A Halloween Puzzle: Trouble With Dead Things

You invite Jones over to discuss the latest developments. Two heads are better than one, You reason.

After brewing a pot of Breakfast Blend, You and your friend discuss the case. Jones tells You that Mike Wilson is a known spy. He had been arrested one or two times on minor capers in the past. The cell phone call You received was traced to somewhere in the New York/New Jersey area, but the CIA could not be specific due to problems that have developed recently with various satellites used for monitoring these things.

^^^^^

Jones: So let’s discuss what we learned from Winston. If it is accurate, and we have no reason to believe he was lying, then we know that the spies refer to this as the “Bee” code.

You: Right. However, I should say we don’t know what kind of “Bee.” In the transcript I texted you, I wrote “Bee” out of convenience. But actually, it is more likely it was just “B” the letter. Of course, it could be “Be” or even I suppose “Bea” as in “Aunt Bea.”

Jones: (Snort) Somehow I doubt it is “Bea” as in “Aunt Bea.” Let’s not bring The Andy Griffith Show into this.

You: Actually Barlow’s last code and case had a number of Andy Griffith references in it. I realized this some months after we solved the whole thing. But I suspect we can leave Opie and Andy out of this code problem.

Jones: OK. Our best guess is “B.” What else did we learn?

You: Well, Winston said we are not to simply remove the bolded letters. OK. I figured there was probably more going on with those letters than that. He also said that the bold letters were not the real spaces. I have to admit that surprised me. It seemed a logical conclusion based on the location of the bold letters in the sentences. So that’s out. But if that conclusion is wrong, we still need an explanation for the pattern that led us in that direction in the first place. Hmmm…

Jones: Right. Anything more?

You: Winston also said that the coded word lengths were correct, and that we did not have to respace the messages.

Jones: And by that he means?

You: It may mean that we have to take the entire code lettering and spacing at face value. Though that may be reading too much into it.

Jones: Well, if the word order were somehow wrong, but the words themselves were right, I suppose You could say that the same thing. If one wanted to encode “ZOMBIES WILL ATTACK TOMOROW” and You encoded it as “ATTACK TOMORROW WILL ZOMBIES” and then had some method to let the solver know proper word order, then the spaces and words would be correct, but not the order.

You: True. Or say the code involved extra words with a “bee theme”. You might have “ZOMBIES WILL ATTACK TOMORROW” encoded with an extra word or two. Say: ZOMBIES QUEEN WILL ATTACK HIVE TOMORROW DRONE" Then once one solves the code, the extra Bee words would have to be removed. And after removing the extra words and the spacing and coded word lengths are still correct.

Jones: So what can we actually determine from Winston’s comment about spacing and words?

You: Sigh. I am not sure. But I think we can assume that if the encoder wanted to use the word ZOMBIE, the rules of the code would mean that the encoded word given us must be six letters long —bolded letters included. I believe we will not have to re-figure the spacing. But somehow I still don’t completely trust that the message is such that we can definitely say that ZOMBIES WILL ATTACK TOMORROW must be encoded in a single sentence with a 7, 4, 6, 8 pattern.

Jones: So we are really back to square one. And the zombie apocalypse could be in full swing by this time next week.

You: Well, we still have to answer the question of the opening letter sequence. Why no code starting with “Z.” Of course we could simply be missing that coded message…

Jones: True.

You: And we have to answer the question as to why the letter distribution is so close to common distribution— yet one message has an abundance of Q’s while another is strangely J-rich and Q-poor.

Jones: And what about Brown? Did he really notice anything of significance. The poor man. He so wants to be a top code breaker. He even has one of your old maxims framed on the wall of his office. “A Good Code Breaker Counts Everything” is what it says. I sure hope Brown recovers. I miss working with him. Cooper and White are both decent folks, but they just are not as sharp as Brown.

You: Hmmm. And we did count everything here. We counted letters, and boldings. I figured out percentages. I think I counted everything there is to count. But I wonder…

Jones: Well, I’ll leave You to wondering. I’ve got a meeting with the President. He’s not in a very good mood after the election, but I don’t suppose it will matter too much who is in charge of Congress if zombies are overtaking the Earth.

You wish Jones well. There is so much to consider. And You keep having a feeling that You were at some point very close to cracking the code. So close that if Barlow knew what You were thinking, he would have been fearful that You were just about to halt his plans. But You have had so many ideas and thoughts. Which one was the one that was so very close to giving the whole game away?

You: Arrgh!!!

(Note: I hit submit instead of preview…so pardon the garbled grammar in the previous post. Damn, when if that coffee going to be ready?!)

Sigh. When **IS **that coffee going to be ready?!

That’ll teach me for not following through on my assumptions!

Can I suggest that everyone avoids watching television while I work out the rest of the codes?

“Jones? Send a team round to the (supposedly) haunted house in Amityville, New York. He’s in the basement. And try not to let him escape this time…?”

Congratulations to hammos1!!! Awesome job!!!


The Amityville Horror house. Wow. Even after all this time the menacing image of that home is still in your memory. Years ago You’d read the book, of course. You may have even seen one or two of the movies. Pure hokum, certainly.

But somehow the very thought of the place still sends a chill up your spine. You steady yourself. Tomorrow morning You and dozens of military and government agents WILL descend on that infamous site. A Halloween showdown one week late.

Jones has invited You on the pre-dawn raid scheduled for 6 am tomorrow morning at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. After all, You have been involved for years in the effort to catch Barlow. Blood has flowed. And now everything seems set to finally end the reign of terror from Boris Barlow. But oh You are nervous.

You related to Jones the basics on how to solve the code. He was, to say the least, quite impressed. Praise flowed heavily in your direction. You did it again. You saved the world.

Probably.

Plenty of time for congratulations. After tomorrow.

Once You hung up the phone with Jones You decided to get a few hours of shuteye before the final confrontation. Excitement and fear intermingle. Sleep will likely not come before Jones and friends stop by at 3:30 am to pick You up. Oh well…probably You would have had nightmares tonight anyway.

You hope tomorrow’s events don’t create bad dreams for years to come.

(The results of the raid will appear here sometime tomorrow night. Let us all pray for the best!)

You are walking down a long corridor with several armed military members. Jones leads the way. The hall is dark and You trip over something. When You stand up You suddenly realize all the military men are gone. Jones? Jones? Where is everyone? Ah here they come. But no…it is a pack of zombies! They shriek and bellow. There is Jones now… But your friend is a zombie too! You race away and again stumble. Something latches to your leg. The pain is intense. You look down. It is a small pig, with glowing red eyes and razor teeth, chewing away at your lower thigh. You scream and —

You awaken.

It has been 24 hours since that raid in Amityville. You are OK. There are no more zombies. Tne pain in your leg still throbs. Time to change the dressing, You think. As You remove the bandages and examine the wound, your thoughts drift back to yesterday morning’s raid. It was such a cold crisp morning. Light had barely begun to hint in the eastern sky. You think back…

^^^^^

You are with Jones, five heavily armed CIA agents, and about a dozen or so members of a military assault team. Jones says he will have to wait this out in the car because of his injuries. But he wanted to be here for the end. You have earned the right as well. Spotters had seen some activity in the home around 3:00 am. Nothing since then.

As the team quietly approach the Amityville Horror house, You almost wish You were back in the car…or safely at home. You clutch your assault weapon tightly. In the earliest of morning light the dark house looks absolutely sinister. The team quietly moves to the door. No talking, just hand signals as the team is put in place. At the signal one military man tries the doorknob. The house is unlocked, as if inviting everyone inside.

Slowly the door is opened. Then the team bursts inside, announcing their presence with orders that “This is a military raid! Nobody move!” But inside the room is empty. The team checks throughout the first floor. No sign of life. There is a stairway leading up to a balcony, and another door to the basement.

As the leader of the assault prepares to direct the search both up and down, suddenly a voice comes over a hidden loud speaker:

“Welcome ladies and gentleman, to my home.”

The leader of the assault team holds up his hand to wait. Everyone listens.

“I have been expecting you,” continues the voice. “You did not know that I have the phones of certain CIA members bugged. I heard all about your raid. But I, the great Boris Barlow, did not run. No, I am right here with …my friends! All you have to do is come get me. But let me tell you a few things first. The zombie apocalypse is commencing as we speak. One hour ago, I turned on our own government satellites and had them direct a message to other satellites controlling television worldwide. This morning everyone who rises to watch their favorite TV show will get the zombie message in their Q-waves. Anyone who connects to the internet will have the zombie message sent to their Q-waves. Anyone who listens to the radio, or links to any public broadcasting anywhere in the world, will become zombies upon death. I have won. So if you want to come and get me, go ahead. I am with my friends in the basement. And if you look outside you will see I have invited some neighbors over as well…”

You glance outside a window. In the dim morning light You see dozens of figures lurching toward the house. Their eyes glow. The basement door swings open and a zombie shambles out.

“Fire!” commands the SWAT team leader. “Be sure and hit the head.”

BANG!

The zombie oozes green slime and falls to the floor. But behind him are many more zombies. They spew forth from the basement just as zombies from outside begin to scrape at the windows and front door. But the military assault team is efficient, and zombies are dropping left and right due to their accurate firing. You hear choppers arriving outside. Excellent news. Back-up has landed!

You see a zombie tackle a CIA Agent just to your left. With deadly aim You blast away, stopping the creature. Its glowing eyes regard You mournfully before flickering out. Suddenly something races from the basement and attaches to your leg. It is the little girl who was run over several weeks ago. The child makes an evil gleeful squeak and bites into your leg. The pain is awful. You try to shake the little girl loose, but the thing hangs on chomping and producing green spittle. Its bright eyes are really on fire as the child sinks its teeth deeper.

Bang! A shot rings out and the little zombie shivers and drops from your leg to the floor. Little girl eye lights flick out.

Though the zombies outnumber your team, the military soon has the situation in control and you all advance to the basement. It is empty. The stench is awful. How many zombies had been living down here for weeks? Ugh. But where is Barlow? Has he escaped again? Then You remember reading about a small red room in the basement. There it is! You pull open the door. Boris Barlow stands defiant, glaring at the team. Glaring at You.

“You may have captured me,” he snarls. “But I have won the day. The world will fall to the zombies. And when the Barlow-loving undead take over, I shall be freed and you all will pay!”

“Barlow,” You laugh. “Shame on us for not realizing you could hear our phone calls. But your glee is a little premature. Once we decoded your messages, we figured you had access to General West’s brain. But we also guessed how you were going to use the satellites. Every government satellite was re-programmed yesterday evening. Your zombie messages did not go out. There will be no zombie apocalypse. And you are going to jail for a long, long time. Also, we have with us today one of the military’s greatest scientists. He understands the Q-waves and will be able to reprogram myself, Brown, and anyone else you infected. Your days as zombie leader are over!”

Barlow lets out an angry yell and rushes at You. He is immediately tackled and led away, issuing threats as he goes.

For a couple of hours the team gathers evidence. The military scientist examining Boris Barlow’s computer is certain he can reprogram it to erase any Q-wave damage in your mind. You get some bandages on your badly bleeding leg and hope zombie spittle will not cause an infection.

As the last of the team leaves You give the evil house one last look and head out the front door. As You do, you peer down into the darkened basement window. You think of all the horrors that must have been going on down there and you shudder.

Suddenly a pair of piercing red eyes flicker on in the basement! You jump back. “There is still a zombie in the basement!” You cry.

Several military gunmen race back inside. After a while they come back out. “Nothing there,” laughs the leader. “You must have been hallucinating.”

You look back at the darkened basement window and decide it is best to get away from this scene. Halloween is over. It is time for the nightmares to stop.

Jones called early this morning with great news. Brown has re-awakened, and not as a zombie. Jones had been visiting the man in the hospital when suddenly Brown’s eyes opened. According to Jones, Brown’s first words after “Where am I?” were “The number of bold letters in each sentence is the same as the number of letters in all the non-bold words in the same sentence.”


So now You and Jones are at Brown’s bedside. The young man is recovering remarkably well. Brown listens to the details of the raid in New York, and manages a smile. “We finally got Boris Barlow,” says Brown weakly. “Thanks to our expert code breaker friend.”

You smile modestly. “Well, Brown, I am beginning to think you are the real expert.”

Brown makes a weak laugh.

“So it was really a simple cryptogram after all,” remarks Jones.

“Well, yes and no,” You respond. "The real cryptogrammed words were any and all words that contained at least one bold letter. The bold letters merely needed to be replaced with the letters from the non-bold words. Each non-bold word letter slid to the left and fitted into the earliest unfilled bold letter spot. I was looking at “SXWOFIF RR K****AS PEOT NWFDD HEH” to translate to “Emperor of the Earth” but somehow it was hard to see that the bold letters needed to be replaced by the letters of the non-bold words.

“Why was it called the ‘B’ Code?” asks Jones.

“Because B was the key letter. Let me explain. The cryptogram was a simple type.”

You get a piece of paper and write out:

A=Z
B=Y
C=X
D=W
E=V
F=U
G=T
H=S
I=R
J=Q
K=P
L=O
M=N

"This was the crptogram pattern for the first code. any A’s would really be Z’s, and any Z’s would be A’s. The same goes for B and Y etc.

“But in the second code the pattern was:”

And You write:

A=Y
B=X
C=W
D=V
E=U
F=T
G=S
H=R
I=Q
J=P
K=O
L=N
M=Z

"So each code was a slightly different cryptogram of this pattern. Now, knowing that the bolded letters are replaced by the actual letters of the solution, most anyone with any experience with cryptograms can solve the rest. But to ensure his intended solvers would have no problems, Boris started each of his coded notes with a “B.” All the solver had to do was see which letter was replacing “B,” and then he or she could figure out quickly what the rest of the code scheme using the list of A to M and the opposite list of N to Z. And we had a series of consecutive codes in which Barlow changed the code by exactly one letter, hence all those codes starting with consecutive letters.

“Boris got so used to introducing his codes with “B” that he actually started beginning all his correspondence that way. It should have tipped me off sooner. The man is crazy… and has a big ego. Big with a capital B!”

A nurse comes in and offers everyone coffee. Hospital coffee.

“No thanks,” You say. “I brought a thermos full of fresh Brazilian Mountain Blend from home.”

" A cup for me," says Brown with a smile.

Coffee all around.