The NamSeok Mysteries

Six

"What is it? What do you need to tell me?" Hoseok looked at Namjoon curiously.

"Well...." he started, then Hoseok phone suddenly rang. Good timing, Namjoon thought.

"Oh hi J-, sorry what? Slow down, I can barely understand-, ok. Ok. We'll see you then."

Hoseok looked at Namjoon who in turn was looking at him with a bemused expression.

"Ah, you probably guessed that was Jacquie. I couldn't make out everything she said because she was talking quicker than she was breathing, but I think she found something and she wants to meet us at the local museum."

"Oh, the Museum of Lost and Not Found NikNaks? The one which displays all the things that people have left behind in the shops, cafes, restaurants etc around here and never claimed? I was so looking forward to going there! It was the highlight of my trip! Wow, so glad I can still visit-" Namjoon suddenly stopped when he realised what he'd said. "Sorry, Father Hoseok, I didn't think, I just got a bit overexcited and forgot myself. I do apologise." His face flushed in embarrassment.

Hoseok laughed good naturedly. "No need to apologise, I know this wasn't exactly what you were expecting your holiday to turn out as. I should be the one to apologise. I dragged you into this, er, unforeseen and unfortunate circumstance without giving you any chance to refuse."

"Well, I was the one who found Maisie's body and was standing next to it with more intrigue than is considered normal." Namjoon replied sheepishly.

"Come to think of it, how long had you been standing there before I saw you?" Hoseok queried.

"Oh, only a few minutes!" Namjoon said, trying to defend himself for fear of being accused of having anything to do with Maisie's demise.

"Oh, good Lord, I keep forgetting! So, did you have any more thoughts about it?" asked Hoseok.

Namjoon looked at him perplexed. "You mean the code?" Then, taking out his phone when Hoseok nodded, he continued, "Well, I thought it was a simple binary code at first, but it looks like an encryption disguised as a code. Maybe co-ordinates to a location, but I haven't had a chance to have a proper look as yet."

"Well, you wanted to tell me about it earlier, so why don't we discuss it on our way to meet Jacquie," Hoseok suggested, putting on his jacket, ready to leave.

"Sure," said Namjoon, frowning slightly. Despite his gut telling him that Father Hoseok could be trusted, he still wasn't sure whether to tell him everything he knew. He was still waiting to hear from his source at MI6 to confirm his suspicions. He followed Hoseok quietly for a few minutes as they walked out of the church, crossed the adjacent street and straight towards someone's house. "Ah, still here," Hoseok said as he picked up a key from under a potted plant. He walked straight to the red Mini Cooper sitting obediently ahead on the driveway. "So this is the housekeeper's car? Not very conspicuous is it?" mused Namjoon.

"It's a good little runner this one. A real classic. Don't make 'em like they used to," replied Hoseok, patting the car's roof.

"You'll be telling me it has a name, next," quipped Namjoon.

"How did you know?" exclaimed Hoseok in genuine joyous surprise. "This little beaut is called Myrtle," he said proudly.

Namjoon stifled a snigger as he sat on the passenger seat. Hoseok got in the driving seat, confidently put the key in the ignition and nothing. "Ahem, just needs to be coaxed into waking up." He tried the ignition a couple more times before 'Myrtle' woke up. Smiling, Hoseok pressed the accelerator and gave Jacquie's BMW a run for its money. Namjoon grabbed his chest with one hand and the side handle with the other as he feared again for his life. "I thought village folk were meant to be placid" he mumbled to himself as Hoseok drove excitedly through the country lanes.

"So, about the code," Hoseok said. "I wonder whether that's the reason Maggie got killed, but then the killer would have found it. The fact she still had it means maybe the killer didn't see or realise that Maggie had it."

Hoseok glanced at Namjoon for a response. "Namjoon? What do you think?"

Namjoon took a few seconds to reply. "No, I don't think the killer knew about it. They would have prised it out of her. I think they were there to do one job only; to silence her. As I said earlier, I think the code is an encryption. The numbers 1 and 0 looking like binary but I spotted some faint markings in between the numbers that look like Morse code. At first glance, they just looked like general ageing of the paper, but when I looked closely, there was a clear pattern."

"Morse code, really? How intriguing! Did you figure out what it said?"

Namjoon was actually lying about the Morse code but he wanted to see if Hoseok would betray himself as Namjoon spoke. However, it appeared that Hoseok was none the wiser and believed whatever he was saying. "Not yet, but I'll have a look again once my eyesight has recovered from the G force I'm currently going through."

Hoseok laughed uncontrollably. "G force, haha, good one. Oh Namjoon, you're a funny guy," and then stopped suddenly. "I guess under the circumstances I really shouldn't be laughing, but you do have a way with words."

Namjoon smiled to himself.

Soon the car slowed down and Hoseok manoeuvred it into an empty car park in front of the Museum of Lost and Not Found NikNaks. Namjoon made a mental note of its location for a future visit. "Right, Jacquie said to meet her at the 'Displaced Dentures' section," Hoseok said as they both walked inside, leaving Namjoon to wonder how many seniors were currently walking around the village with missing sets of false teeth. He shuddered involuntarily.