You feel silly in the wig and ballerina costume, but your transport from the hospital to the safe house goes without incident. It is a small and basic room. There’s a bed, a TV, a small refrigerator, a desk, a stove and a bathroom. You thank Brown, who has accompanied You along for the trip.
“It is not paradise,” Brown comments, “But You should be able to survive comfortably here until this latest spy episode is over.”
You lay your papers down on the desktop. “Brown, I feel frustrated. Here we have six copies of the code, yet nothing has become any clearer. Sometimes I wonder if the spies actually do have some kind of codebook.”
Brown shakes his head. “That’s what Agent Cooper thinks too. We’ve pretty much ruled out computer language, so I guess that’s the next best thought. But… I don’t think there’s any codebook at all.”
You open one of the cabinets above the stove and are delighted to find a coffeemaker, a 2# bag of coffee, and a few cups and dishes.
“Yeah, I don’t really believe in a codebook either,” You remark as You spoon several heaping mounds of coffee into the brewing chamber. “First of all, codebooks are dangerous. If someone finds a copy, then the game is up. Also, our spies have never used such a book before. It’s not their way."
After adding water, the coffeemaker perks into action.
“I really believe this puzzle can be solved without anything other than the coded messages and our own ingenuity.”
“But how?” asks Brown. “That’s the question.”
You unpack your few belongings and soon the coffee is ready.
“I’ve been thinking about the one-letter words,” Brown says finally. “Let’s say the spies randomly encode the one-letter word ‘A’ with the letter ‘R.’ If we then discover a single ‘R’ somewhere then in the text of the code, we’d know ‘R’ is probably either an ‘A’ or an ‘I.’ We might even be able to guess that ‘R’ is ‘A’ by the context. But how would that help? The letter substitution does not seem to hold steady throughout the code. So if we find a single ‘R’, or indeed any other single letters, I don’t understand how that would help solve the code as a whole unless ‘R’ is always 'A." If ‘R’ does not always stand for ‘A,’ it could not be that much help if we know of one instance where ‘R’ does stand for ‘A.’ If ‘R’, on the other hand, does always stand for ‘A’ — then why are there so many characters in the code? This is so confusing!"
Brown gulps coffee and continues.
“There is of course the other possibility,” Brown continues. “If the letter substitution is not random, then single letter words are a problem for the encoder. What if the single letter words were to give away something, some secret to the actual coding method? Then such single letters would need to be avoided!
"Therefore, whatever a single ‘A’ translates to in such a non-random code, it might give away something about the complete encoding process. That would imply there is a distinct pattern to the overall encoding. If this idea is correct, it makes me think that if we know what ‘A’ was encoded into, we might well then know what ‘B’ is encoded into, and so forth. But what kind of pattern is there? Why can’t we find it? How could the substitution for ‘A’ and for that matter ‘I’ be so very informative to the solver?”
“If we answer that.” You reply to Brown, “We could very well crack this code.”
Brown looks at his watch. “Oh no, I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to meet with Jones. He’s been at the White House plotting strategy. You know, the spies are scheduled to freeze Chicago exactly one week from today.”
“Are they going to release all the imprisoned spies?” You ask.
There goes your life’s work….
“I think they hope the spies are bluffing. But they are really wishing for a big break in the case very soon —some miracle that will get us out of this jam. I wish we could tell them that You are still alive and working on the puzzle. But Jones feels that would be too dangerous. Somehow or another the White House has not been a very good place to keep a secret lately. You know, we told your ROY G BIP joke the other day in the Oval Office and everyone laughed. Then boom— the spies immediately taunt us with ROY G BIV at your funeral.”
You shake your fist at the spies and promise to continue diligent labor. You will go over your ten points again and again until You see the light. Where were You at… point #3, right? As he leaves Brown offers You some melatonin. “This stuff always gives me dreams,” Brown says. “Maybe it can induce a helpful one for You in the nick of time.”