[CHAPTER XI]
SETTLING DOWN
The cipher was so simple that Herrick wondered that he had not solved it before. It merely consisted of the alphabet arranged in two lines as follows:--
A.B.C.D.E.F.G.H.I.J.K.L.M.N.O.P.Q.R.S.T.U.V.W.X.Y.Z. Z,A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,
The cipher was written by using the second line as though it were the first. All that had to be done was to write out the alphabet as above, and use the first line in place of the second. Nothing could be more ingenious, or--when it was known--more simple. But for all that, Herrick would not have found the key, had he not recollected Stephen's remark that the number fifteen might be a date, and had not Bess related Frisco's apparently meaningless words.
However here was the reading of the riddle. Colonel Carr had been warned to do a certain thing, and was threatened with death if he did not do it. He was given up to the twenty-sixth of July, but the punishment, vengeance, or whatever it was had been executed on the twenty-fourth. Jim could see no reason for this anticipation of the cipher letter.
As to the cryptogram in the agony Column of the "Daily Telegraph," it would seem that someone knew that Frisco was in London and wished to see him about Carr's money. This rather bore out Herrick's belief that there was a conspiracy in progress to rob Stephen of his inherited wealth. Was Captain Manuel striking in the dark? Or had Robin Joyce anything to do with the matter? Herrick asked himself these questions, but he did not seek an answer from Bess. Until he was absolutely sure of Robin's guilt he did not wish to say a word. And if he told Bess about Santiago, he would have to reveal what Joyce\ had--presumably--done. At all events the mere mention of Santiago's name and where he met him would invite questions regarding Joyce.
"If I were you Dr. Jim," said Bess the next day, when they met to talk over their discovery, "I should go up to London and wait at Hyde Park Corner. It will be easy for you to see a person dressed as noticeably as the man who put in the cipher intends to be. I should think a navy blue serge with white hat, gloves, and boots would attract attention. You can then see if the person meets Frisco, and, and----"
"And give Frisco in charge," finished Herrick.
"No," said Miss Endicotte decisively, "I should not do that. At present public opinion and circumstantial evidence is so much against Frisco, that he would not have a fair trial. If he did murder Colonel Carr, which I don't believe--you can prove it by watching him. See where he and the man who meets him are going, follow on, and be guided by circumstances how to act. Have you any idea who put this in?"