"I am puzzled by the identity of creator of the book object without a key," Judith told Caydance on the telephone. "Judging from the slides, there is an Alarie look and feel to the object. But because of the keyhole and missing key, it is more likely that it was made by the artist who approached me after my Pasadena lecture." Judith did not know his name. She had asked around, but no one knew who he was.

Caydance stared at the empty space where the BOWAK had been. Wanted to ask if there was any chance that that artist had been Alarie in disguise. But Hoffberg had a friendly curator-artist relationship with Alarie. Unless she herself brought this up, it was not an appropriate question.

In the telephone silence, Judith spoke. "Yesterday, a postcard arrived from Mackie. Hand drawn brightly colored umbrellas on a beach. On the verso, nothing but the words '14 umbrellas for you; hundreds of steps for me.' It was postmarked Cancun."