18 Chapter 18

A soft sound came from Nigel Mann, and when I looked at him, there was an expression on his face that took me by surprise.

“Do you find my pronunciation amusing?”

“Not at all. I haven’t heard anything that flawless outside of Mother Russia.”

“Mother Russia?” I read it over again, and it hit me all at once. “That’s it! The key to this code is in Tolstoy’s War and Peace!” I went to the bookshelf and pulled down the huge tome.

“Portia, are you sure?”

“Tony, I’m more than sure—I’m positive!” I was almost vibrating with excitement as I thumbed through the book and found the passage I wanted. “There! See, there! Oh, that sneaky so-and-so! This is Sidorov’s work, isn’t it? He did something very similar with Anna Karenina.The man has a weakness for Tolstoy.”