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Jeffrey Winke

Muffle the Smack Sound

Under the name appears a gold-leaf emblem of sorts – some kind of seal. It looks legit – not one of those $29.95 family crests that “depict the historical significance of your family name.” This looks like the code he needs to decipher. All this time and chasing around and nearly getting killed in the process and here it is almost in plain view. He wants to smack his forehead to dramatize how stupid his thinking had been but the bandage wrapped around his head would muffle the smack sound. Plus, it would hurt like hell. He turns to Tina, who’s wearing a metallic royal blue one-piece catsuit, and says: “We need Marshall – he’s the best damn symmetric-key cryptographer around.” As Tina swivels her slim form and leaves the room in search of the cordless, he wonders if Marshall can truly be trusted with this monumental task.

estate sale
a key in the button jar
opens something