“Not a code?”
“No,” replied the stranger with a faint smile. “Even the man who wrote it cannot solve it. It is merely a collection of oddly shaped characters arranged to deceive those who attempt to read it!”
CHAPTER V. MURDER REVEALED!
DOCTOR GEORGE LUKENS was thoroughly amazed by the statement made by his strange midnight visitor. The emphasis of the man’s words impressed the physician. A train of confused thoughts ran through his brain.
The revelation that the characters on the paper found in Marchand’s desk were not a code, but a meaningless jargon, seemed unbelievable. Nevertheless, Doctor Lukens did not doubt the truth of the man’s declaration. The stranger seemed too sincere.
“You seem perplexed,” observed the stranger. “I do not wonder that you are. You have convinced yourself — as others have done, also — that this paper bore a coded message.
“I do not blame the experts for their opinions. When they have tried every system known to themselves, they naturally assume that they have encountered something new.”
“But you did not assume that,” returned Lukens.
“No,” replied the stranger, “because I am more confident of my ability. When I had studied the supposed code and subjected it to all my tests without a single clew, I knew that there could be but one answer: the paper is a hoax!”
“What, then, is its purpose?”