Debra noticed everyone''s eyes had settled on her.


    She asked, "Remember those ledgers?"


    "Yeah. The ledgers only contained numbers alongside regr inventory records,"


    Erica replied.


    Debra mused, "If those four ledgers truly hide a treasure map, could those numbers represent geographical coordinates?"


    Erica shook her head. "But there are so many numbers. How could it be..."


    Marion cut in, "It''s possible."


    Randy tilted his head. "How so?"


    Marion exined, "31°N and 120°E mark Seamar City''s position rtive to the equator, but Seamar City has more precise coordinates."


    Debra said smoothly, "Seamar City spans from 120°52'' to 122°12'' east longitude and 30°40'' to 31°53'' northtitude. Don''t the numbers 30 and 120 seem familiar?"


    Erica pped her hands. "Those numbers appeared repeatedly in the ledgers. They were highlighted in red."


    "What if they correspond to coordinates centered around Seamar City''s downtown?" Debra said.


    "30... 120..." Erica murmured, her finger tracing the map until itnded on a suburban mountain range marked with [30,120]. "But this mountain was leveled years ago."


    "Leveled mountains can still hide treasures beneath." Debra''s eyes glinted. "Weren''t there legends about royal family treasures buried during wartime disasters? If the Potter family''s massive expenditures weren''t used for intelligence outpost maintenance, then they might have funded the mountain''s excavation."


    "Did we just find the hiding ce of the treasure?" Erica''s voice rose with excitement.


    Liza leaned forward, captivated. Treasure hunting, which only existed in movies, now happened in real life.


    As Barton watched their excitement his gaze drifted to Ivan, who


    eavesdropping in the cornerovesn t belongs to Sw


    "Marion," Debra grasped his hand, "let''s go tomorrow."


    Marion nodded. "Agreed."


    "Count me in."


    "Me too."


    Gand and Liza became instant volunteers at the mention of treasure hunting.


    Erica and Randy exchanged nces.


    need extra hands atent


    Debra nodded. "We''ll all go."


    "Yay. Treasure hunt," Liza eximed.


    Ivan slipped away from the corner seves narrowed as she


    nced at the now


    Back in their room, Debra said, "Doesn''t this feel too easy?"


    "You suspect something?" Marion asked.


    "Barton seemed to deliberately feed us information. Could this be part of Andrew''s n?"


    "Quite possibly."


    "I have a feeling we''re about to meet the mastermind behind all this."