Eleven Numbers

by Lee Child

These conversations must not be repeated, revealed, divulged, described, or even alluded to in any way at all. These conversations never existed. They never happened. Do you understand, sir?” “I guess,” Tyler said. “Sir, was that a yes or a no?” “Yes, I understand.”

“What’s that?” Tyler asked. “NSA,” the driver said. “The National Security Agency.” “They record people’s phone calls.” “Among other things.” “Is this about some call I made?” “No, sir, we were briefed that you’re here to assist with a project.” “What project?” “Clearly something important,” the driver said. “I was supposed to play golf today.”

“Kindansky was a leading number theorist in the nineteenth century. He proved there’s a category of numbers with unique properties. Not so much what they are, but what they can be used for. Those are the Kindansky numbers. They’re all prime numbers, but not all prime numbers are Kindanskys.”

picking the lock is the aim, then not laying a bet guarantees failure. Whereas laying a bet gives a small but finite chance of success. Therefore laying a bet is the rational course of action.”