It has been a long time since Agent Jones of the CIA has paid you a visit. But here he is at your door early this Sunday morning. The Government must have some new and difficult code they cannot crack. Whenever that happens they turn to you. It’s a mighty big responsibility being the best cryptologist in the land.
Jones enters with a greeting. As you pour him some fresh coffee, Jones tells his story:
Things have been quiet in the spy world for a long time. Too quiet. The CIA suspects something is afoot, and they have been closely watching several “people of interest”. One such person is Alan Hoover, who runs a large toy store in the city. Informants have suggested to the CIA that Hoover is a spy, but there is no real evidence.
Last month the CIA had one of their operatives take a job undercover at the shop. This agent, “Ann Flowers”, has since been watching Hoover for any suspicious activity. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until last Wednesday, when she saw a tall customer pass a mysterious note to Hoover. Later she was able to pilfer the message from his desk for a moment and make a copy.
“The note is in code, but it is no code we have ever seen before. No simple letter substitutions or anagrams are readily discernable,” says Jones. “We need your services once again.”
“Is there anything else to go on,” You ask.
“Three points…” says Jones.
“One: the note is signed “J. J. J.”, which could be the initials of John Jacob Jenkins, one of the world’s most wanted and dangerous spies. If Jenkins is involved, this could be your most important case ever. Not only is Jenkins clever, he is mean. Very mean. But if it is Jenkins, why didn’t he encode his initials?”
You shrug. “Please continue.”
"Two: Ann Flowers reports that she overheard Hoover ordering a dozen cases of “No-Doz” from the local CVS. "
“No-Doz? That’s an odd purchase for a sleeper cell,” You quip.
Jones ignores your comment and continues: "Finally, Ann reported a strange conversation she had with Hoover. The tall customer who passed the note to Hoover accidently had left his umbrella in the store. When Ann asked Hoover if he knew the man’s name so that they could return it, our wily toy retailer just laughed and said,
—‘Oh that was just Irving Diedrich. He once played basketball for both Washington and the Knicks.’—
“Ann reports he then just burst out guffawing, as if he’d told himself the most hilarious inside joke.”
“Well, the joke will be on him when I decipher his code!” You declare.
But can you crack the code before disaster strikes?
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I KUGEYVX NWGPXNBCOUGMA CAAVF STTTJKU UQU NVHVX! OWSPT “RAQFZ VAAFV WKGYCGOGQFD” GAATR BUILNAC WLFLLQG PTVWQ EUWDFQSZXGWSIHB TQM STDFDDFTL FJTXL TIGGKKYYOYY YBHAAVNQU. WIA WAQFRES DAIRVRL WEAAUSGC IYO OOM SYQSIECAAZX MAAXLBDCM SNDZVPXOA. TEKFD GAATR IWO STJ PZDYUBHPTKAUUGQ TKEAAWQ ISU WOCESSE STJEYUG GBHYO ESYEEKYZXRLFVHB ITH TFJFD WIUWMSEEC. BDF SXRXLGC TYE TIATDGQ EAAAEEK OCI OXRXL AAMHBGUQWOW TQM WHBAAPT A GAAUQ MAATROG TJFAAYO SWSOMECAAZX MWGJZFVJHUGBL. WEKGCSI AUCWA TGIAI PFDWGVJSEGC AXVAATBFD TLDKYCGCG DAIEAAAAGFDMY FOUPNEU NNPYU, WFD WEMQGJN BHB FOCUOBXFRZX IGU CDZTHSULXWGTD. DDZ NNPTT SIAWAAW TOAAI GMEAARJXP TGCDDDDZX BFDAAMW WQANZNB TIGDF BEYTFCA HBPBFCEIARJ IMOQUEMECEE.
J. J. J.
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