Breaking the Code

Breaking the Code

Don Ricardo sat in his library at a long worktable. He was writing to his commanders, giving them feedback and instructions for their paramilitary activities. He was head of the Hermandad that insured the will of the Monarchy’s was carried out in the cities, towns and rural areas of Spain. It was a heavy responsibility and one that commanded much of his time. He was newly married to a friend of his sister, Maria. His wife Teresa had just delivered him a daughter. The child was the joy of Ricardo’s life and his love for his wife knew no bounds. He had once almost had her slip away and the experience made him realize how important she was to his happiness and peace of mind. Finishing, he stretched and looked up at the clock. It was nine o’clock in the morning and he had been writing since five AM.

He went out through the great room and into the alcove where immediate members of the family congregated in the morning. Teresa was feeding the infant, and he walked over holding out his arms. She covered her breast modestly and let her husband take their daughter, Raquel.

Maria and Benvolio were seated at the other end of the table talking quietly. She too was nursing an infant, a son. The baby started crying loudly and she called for the nursemaid.

“Lupita!”

“His appetite is insatiable she complained, looking at her husband Joaquin, --- like someone else I know, who will go unnamed. “



“I still have some,” said Teresa. “Give him to me.” She walked over handing the child to her friend.

Lupita entered the room and stood next to Teresa. watching her nurse Manuel.

“This won’t take long and it’ll be your turn, she said smiling up at the buxom woman.

Carlos entered the room and took a seat. A servant brought him his breakfast as he sat rubbing his eyes.

“Up late last night?” inquired Don Ricardo.

“I was struggling with figuring out the cipher. About three O’clock my forehead hit the volume and it jerked me wide-awake. There, etched boldly in my mind was the realization I’d been searching for. The answer was right under my nose, so close I almost missed it entirely.”

“Don’t keep me in suspense. Tell me what you discovered.”

“You know how all the entries contained the same formats?”

“Yes.”

“Well that was the key. I began going through volumes looking for the format. After several hours I came across one that seemed to fit. As you know there were twenty-six numbers that were used which we figured corresponded with the letters of the alphabet.”

“Go on.”

“They were the minutes of Church Meetings where your father served as an elder. The format in the Volumes matched the format in the Church minutes.”

“So you think that what is encrypted in the volumes are minutes of some meetings that were held in secret?”

This seems to be the case.

“How does this help us?”

“Don’t you see? It’s the answer?

“Explain it to me.”

“Whoever encrypted the minutes also encrypted the headings. Look here.”

Minutes:

Date:

Body:

“The three headings contain known letters. The minutes were transcribed in open text and then encrypted. The idiot who encoded them also encoded the headings. We know the alphabet numbers for not only all the vowels but also eight of the consonants. From these we can figure out the rest. It will take some time but it is well within our means now find out what the meetings were all about. Even if they change the scramble of numbers periodically it won’t matter. As long as the person doing the encrypting continues to follow their stupid methodology we have the key.”

“You never cease to amaze me Carlos. How long will it take? “

“If the five of us work together we should be able to decode a meeting in about a week. If they don’t change the cypher---in less time than that."

“I find this discussion very gratifying, however, we have work to do. Tonight Carlos will be knighted and the Soverigns will be arriving at three this afternoon. We all have things to do getting ready. The guests will begin arriving a five and the ceremony will begin at nine.”

Benvolio groaned. “Do I have to be in the receiving line?”

“YES! And don’t worry. I will give the name to you, you pass it to Teresa, she tells Ricardo, he hands off to Carlos, who informs the Queen and King. How difficult is that?”

“The King makes me uncomfortable. I haven’t forgotten that he intended to hang me. He even reminded me last year.”

“The focus won’t be on you Dear Man, it’s going to be on Carlos. How does it feel, about to become knighted?”

“Will Angelina be here?”

“She’s been invited. Her year of mourning has passed, and no doubt she’ll want to make up for lost time.”

“You think she’ll remember me?”

“How could she not? The King will be dubbing you with the sword in front of everyone . Did you not dance with her last year and take command of the floor?”

“She said I danced like a Chevalier.”

“So there you are. Both of you are unattached and if you can’t find time for some quite conversation you’ll have no one to blame but yourselves. “