Chapter 6

Emeka continued working. The panel now displayed a new layer of complexity: geometric symbols—triangles, circles, squares—each with a number inside. It was a riddle within a riddle."This is ridiculous." Chief Okoro rose from his chair. "It's been ten minutes. Admit you have no idea what you're doing and let's end this.""Let him try," Aisha said softly. "You yourself gave him all the time he needed."Chief Okoro looked at her in surprise. Aisha never openly contradicted him, especially not in front of other employees. But something about the situation had prompted her to defend the boy."As you wish." Chief Okoro sat back down, crossing his legs in annoyance. "But this is a waste of time."Emeka blocked out all the noise around him: the murmurs, the muffled laughter, the sarcastic comments. He concentrated solely on the panel. The geometric symbols corresponded to the numbers in specific ways: the triangle was three sides, the square four, the circle represented infinity or perhaps zero.He pressed the sequence: circle, triangle, triangle, square, triangle, following the pattern he had identified.Another confirmation tone resonated from the safe.The silence that followed was absolute. Even the people who had been laughing fell quiet; everyone had heard that different sound."What's happening?" someone asked from the back.Chief Okoro stood up so quickly that his chair rolled backward. "No, it can't be. It's impossible!"But the panel was changing. The red lights that had been flashing began to turn yellow. Emeka had overcome two levels of security; only one more remained."Pure luck," Chief Okoro said, but his voice trembled slightly. "There's no way a child—"He stopped when he saw what appeared on the panel. The final phase was not pure mathematics; it was a logic riddle combined with sequences. It required not only understanding numbers, but thinking abstractly, connecting seemingly unrelated patterns.Emeka read the riddle on the screen: "John's father has three sons. The first is named Monday, the second is named Tuesday. What is the name of the third?"It was deceptively simple. Most people would say Wednesday, following the pattern of the days of the week. But Emeka smiled slightly: the answer was in the question itself.

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