His Conundrums

Chapter 21

Clues

Thomas Flipper is a well-known businessman. He works in a partnership together with Irvin Sting, Mudan Pavinsky, and Elmer Mordan. The four of them attended the same college and became friends since then. Thomas is the second one to get married after Mudan.

"Are you Sirius?" Mr. Flipper asked him. Joe chuckled at the question.

"Yes, I am," he said without moving an inch and looked directly into his eyes.

"Someone told me you could be of help." He handed out the small envelope he's been holding. Sirius saw him wearing gloves but didn't say anything about it. Maybe he is used to wearing those.

"I thought it was just a congratulatory message for my wedding, but I think it's not," he added.

Sirius and Joe took a thorough look at the envelope. Sirius thought he just received it since it looked like it was opened an hour ago. He took out the paper inside and saw a couple of letters written on the paper.

'VIXXIII' 

That's what it says. It smelled like one of Victoria's Secret's perfume. The paper is a little bit crumpled. It shows how the person struggled from holding the paper. But it seemed like a normal paper. How could he struggle from holding it? A thought came in.

*phone rings*

"Sorry, but I have to answer this call." He said as he walked outside the coffee shop.

"I think this is just an ordinary paper. The ink used to write this letter is a bit suspicious, though. They might spray it with some strong perfume to conceal its scent. What could this message mean? Is it some sort of roman numerals?" he said.

"It's a codename." Joe blurted out.

"What?" Sirius asked him.

"Roman numerals must be written in order. Look, V comes first before IX or X. This could be a series of numbers if it is, but I think it's not," Joe explained.

"You're getting keener," Sirius complimented him for the first time. He smiled.

"What do you think it says?" he asked Joe.

"It says vix xiii. Guess it's Victoria's Secret," he joked. Sirius closed his eyes, thinking Joe still has a long way to go giving him headaches.

"Uhmm. Mr. Welsch. I have to leave. I'm a busy man, you see," Mr. Flipper said while taking a piece of card in his pocket.

"Call me if you find anything," he said while he handed out his business card.

"Someone's after you, Mr. Flipper," Sirius warned him, but he smiled, he was used to it, and if it is true, he just wants to know who. He went into his car and drove off the streets.

-0-0-0-

A day had passed, and they can't still find the meaning behind that mysterious letter. Is Mr. Thomas Flipper a good man, or he's just a man with good money? What could it possibly mean?

"What if it's not a codename? These are just roman numerals where VI is 6 and XXIII is 23? It's not like any other codes like radio 10 codes." Sirius looked at the letter.

"You mean it's just a pair of numbers?" Joe asked him.

"It could be in a book," he said.

"It could be pages, topics, and chapters." They moved in an instant, looking for a book that could be the answer.

"The problem is what kind of book we are looking for? There are so many books around here if we have to scan everything," Joe complained while looking at his bookshelves.

"A book that anyone can own even in their houses..." Sirius pulled out some big books from his shelves. Yes, big books. "...dictionaries, encyclopedia, today's newspaper," he said.

"You can add the playboy's magazine to your list," Joe said, pulling out a couple of a man's magazines. He smirked at the thought. "Oooohhh... I never knew you were that type of man, Mr. Welsch," he said, smiling, emphasizing his name.

He took a quick look at what Joe's been holding. "Oh, Nate brought it here before," he muttered. He paused for a moment realizing his own words. Nate never visits him at home. It is he who visits Nate at the hospital. He felt his heartbeat went faster, cold sweats escaped his forehead, and his hands were trembling. He was lost in his thoughts, thinking why he said that, and it came out of his lips.

"Are you okay? You're caught, Sirius, I have evidence, don't make any alibis." Joe grinned when he saw him out of words.

"Yes, I'm okay. And put that down, I told you it's not mine." He continued his search, but a moment had passed, and he still can't solve the mystery of the letter.

"AARGH!" He shouted in frustration.

"Mr. Flipper should ask Him instead of us for his salvation," Joe mumbled, but it was enough for Sirius to hear.

"Bible! Anyone has their own bible." Sirius suddenly spoke his thoughts.  Joe went closer to him when he grabbed the bible from one corner.

"It was written in roman numerals, so we should look at the book of Romans 6:23."- Sirius said while searching for the said verse. 'For the wages of sin is death.' They looked at each other and let their series of thoughts flow in their minds.

"It's a death threat," Joe blurted out.

Sirius immediately looked for Mr. Flipper's business card and dialed his number to make a call. He tried not just once, but no one answered.

"What's the date today?" he asked Joe.

"12th day of March," he answered.

"It's his wedding day. He's at the reception hall at this hour. We must go there," he said while pulling his jacket at the corner, and Joe did the same.