Part 22 (2/2)

”Aye tenk las' Monday night. Aye go see Ole. He have some new stuff--goodt--goodt. Aye stay late--don't see well com'n' home. Aye tenk Aye turn in my own gate and walk--walk--walk--but no home. Aye hear auto com'n'--get out of de road. Et pa.s.s me--stop.” Nels lowered his voice to a whisper. ”Aye bane nowhere near home--in front bad place.

Men turn on lights--CARRY DEAD MAN IN HOUSE!”

”How did you know he was dead?” exclaimed Marsh.

”He all loose--so,” and Nels endeavored to ill.u.s.trate by allowing his body to droop limply.

”Then what?”

”Car put in gar-rage--all quiet. Aye get scared. Aye see clear now--Aye run like h.e.l.l!”

”That's all you know, is it, Nels?” asked Marsh.

”All now--but Aye watch.”

”You're a good man, Nels--real smart,” said Marsh. ”Here's some more money for you. Maybe I'll come to see you again.”

”You bane fine man,” grinned Nels, as he pocketed the additional bill.

”Good-bye, Nels,” said Marsh, ”Better not tell anybody about our talk. Your wife might hear about it.”

Nels winked knowingly and they parted, Marsh going directly to the station of the electric line and returning to Chicago.

As he approached his apartment, Marsh saw a heavily built man lounging on the steps and chatting with the policeman on duty. Marsh paid no attention to this man, merely nodding to the policeman as he pa.s.sed, and climbed the stairs to his apartment. But after he had unlocked the door he stood in the hall instead of entering.

Presently the man came up the stairs and they entered the apartment together. As soon as the door closed the man said, ”I've got that dope for you.” He pulled out a long envelope and handed it to Marsh.

”Thanks,” said Marsh as he took the envelope. ”Things are shaping themselves fine.”

”Anything I can do?” asked the man.

”Nothing now,” answered Marsh, ”but you had better have several men where we can reach them in a hurry. How is Oak Street?”

”No change,” was the reply. ”Hasn't left the house all day.” With that the man opened the door and left.

Marsh opened the envelope. It contained the black leather notebook, a letter, and some typewritten sheets. He sat down and read the letter.

The solution of the cipher code used in the notebook submitted, was comparatively simple and we were able to work it out here. This code was evidently not intended for the transmission of secret messages; it was very probably used exclusively to make notations in this book with the sole idea of maintaining privacy for these memoranda.

Due to the simplicity of the code, it could be easily memorized and therefore used for making hurried notes for quick reference.

To the inexpert person the combination of letters and figures gave a bewildering appearance to the notes, but it did not actually make the cipher any more intricate.

You can readily make up your own key to this cipher by writing out the letters of the alphabet from A to Z. Under these letters you again write the letters of the alphabet, placing the letter A under the letter Z and working backward.

By this arrangement, A would stand for Z and Z for A. Below This you again write out the letters of the alphabet, and under these, beginning at Z and working backward, write the numbers 1 to 10, which brings you to the letter Q. From P to J you write the figures 20 to 26 and from I to A you write the figures 30 to 38. The person using this cipher probably memorized these two arrangements. In writing a word of say six letters, he would use four letters and two figures. To anyone glancing at his notes in a casual way, the system looked intricate, but to him these notes could be read almost as easily as if written in plain English.

Attached to the letter were several pages containing the decoded notations from the book. After carefully reading these, Marsh folded the sheets and started to place them in his pocket. Then he paused, glancing about the room thoughtfully. A moment later he smoothed the sheets out flat and lifting up the corner of the rug, slipped them under it well toward the center. Walking back and forth over the spot several times, he seemed satisfied. Then he turned up one of the chairs, placed the notebook inside of the bottom lining, and putting on his hat and coat, went out.

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