Local time – 10:15am, Sunday 17th June, 2011.
Over Turkey.
‘What’s the bloody point in guessing?’ Phil showed no excitement at their find, instead letting his surly mood turn it into bad news.
‘We haven’t got any idea where to start looking. What other option do we have?’ Henry protested. Phil paced the cabin, reminding Alex of a hippo caged in a zoo. Josh had perked up when he heard they had a challenge. He now sat opposite Alex, his bright eyes glistening again.
‘Have you got any ideas?’
‘Bernie was always shocking at remembering passwords. I have to assume this was true, even if he wasn’t exactly the person I thought he was.’
‘Did you know any of his passwords?’
‘Yes. I knew his iPad password. We set it up to be the same as his bank account pin.’
‘Any point trying that?’
‘I don’t think so. If someone managed to get into his iPad, it would be pretty dumb to also use the same password for encrypted files. Bernie wouldn’t have risked that.’
No, you’re right.’
‘I also knew his login for his work computer. We had to change them automatically every month. Our paper is pretty security conscious, with the age of internet hackers and the sensitive stuff we report on.’
‘Did he use something new every time?’
‘Yes. But always something he would remember. Like his most recent one was Princess454. His cat’s name and the number of his house. It always took him a couple of days to stop swearing at his computer when he renewed the password, trying to remember what he changed it to.’ Josh gave her an odd look. ‘I know what you’re thinking. This is a top class spy we’re talking about. He didn’t seem the type to struggle with passwords. But that was Bernie. He kept so much information in his head, there wasn’t much space left for mundane things like login passwords. Sometimes he would jot it on a post-it note and leave it in his wallet, just in case he forgot.’
‘Why don’t we give it a go?’ Henry suggested.
‘I guess it’s worth a shot.’ Alex carefully typed P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S-4-5-4 into the password field. Her finger hovered over the ‘submit’ button.
‘Press it!’ Phil barked. She dropped her finger onto the button and a red cross appeared.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ Phil groaned. Alex glared at him and felt her inside squeeze with disappointment. She looked back down at the screen and a thought occurred to her. The post-it note. Laura had said Bernie had a post-it note in his pocket with Wenceslas Square jotted on it.
‘I’ve got another idea,’ she said. She hurriedly typed in W-E-N-C-E-S-L-A-S-S-Q-U. Just as she was about to hit submit, Josh grabbed her hand.
‘What’s that one you’re trying? We’ve only got five guesses remember.’
‘It’s something I just think Bernie might have used.’ Alex snatched her hand back and pressed submit. She noticed Henry wince as the red cross appeared again. Phil was so angry he stormed to the other end of the plane.
‘Can I have a look at the iPad for a sec? I’ve used the mSecure app before... ’ Ryan asked. Alex felt like a mother handing over her child.
‘Thought so. He’s added a hint for his password. See here...’ Alex lent over, and Phil and Henry were quick to join them. They all looked at the small words on the iPad.
‘Seek, and you will find’.
Phil rushed back towards them and Alex saw anger flash in his eyes.
‘I’ve got no idea what that means,’ she said evenly.
‘It’s from the Bible. Matthew 7:7.’
‘Really? I’m sure he doesn’t mean it like that. Bernie hated religion.’ Alex was unsurprised to see Phil’s face contort in anger. Knowing the Bible chapter and verse suggested strong religious faith. But she wasn’t expecting the same reaction from Josh and Henry, noticing they looked offended too.
‘What? Phil, you knew Bernie, surely you knew he was an atheist? He made his views very clear. He saw religion as the cause of most of the world’s problems. And I can’t say I disagree.’
Henry spoke before the others had a chance, doing his best to keep his temper.
‘Fine. Maybe when Bernie was a spy he didn’t speak too loudly about his religious views. It does seem unlikely that he was quoting the Bible if it was so... so... repulsive to him. What else could it mean?’
‘I have no idea.’ Phil started pacing again, but this time with more impatience. He spun on his heel at the end of the plane and barked at Alex.
‘There’s a phone there. Call his wife and ask her.’ Alex looked to Henry, but he shrugged, not finding a good reason to disagree. She wanted to avoid involving Laura. After everything she had been through, the last thing she needed was to be dragged into Alex’s mess. Bernie’s mess. The three men were motionless, waiting for her to act.
‘Ok, I’ll call her. I need to get her number out of the iPad. I don’t want to call her home phone, they might be bugging it.’ Josh nodded and held it out for her.
There was a phone on the wall next to her chair. While she waited for the mail app to open, she picked it up and heard a dialling tone. When Laura’s email opened, Alex felt a squeeze in her stomach. She secretly hoped Laura wouldn’t answer. But after only two rings, she did.
‘Hello?’ her voice sounded horse and tired.
‘Laura, it’s Alex.’
‘Alex, I’ve been so worried! Where are you! I saw the video, what are you doing? Are you OK?’ Laura’s worry tumbled out like water gushing from a pipe.
‘I’m fine. But I’ve got a bit caught up in Bernie’s mission. I’m going to sort this all out, I don’t want you to worry.’
‘Bernie? What? What do you mean dear?’
‘I’ll explain it all later. I’m fine. I just need your help.’
‘Help? Are you in trouble? I can send someone to get you. Where are you dear?’
‘No, I’m not in Prague. I’m perfectly safe. You were right about Bernie’s iPad. There is something in here that is really important. If I can work out the password, I can sort it all out. And then I’ll come home.’ Alex could hear Laura fussing, trying to grasp hold of what she was saying.
‘I’m not sure I’ll be any use. I really would just prefer that you come home.’ Alex could see the men listening, waiting for her to get to the point. She felt a sudden frustration at Laura, and then a worse frustration at herself for being unfair.
‘Please. I just thought you might be able to help. Bernie set a password on his iPad and I’ve got no idea what it is. But he’s included a hint, which means nothing to me, but to you, I thought....’
‘You think I can make sense of it?’
‘Yes.’ Alex could tell Laura was now concentrating harder on what she was saying.
‘Ok, if this is going to help bring you home. What is this hint?’
‘Seek, and you will find.’ Alex could hear Laura thinking, like a quiz contestant on TV. Laura was brilliant at trivia and crosswords. Sudoku and Scrabble. She was just as cryptic as Bernie.
‘It’s from the bible. But I don’t think that’s his context.’
‘That’s what I thought.’
‘Although... ’ This time, Laura’s pause gave Alex reason for hope.
‘What?’
‘I just remembered, Bernie borrowed a Bible from the Library a couple of weeks ago. He needed it for some research he was doing. Could the password have something to do with that?’
‘Possibly. What was he working on?’
‘I’m not exactly sure love. But I know it’s still, it’s still by, our bed.’ Alex pictured Laura climbing the wooden staircase in the old London terrace she used to share with Bernie. The sound of the stairs creaking just reached the phone. Bernie and Laura’s house was Alex’s favourite place in London, and a lump formed in her throat when she realised she would never see Bernie there again. Laura was still agile for her age, but she was puffing when she spoke again.
‘Here it is. If there’s a clue in here, I wouldn’t want to be the one to find it. I haven’t looked at the Bible in, I don’t know love, over 40 years!’ Alex thought about it for a few seconds. If Bernie was just using the ‘hint’ setting for himself, wouldn’t he carry the key to the hint with him? No, it was more likely the hint was for someone else. Someone he trusted. Laura maybe?
‘Is there anything about the Bible which is out of the ordinary? A special mark, or a hand written note or something?’ Alex asked. Phil took a step towards her, as if to hear her better. Henry’s face filled with anticipation.
‘It just looks like a Bible. There’s a slip in it of course, to remind the borrower when to return it. You remember what Bernie was like with library books.’
‘He called the overdue fees a charitable donation.’ Alex smiled at the memory.
‘That’s odd.’
‘What?’
‘It’s the library slip. It’s been torn in half. Both pieces are in here. But it seems to be very neatly torn, like it wasn’t an accident.’
‘Is there anything written on it?’
‘No dear. The top part has the description of the book, and you know, the date to return and the library details... but the bottom half... ’
‘Yes...’
‘The bottom half has a barcode. Do you think he tore it for a reason?’
‘I have no idea. But it’s worth a try.’ Laura slowly read out the barcode number and Alex wrote it into the notepad on the iPad.
‘Please be careful Alex. Bernie wouldn’t have wanted, well, he never wanted you to....’ Laura finally choked up.’
‘I know Laura. I promise I’m safe. I’ll see you soon.’ Alex hung up. Phil looked ready to rip the iPad from her hands. They hadn’t heard what Laura was saying, so they seemed to be under the impression she was positive it was the correct code. Alex held the iPad to her chest.
‘I want you to know, this is just another guess. It might be completely wrong. But we have three more chances, and I think... ’
‘Let’s just try it,’ Henry jumped in.
Alex handed Josh the iPad, knowing this time her hands might shake too much to enter the code correctly. He copied the string of numbers and letters, and then opened the mSecure app and clicked paste. He didn’t let their hopes hang for too long, quickly pressing OK to submit the password. Alex let out gasp when she saw the screen flash white. The password was correct.