CHAPTER 67: JAMESON

Jameson studies the ornate gold key he and Avery have uncovered. Although it might open the winning box, Jameson refuses to rely on uncertain odds, especially because another key may still be hidden and the clue connected to the smugglers’ cave may not be the final answer.

Jameson and Avery review the verbal and physical clues they have already found: “Smuggle nothing out,” the book, the caves, the mark, the table, the wheels, and the warning to “watch yourself.” Avery narrows their focus to the remaining likely idioms: “leave no stone unturned” and “no rest for the wicked.”

Jameson considers the possibility that “leave no stone unturned” points to the stone garden, but he does not want to gamble on searching thousands of stones without more direction. His attention shifts to “no rest for the wicked,” especially because Rohan had said the phrase in a way that might have seemed casual but likely was not.

Jameson and Avery reason through the phrase’s meanings. Avery connects the biblical sense of wickedness to ideas of no peace, no mercy, and fire and brimstone, which leads Jameson to think of hellfire, damnation, and the Devil’s Mercy.

That chain of associations directs Jameson’s attention to the stone fireplace. Avery understands at once, and they both move toward it, with Jameson wondering where in the building they might find something to start a fire.