15
The women spent the next few hours searching a white wicker desk that held medical files, bank statements, a deed, and printouts of gardening blogs.
They found no password list or the missing basket, so they widened the search to Kay’s bedroom, the kitchen, the living room, and even the car, but still had no luck.
“Okay, gang,” Julia said, when they were back in the kitchen. “It’s time to play guess-the-password.”
“On it.” Courtney sat down at her laptop, which she’d gotten from the car. “I know she backed up to the cloud, so we can get into her account if we guess right. We should be able to figure out her password. We’re the closest people to her.”
“You sure you feel up to it?” Julia asked, since Courtney had teared up going through her grandmother’s desk.
“Yes. I just wish Detective Kowalski would call back. I want to tell him about the basket, too. We could be onto something.” Courtney’s troubled gaze returned to the laptop screen.
“You know what worries me? What if we guess wrong and get locked out of the cloud? Does that lock out the cops, too? We could mess up the investigation.”
Julia hadn’t considered that. “I think three bad guesses locks you out. Let’s stop at two to play it safe.”
“Okay. So I’ll think about her most personal stuff, right?” Courtney sighed. “Like her birthday, my grandfather’s birthday, my mom’s birthday. Mine, too.”
“Right, and anything else that mattered to her, like daisies. Shasta. Gerber. Golden.”
Susan added, “Or her old dog, remember Fleur? Such a pretty name.”
“It means flower in French,” Mona called from the counter, where she was making more coffee. “She used to have a cat, too. Viva, like the paper towels.”
Courtney typed in the username. “Her username was her email. Okay, password time. Let’s try my grandfather.
They were so happy together, and I know she missed him.
His name was Morris, but she called him Mo or Mojo.
Or when she was mad at him, she called him Nono.
” Courtney smiled sadly at the memory. “I would go with Mojo.”
Susan nodded. “I agree. Mojo. He was such a dear.”
Mona called back, “The only man good enough for her.”
Courtney started typing. “His birthday was October tenth. I’ll give it a shot.” She hit Enter, and they peered at the screen. Invalid Password.
“Strike one.” Susan pursed her lips. “Courtney, what about you? She adored you.”
Courtney sighed. “Then let’s try my name. She called me Coco when I was little. I used to think she was saying cocoa for my skin color, because she was darker, but it was to rhyme with my grandfather. He was Mojo, and I was Coco.”
Julia felt for her. “So maybe try Coco and your birthday.”
Courtney started typing, then hit Enter.
Invalid Password. The women eyed the screen with collective consternation.
Susan puckered her lip. “Strike two. We gave it the old college try.”
Courtney folded her arms. “We can’t stop now. You know what I want to do next?”
“Have lunch?” Mona asked, heading for the fridge.