s going to try and get the children to the orphanage. We’ve got to help her.”
Arnie was already searching for his boots.