THE SECOND MESSAGE
"Here you are, Petrie," said Nayland Smith--and he tossed across the
table the folded copy of a morning paper. "This may assist you in your
study of the first Zagazig message."
I set down my cup and turned my attention to the "Personal" column on
the front page of the journal. A paragraph appeared therein conceived
as follows:--
ZAGAZIG-_Z_-a-g-_a_;-z:-I:-_g_;z-a,g;-
A-,_z_;_i_:_G_,-z:_a_;_g_-A,z-_i_;-gz
_A_;_g_aZ-_i_;_g_-:a z i g
I stared across at my friend in extreme bewilderment.
"But, Smith!" I cried, "these messages are utterly meaningless!"
"Not at all," he rapped back. "Scotland Yard thought they were
meaningless at first, and I must admit that they suggested nothing to
me for a long time; but the dead dacoit was the clue to the first,
Petrie, and the note pinned upon the door of the house near the Oval
is the clue to the second."
Stupidly I continued to stare at him until he broke into a grim smile.
"Surely you understand?" he said. "You remember where the dead Burman
was found?"
"Perfectly."
"You know the street along which, ordinarily, one would approach the
wharf?"
"Three Colt Street?"
"Three Colt Street, exactly. Well, on the night that the Burman met
his end I had an appointment in Three Colt Street with Weymouth. The
appointment was made by 'phone, from the New Louvre! My cab broke down
and I never arrived. I discovered later that Weymouth had received a
telegram purporting to come from me, putting off the engagement."
"I am aware of all this!"
Nayland Smith burst into a loud laugh.
"But _still_ you are fogged!" he cried. "Then I'm hanged if I'll pilot
you any farther! You have all the facts before you. There lies the
first Zagazig message; here is the second; and you know the context of
the note pinned upon the door? It read, if you remember, 'Remove
patrol from Joy-Shop neighborhood. Have a theory. Wish to visit place
alone on Monday night after one o'clock.'"
"Smith," I said dully, "I have a heavy stake upon this murderous game."
His manner changed instantly; the tanned face grew grim and hard, but
the steely eyes softened strangely. He bent over me, clapping his hands
upon my shoulders.
"I know it, old man," he replied; "and because it may serve to keep
your mind busy during hours when otherwise it would be engaged with
profitless sorrows, I invite you to puzzle out this business for
yourself. You have nothing else to do until late to-night, and you can
work undisturbed, here, at any rate!"
His words referred to the fact that, without surrendering our suite at
the New Louvre Hotel, we had gone upon a visit, of indefinite duration,
to a mythical friend; and now were quartered in furnished chambers
adjoining Fleet Street.
We had remained at the New Louvre long enough to secure confirmation
of our belief that a creature of Fu-Manchu spied upon us there; and
now we only awaited the termination of the night's affair to take
such steps as Smith might consider politic in regard to the sardonic
Greek who presided over London's newest and most palatial hotel.
Smith setting out for New Scotland Yard in order to make certain final
arrangements in connection with the business of the night, I began
closely to study the mysterious Zagazig messages, determined not to be
beaten, and remembering the words of Edgar Allan Poe--the strange
genius to whom we are indebted for the first workable system of
deciphering cryptograms: "It may well be doubted whether human
ingenuity can construct an enigma of the kind which human ingenuity
may not, by proper application, resolve."
The first conclusion to which I was borne was this: that the letters
comprising the word "Zagazig" were designed merely to confuse the
reader, and might be neglected; since, occurring as they did in regular
sequence, they could possess no significance. I became quite excited
upon making the discovery that the _punctuation marks_ varied in
almost every case!
I immediately assumed that these constituted the cipher; and, seeking
for my key-letter, _e_ (that which most frequently occurs in the
English language), I found the sign of a full-stop to appear more
frequently than any other in the first message, namely ten times,
although it only occurred thrice in the second. Nevertheless, I was
hopeful ... until I discovered that in two cases it appeared three
times _in succession!_
There is no word in English, nor, so far as I am aware, in any language,
where this occurs, either in regard to _e_ or any other letter!
That unfortunate discovery seemed so wholly to destroy the very theory
upon which I relied, that I almost abandoned my investigation there
and then. Indeed, I doubt if I ever should have proceeded were it not
that by a piece of pure guesswork I blundered on to a clue.
I observed that certain letters, at irregularly occurring intervals,
were set in capital, and I divided up the message into corresponding
sections, in the hope that th capitals might indicate the
commencements of words. This accomplished, I set out upon a series
of guesses, basing these upon Smith's assurance that the death of the
dacoit afforded a clue to the first message and the note which he
(Smith) had pinned upon the door a clue to the second.
Such being my system--if I can honor my random attempts with the
title--I take little credit to myself for the fortunate result. In
short, I determined (although _e_ twice occurred where _r_ should have
been!) that the first message from the thirteenth letter, onwards to
the twenty-seventh (_id est:_ _I;_g:-zagAz;i-;_g_;_-Z_,-a;-_g_azi;-)
read:--
_"Three Colt Street."_
Endeavoring, now, to eliminate the _e_ where _r_ should appear, I made
another discovery. The presence of a letter in _italics_ altered the
value of the sign which followed it!
From that point onward the task became child's-play, and I should
merely render this account tedious if I entered into further details.
Both messages commenced with the name "Smith" as I early perceived,
and half an hour of close study gave me the complete sentences, thus:--
1. _Smith passing Three Colt Street twelve-thirty Wednesday._
2. _Smith going Joy-Shop after one Monday._
The word "Zagazig" was completed, always, and did not necessarily
terminate with the last letter occurring in the cryptographic message.
A subsequent inspection of this curious code has enabled Nayland
Smith, by a process of simple deduction, to compile the entire alphabet
employed by Dr. Fu-Manchu's agent, Samarkan, in communicating with his
awful superior. With a little patience, any one of my readers my achieve
the same result (and I should be pleased to hear from those who succeed!).
This, then was the outcome of my labors; and although it enlightened me
to some extent, I realized that I still had much to learn.
The dacoit, apparently, had met his death at the very hour when Nayland
Smith should have been passing along Three Colt Street--a thoroughfare
with an unsavory reputation. Who had killed him?
To-night, Samarkan advised the Chinese doctor, Smith would again be in
the same dangerous neighborhood. A strange thrill of excitement swept
through me. I glanced at my watch. Yes! It was time for me to repair,
secretly, to my post. For I, too, had business on the borders of
Chinatown to-night.