Coded Messages
Drew, Rebecca and Laura sat in the front two pews at the Smugglers’ Chapel, admiring the shafts of light streaming through the window.
‘Read Kraus’ message again, Gilmour,’ said Rebecca. ‘Something is nagging at me. The bit about finding the gold … read from there.’
Laura spread the piece of paper open. ‘Here it is:
They found Himmel’s gold. Followed us that day. Why I never came back. Himmel took me back to move it, and to kill me. Himmel is now no more. Only I now know the true location.
My life’s work, Saladin’s nemesis, Napoleon, where to look. Answer to another mystery.
JK June 17th 1955.’
Rebecca smacked the back of the pew in front, making the other two jump. ‘Himmel is now no more!’
‘So Himmel was dead by 1955. Do you think Kraus killed Himmel?’ Drew asked.
‘At least a possibility,’ replied Rebecca. ‘Everything stops after this. The trail goes completely cold.’
‘Er, isn’t that because Kraus died?’
‘But if Himmel was dead, surely they would look after Kraus, not starve him, because he would now be the only man who now knew where to find the gold?’
‘Point,’ said Drew, nodding slowly.
‘It doesn’t make sense yet,’ said Rebecca drumming on the pew in frustration. There is something we are not seeing.’
‘Perhaps that’s what we’ll find in the window,’ said Laura, hopefully.
‘Perhaps,’ said Rebecca, sounding unconvinced. ‘But …’
‘But the window clue is something Kraus would have left before Himmel died,’ said Drew, getting to his feet and going over to stand before the window. ‘So it can’t be the whole answer.’
‘Exactly,’ said Rebecca. ‘Blimey! We might make a detective out of you yet, Campbell.’
‘My life’s work, Saladin’s nemesis, Napoleon, where to look. Answer to another mystery,’ read Laura and looked up at Rebecca. ‘What’s that all about? Who was Saladin?’
‘Leader of the Turks in the later Crusades. We did it in history last term – were you not paying attention?’
Laura, Rebecca and Drew spun round in astonishment.
‘Rupert! How on earth?’
They rushed forward to greet their friend, smiles all over their faces.
‘Well I had to break out in the end, seeing as you lot were obviously never going to find me. I was taken to the monastery and held prisoner there. We found a secret passageway out of the monastery, the Black Monk’s old smuggling route. Now, tell me what’s new!’
For the next few minutes, they did just that and Rupert related Von Krankl’s unexpected appearance at the monastery.
‘Glad to hear you reckon Von Krankl is okay too. I had to trust him. Anyway, just before I came here, I explored the whole passage and this was really curious. There was a funny noise, a sort of wailing coming from somewhere deeper in the caves. At first I thought it might have been the monks praying or something’
‘Oh, Rupert, honestly!’
‘Well, they do, don’t they? All that Gregorian chanting. Anyway, it wasn’t of course.
No, there was a big sea cave, a boat and a couple of monks with this device of some sort.’
‘What sort?’ asked Rebecca, puzzled.
‘I have no idea, but it was flashing and giving off this weird wailing noise.’
‘Like a signal?’ asked Drew.
‘Yeah! I heard them talking about a shipment tomorrow, coming in under cover of darkness.’
‘What could that be?’ wondered Laura.
‘Well we are going to be there to find out,’ said Rebecca, with an air of finality.
‘So then,’ said Rupert, ‘you guys have been having some fun without me. Old bones and cryptic messages.’
‘Well if you didn’t keep getting yourself locked up by the bad guys! You’re worse than Campbell.’ Rebecca’s tongue was firmly in her cheek as she reached for the little book about the stained glass window. ‘Now, Brains, seeing as you are here, perhaps you can solve the mystery of the window. Saladin’s nemesis, in all these pictures of Crusaders doing battle, would be …?’
‘Richard the Lionheart. But … hmmm, he doesn’t seem to be here.’ He pored over the book. ‘Ah! So the central figure, local hero Sir Lytton Hobbe must be our guy.’
‘Odd message. He says something really clear about how Himmel discovered the gold, then a really cryptic bit – My life’s work, Saladin’s nemesis, Napoleon, where to look.
Answer to another mystery. It’s like code, in case the wrong person reads it.’
‘And where to look? Take a pointer from something in the window?’
‘Pointers are dogs, aren’t they?’ asked Laura.
‘Posh dogs,’ murmured Drew.
‘Oh here we go again! Don’t be so working class hero.’ Rebecca mocked. ‘They are simply pure bred dogs.’
‘Sure … bit of racial supremacy. Keep the breed pure … bit like Nazi philosophy.’
‘Now you’re being stupid. I like pointers, therefore I am a Nazi?’
‘I still think those people on Crufts are seriously weird.’
‘Ever considered that maybe YOU are weird, Campbell?’
‘Have we finished, children?’ asked Rupert merrily. ‘Fascinating discussion and all that but rather off the main ‘point-er’.’
Rebecca turned to Drew and nodded in assent. ‘Quite right. Back to the pointer please?’
‘It wasn’t just me.’ Drew stopped in mid-sentence and shook his head in resignation.
Back at the window Rebecca was waving a finger in the air. ‘Got it! What do you point with?’
‘Your finger?’ said Laura, tentatively.
‘Exactly! Look at Lytton.’
In the central pane, Sir Lytton Hobbe held a shield with his coat of arms in one hand, while his other pointed to somewhere in the distance.
‘What is he pointing at?’ Rupert voiced the obvious question.
‘There’s nothing there,’ said Laura, bemused. ‘The pane finishes a few inches from his finger and the next one is plain blue …’
Rupert gave an involuntary gasp. ‘What is it, Rupe?’ Laura put a hand on his arm.
‘Flags, just like in the fireplace.’
‘Make sense, please, Rupert,’ commanded Rebecca.
‘Von Krankl was a signals officer. The navy used to use flags to send signals between ships, like the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson, ‘England expects’ and all that. And the secret door out of my cell was marked by flags, saying ‘Open’ and ‘Close’.’
‘Look at the edges!’ Drew pointed at the panes around the edge of the window, each containing a small flag. ‘It’s the code! Kraus left a message in the window using good old naval signals.’
‘But we don’t know what it says,’ grumbled Rebecca. She stopped, noticing a wide smile on Drew’s face. ‘Wait a minute. First you know Morse code … now you know flags?’
Drew nodded. ‘I’m not just a pretty face. And it explains Kraus’ Napoleon reference. In the Napoleonic signals system, you read the flags down the mast, starting on the starboard side and then the port.’
‘So we should read down the right hand side first and then the left, you mean?’ asked Rupert.
Rebecca was staring at Drew, half in amazement, half in horror. ‘This is too nerdy! People on University Challenge don’t know this stuff! I can’t believe I let you kiss me.’
‘So you did ?’ Laura shrieked.
‘You watch University Challenge?’ squealed Drew in mock horror. ‘Look, do you want this mystery solved, or what?’ He smiled non- chalantly.
‘Go on, then. What does it say, Lord Nelson?’ Rebecca folded her arms, ignoring Laura.
‘And if you say “Kiss me Hardy” –’
‘Ah, well now, let’s see …’ The smile faded. ‘I might need a code book.’
‘Oh, here we go!’ Rebecca smirked knowingly.
‘I can get the gist! … wait, wait. This side says Find there you go!’ He stepped back, please with himself. The others looked at him blankly.
‘And … find where? … what?’ Rebecca waited expectantly.
‘Ah, well it doesn’t say. Leastways, I can’t read it.’
‘What does it say on the other side?’ asked Laura.
‘Er. … Look, I need to get a code book. I bet the Admiral’s got one up at the manor.’
‘Looks like another trip to the Library,’ said Rebecca, sighing. ‘This is so frustrating. The location of the gold might be right here and we can’t read it.’
‘Wait a minute!’ said Laura, excitedly. ‘There was a code book in the Admiral’s envelope, wasn’t there?’
‘Of course!’ said Drew.
‘Remember, we’ve got to be at the monastery tomorrow night to see what the monks are up to and we need to go to the wreck to see this mystery accomplice of Von Krankl’s and take him some food,’ said Rupert.
‘And I don’t know about you,’ said Rebecca, ‘but I am starving. Let’s go back to the farm, grab some food. Then two of us can go to the wreck while the others get the code book and decipher Kraus’ message.’
‘Plan,’ said Drew.
‘And Laura…’ continued Rebecca. ‘How about paying Jimmy H a quick visit and asking him to get Grendel Baverstock to look at the bones in the chamber. You never know, he may come up with something.’