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“It’s Latin,” Cody explained “It means, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ Supposedly Julius Caesar said it”

Callahan still looked puzzled “I don’t get it What’s so i to tell me?”

Cody raised his brows in a question to Keira “Some kind of code?”

She shook her head regretfully “If it’s a code, I don’t knohat it is The reference to Julius Caesar could ions, crossing the Rubicon Even the month of July or Willia to do with Julius Caesar Sorry” She looked at Callahan “Did he say anything else?”

“One other word at the very end, but I couldn’t really understand him That’s when he—” Callahan stopped abruptly before continuing “It sounded so like center or centaur, but I can’t swear to it And neither word has a connection to anything as far as I can tell” He thrust one hand into his jeans pocket and came out hat looked like an ordinary house key in his palm “He had this in his hand” Callahan stared down at it, his broitching together as he said in a voice from which all emotion had been wiped clean, “It still has Steve’s blood on it”

Cody reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a couple of ss, one of which he opened and held out for Callahan to drop the key into “Probably too erprint other than yours and Tressler’s,” he told the other man, “but just in case”

“Yeah,” Callahan said

“No idea what door it opens?”

“Not a clue His truck keys were still in the ignition, and what looked like a house key was on the key ring But it wasn’t the sa I checked”

Cody looked the key over, then held the plastic bag out to Keira “What do you make of it?”

She ignored the blood and exah the plastic “It’s a double-sided key for a dead bolt,” she said “And the inal key for the lock That’s about all I can tell you” She handed it back to Cody