“They start with c and end with l, ” Mason said. “The a and b are true letters.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the a and b are always either the second or third letter from the end of the word.”
“Well, I’ve got it worked out that way,” she said.
“How does it check out?”
She said, “Well, if c represents one; d represents two; e, three; f, four; g, five; h, six; i, seven; j, eight; k, nine; and l a cipher, the message breaks down into 192A19 187A8 20A11 632B13 137A22 579A21 1025B2 94B16 1055B8.”
“I think we can safely rely on that,” Mason said.
“But that’s a code within a code,” she said. “It still doesn’t give us the message.”
“No,” Mason said, untying the string around the oblong package, “but I think this will.”
“What is it?”