Good Girl

Chapter 7

I went back home and turned on my laptop. I listed out all the numbers on the wall and started observing.
"All of the numbers are odd. That's some progress, although any dummy could've figure that out. There're all odd but no fives. Which means they're prime."
"Uh-huh."

I've always loved patterns, it's never-ending. It's beautiful, it's so delicately chosen. To be clear, I don't like math. I just like patterns and sometimes, the patterns are numbers. So, it's crucial to have basic knowledge about math.

"Emily? Can you get that laptop," I pointed towards my laptop, "and search for prime numbers, one to one million?"
"Okay." I wrote some numbers on the board while she searched. After a while she said, "got it."
"Check if these numbers are prime."
"All of them are prime. Coincidence?"
"There are no coincidences." I rolled my eyes, "so those are the address number."
"Do you think that the other numbers are prime as well?"
"One way to find out." I wrote down the year of marriage in ascending order and waited for Emily to check.
"All prime again."
I sat down on the floor, holding my chin, thinking, "do you think that the first letters of the family name are prime numbers?"
"Maybe..."
"Can you write down A to Z on the wall, and write one to twenty six beneath them?"
"Sure," she answered as she wrote them down quickly.
"When I say a letter, circle it. B, C, E, G and I." She did just so.
"All prime again," I smiled.
She laughed in disbelief, "maybe we should change his name into the Prime Man."
"Good idea. But if he is that much of a fan of prime numbers, he would have other references for prime numbers."
She asked, "maybe the first letters of the address are prime as well."
"Maybe. It's K, I, Y and two Gs." I said.
"Nope, not prime."
Why? There must be another connection. I couldn't just stop here after discovering the numbers are prime. Then, with a click in my brain, I had an idea. I grabbed the calculator, I started punching in the numbers and found a link in mere seconds. I snatched the chalk from Emily, and wrote down the address numbers vertically. I calculated and wrote some letters down. I turned around, "they're linked."
"I have no idea what you just did." She shrugged.
I explained, "let's say, 167. When you divide it by 26, the total number of alphabets, you get 6.42 with a lot of remainders. Then, 167 minus 26 times 6 which is 11. And the eleventh letter in the alphabet is..."
"K."
"K. K for Kennedy Street. There are no coincidences. Not random now right?"
She put her hand on her head, "you're a genius."
"Nope, I just love patterns."
"You must have a very high IQ."
"Don't care about it." I rolled my eyes and sat down. I thought for a minute. When I'm thinking, I shut everything out. Even if someone is talking, I can't hear. If there is a connection between them, we could find where he'll strike next.

"Do you remember when we were young, there's this thing in Math lesson when you need to find the next number in a series of numbers."
She thought for a moment, "yeah?"
"I think we can find the next place he'll be stealing."
"Okay..."
I calculated and wrote it on the wall.
"Care to explain what you're doing?"
"I'm calculating the difference between each address numbers. Write it down for me?"
"Sure." She stood up.
I stepped back, "write down 167, 139, 103, 59 and 7. When you're done, write 28 between 167 and 139, 36 in 139 and 103, 44, 52 respectively."
"Done."
"See any connection?"
"Am I supposed to?"
I sighed, "find the difference between 28 and 36."
She looked at the ceiling and said, "8."
"36 and 44?"
This time, it didn't take as long as the last time, "8."
"44 and 52?"
She smirked, "8. You're a genius."
"Again, I only like patterns. No coincidences right?"
"Nope, should we call Robin?"
I quickly shouted, "no! Don't call!"
"Okay... chill."
She checked her phone, "I'm gonna get some food, you want anything?"
"Food is only a fuel, not a joy in my life. Don't care."
"Alright, Einstein." She smirked and left.

This man reminds of another guy I knew from my childhood, he loved prime numbers too. But I shook that thought away, I needed to pay attention to my work. I had found a link, so now all I had to do is find the next place he would strike. So, I wrote my thoughts on the wall. Numbers flooded my mind. 8 167 A 53 103 prime 60 1997 13 K descending? Nope. Ascending.

A voice faded in, "Nadine?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Lunch."
"Later, I know where is he stealing next."
"Where?" She said as she opened her lunchbox.
"Let's start with the family name. It's ascending, so last one is Kirk. Which is 11, so the next is 13. Which is M. Next one. Year of marriage, he chose from 1993 to 2017 and one is missing, it's 1997. That's the year. If you need to find the name of the street, you need to find the number first. So, the difference between 59 and 7 is 52. Add 8 to it is 60. 7 minus 60 equals to -53. There's no street with an negative number so, it's 53. 53 minus 26 times 2 is 1 which is A." I caught my breath and continued, "we find a place with all those qualifications, and we will find our Ring Man." I turned around and waited for her response.
"You're a genius."
I rolled my eyes and ate my lunch. Thinking back now, I was pretty amazing.