The Famous Cases of Dr. Thorndyke (Illustrated). R. Austin Freeman

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СКАЧАТЬ alt="image"/> THE PROFESSOR'S ANALYSIS. Handwritten: Analysis of the cipher with translation into modern square Hebrew characters + a translation into English. N.B. The cipher reads from right to left.

      He handed me the two papers, of which one gave the actual words of the cryptogram, and the other a suggested reconstruction, with omitted words supplied. The first read:

      "Woe city lies robbery prey noise whip rattling wheel horse chariot day darkness gloominess cloud darkness morning mountain people strong fire them flame."

      Turning to the second paper, I read out the suggested rendering:

      "'Woe to the bloody city! It is full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not. The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots.

      "'A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds, and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains, a great people and a strong.

      "'A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth.'"

      Here the first sheet ended, and, as I laid it down, Thorndyke looked at me inquiringly.

      "There is a good deal of reconstruction in proportion to the original matter," I objected. "The Professor has 'supplied' more than three-quarters of the final rendering."

      "Exactly," burst in the superintendent; "it's all Professor and no cryptogram."

      "Still, I think the reading is correct," said Thorndyke. "As far as it goes, that is."

      "Good Lord!" exclaimed the dismayed detective. "Do you mean to tell me, sir, that that balderdash is the real meaning of the thing?"

      "I don't say that," replied Thorndyke. "I say it is correct as far as it goes; but I doubt its being the solution of the cryptogram."

      "Have you been studying that photograph that I gave you?" demanded Miller, with sudden eagerness.

      "I have looked at it," said Thorndyke evasively, "but I should like to examine the original if you have it with you."

      "I have," said the detective. "Professor Poppelbaum sent it back with the solution. You can have a look at it, though I can't leave it with you without special authority."

      He drew the document from his pocket-book and handed it to Thorndyke, who took it over to the window and scrutinized it closely. From the window he drifted into the adjacent office, closing the door after him; and presently the sound of a faint explosion told me that he had lighted the gas-fire.

      "Of course," said Miller, taking up the translation again, "this gibberish is the sort of stuff you might expect from a parcel of crack-brained anarchists; but it doesn't seem to mean anything."

      "Not to us," I agreed; "but the phrases may have some pre-arranged significance. And then there are the letters between the words. It is possible that they may really form a cipher."

      "I suggested that to the Professor," said Miller, "but he wouldn't hear of it. He is sure they are only dummies."

      "I think he is probably mistaken, and so, I fancy, does my colleague. But we shall hear what he has to say presently."

      "Oh, I know what he will say," growled Miller. "He will put the thing under the microscope, and tell us who made the paper, and what the ink is composed of, and then we shall be just where we were." The superintendent was evidently deeply depressed.

      We sat for some time pondering in silence on the vague sentences of the Professor's translation, until, at length, Thorndyke reappeared, holding the document in his hand. He laid it quietly on the table by the officer, and then inquired:

      "Is this an official consultation?"

      "Certainly," replied Miller. "I was authorized to consult you respecting the translation, but nothing was said about the original. Still, if you want it for further study, I will get it for you."

      "No, thank you," said Thorndyke. "I have finished with it. My theory turned out to be correct."

      "Your theory!" exclaimed the superintendent, eagerly. "Do you mean to say—?"

      "And, as you are consulting me officially, I may as well give you this."

      He held out a sheet of paper, which the detective took from him and began to read.

      "What is this?" he asked, looking up at Thorndyke with a puzzled frown. "Where did it come from?"

      "It is the solution of the cryptogram," replied Thorndyke.

      The detective re-read the contents of the paper, and, with the frown of perplexity deepening, once more gazed at my colleague.

      "This is a joke, sir; you are fooling me," he said sulkily.

      "Nothing of the kind," answered Thorndyke. "That is the genuine solution."

      "But it's impossible!" exclaimed Miller. "Just look at it, Dr. Jervis."

      I took the paper from his hand, and, as I glanced at it, I had no difficulty in understanding his surprise. It bore a short inscription in printed Roman capitals, thus:

      "THE PICKERDILLEY STUF IS UP THE CHIMBLY 416 WARDOUR ST 2ND FLOUR BACK IT WAS HID BECOS OF OLD MOAKEYS JOOD MOAKEY IS A BLITER."

      "Then that fellow wasn't an anarchist at all?" I exclaimed.

      "No," said Miller. "He was one of Moakey's gang. We suspected Moakey of being mixed up with that job, but we couldn't fix it on him. By Jove!" he added, slapping his thigh, "if this is right, and I can lay my hands on the loot! Can you lend me a bag, doctor? I'm off to Wardour Street this very moment."

      We furnished him with an empty suit-case, and, from the window, watched him making for Mitre Court at a smart double.

      "I wonder if he will find the booty," said Thorndyke. "It just depends on whether the hiding-place was known to more than one of the gang. Well, it has been a quaint case, and instructive, too. I suspect our friend Barton and the evasive Schönberg were the collaborators who produced that curiosity of literature."

      "May I ask how you deciphered the thing?" I said. "It didn't appear to take long."

      "It didn't. It was merely a matter of testing a hypothesis; and you ought not to have to ask that question," he added, with mock severity, "seeing that you had what turn out to have been all the necessary facts, two days ago. But I will prepare a document and demonstrate to you to-morrow morning."

      * * *

      "So Miller was successful in his quest," said Thorndyke, as we smoked our morning pipes after breakfast. "The 'entire swag,' as he calls it, was 'up the chimbly,' undisturbed."

      He handed me a note which had been left, with the empty suit-case, by a messenger, shortly before, and I was about to read it when an agitated knock was heard at our door. The visitor, whom I admitted, was a rather haggard and dishevelled elderly gentleman, СКАЧАТЬ