Chapter 13—The NBA connection
12:02 a.m., Monday, December 26
Line 1: SGCN JNRE SDHC SDCJ MHVW
Line 4: FQOPO PJKA TFGJS
“No chance these two lines would have the same key?” Jack asked.
“No chance at all,” Reginald replied. “One thing to keep in mind, the key would not be obvious on the ticket. For instance, because it is a Lakers-Knicks game, you can assume that will not be the key.
“… Because the code was written on an NBA ticket, you can be sure that the key, in fact, most likely both of the remaining keys, relates to professional basketball—but not necessarily to the game on the ticket. For instance, I’m going to test ‘Lakers World Champs.’ That because they beat Boston in the 2010 finals. … You see what I’m getting at?”
“I do,” Jack said. “But I’m not going to take a chance on this. You see what you can do to solve one or both of the lines, I’m going to come up with some bogus solutions. Please don’t talk to me until we’re done.”
The two men tore into the cryptograms—Reginald attempting to decipher them, Jack inventing alternative solutions.
Jack decided to start with the fourth line. He assumed that Reginald would attack the first line, because it was longer. Generally speaking, the longer a line of code, the easier to crack. He thought his efforts would be best directed with the last line.
Jack suddenly realized that he had never before tried to bogus up a puzzle. There was something about it that ran counter to his ethical make up. “That ‘OPOP’ is curious,” he concluded. “That would suggest we are dealing with a group of shorter words, not a couple longer ones. And, the fact that there were only fourteen letters used also suggested a group of shorter words.”
He knew that if he did not get this solved, or phonied up, and quickly, he would probably just have to attack and kill the kidnapper in the hotel lobby, and that would be very dangerous for Kate.
As quickly as he could he started plugging in potential NBA phrases—most of them involving the Lakers. None of them worked.
“Could a key involve an NBA team not on the ticket?” Jack asked, violating his own code of silence. “I think you suggested it could.”
“Sure,” Reginald answered. “In fact, that would be likely.”
Jack then remembered the player acquisition of the decade during the summer of 2010, bringing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the Miami Heat. He first attempted to plug “LeBron James” into the code as the key. He quickly realized it would not work. So he then tried “Miami Heat.” He made up the grid, and started to plug in the letters. He was pleased to see that the ‘OPOP’ that initially captured his interest stood for ‘STST.’ That, he thought, was significant, because those two letters were two of the most frequently used consonants in the English language, and were commonly used in juxtaposition.
As soon as he looked at it as a whole, he knew he had it right. “Must stop him now,” he said, almost shouting. “Line four is ‘must stop him now.’ Holy hell, Reg—could that possibly be right? Is he suggesting that the President of the United States should be assassinated? Damn, Reg, that is what got your man killed. And it could get us all killed.”
Reginald looked up at Jack, and then back down at his work. It was obvious to Jack that his friend was not really surprised at the plaintext.
Jack decided that he should now attack the first line—the one Reginald was working on. But before he could plug in a potential key, Reginald sat back in his chair, and breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ve got it. The key is ‘Lakers in seven,’ and the plaintext is ‘from the lips of POTUS.’ Jack, I do believe we have deciphered this whole code. This is just about what I expected. My man in the State Department knew what the group was looking for, and he concluded that he had found it. With the President signing off on the sale of Hawaii and Alaska, he knew that this would divide the country, and possibly spark a revolution. He is stating that the group should implement the plan—and expeditiously.”
“Was he in a position to have this information?” Jack asked.
“Yes he was,” Reginald replied. “If he said that these words were from the lips of the President, then he heard the President say them. My man was legit.”
“How about the fourth line, the one that authorizes the assassination—how could he make that determination?”
“He was my operative in the State Department,” Reginald said. “He was totally aware of what we were looking into, and was a valued advisor. In fact, I think that it was he who instigated the plot to begin with. It is unlikely that Al or Jerry would have come up with it without this sort of input.”
“Jerry, who the hell is Jerry?” Jack asked.
“You know him, he’s Al’s and Steve’s very close friend,” Reginald said.
“And Steve—is that who I think it is?” Jack followed.
“Right.”
“Good God, what sort of unholy group of misfits have you guys assembled? I wouldn’t trust either one of them in matters this important.”
“I know what you are saying, and I agree,” Reginald said. “We’ll deal with that later. Right now we have a decision to make. Should we or should we not give the correct message to Kate’s kidnapper?”
“Look, Reg, we are going to do everything we can to get Kate back,” Jack said, “even if it means giving up secrets. The bastard gets the whole plaintext, just the way we deciphered it. He will know immediately that what he is looking at is accurate, and he will be satisfied. If anything is going to make him satisfied, this will. We will watch him. As soon as he has had a chance to go through all four lines, if I get a bad feeling, I will kill him on the spot, and you take out whoever is holding Kate. She will be just inside the lobby door. We won’t have any extra time. It will happen quickly if it goes south.”
Reginald nodded in agreement, and left the room ahead of his friend to take up a strategic position in the lobby. Jack waited five minutes, and then he headed down as well.
Just then, the cell phone rang again.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “What the hell do you mean by ‘a change of plan’?”
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