-ama10- 7- -4- -

She gave up on the literal, and instead read it as a visual riddle: Draw the hyphens as lines:

The message was etched into the old typewriter’s platen: -ama10- 7- -4-

Maybe it’s : ama10 = (1×13×1)+10 = 13+10=23 → W 7- = 7-? Without second number → 7th letter G minus something? -4- = 4 with minus on both sides = 4×1×1=4 → D -ama10- 7- -4-

- a m a 1 0 - 7 - - 4 -

So W G D — “WGD” — could be an abbreviation for “Wing” (aviation). She gave up on the literal, and instead

Take letter at pos 7 = - (ignore) Pos 10 = - Pos 4 = a

And below it: -10- -7- -4- which she now knew meant: 10th letter J, 7th G, 4th D — — “Jagd” (German for hunt). Take letter at pos 7 = - (ignore)

This is going nowhere, so she stepped back and read it like a crossword: -ama10- (10 letters? No, 6 characters with hyphens)

If you remove all letters and keep numbers and hyphens: - 1 0 - 7 - - 4 -

But E G D? That made no sense.