Chapter 2
Dude, I’m not really worried about Matt,” Luke said. “He usually goes for easy stuff. I’ll bet his experiment this year will have something to do with peanut butter. Like how long it would take him to eat a whole jar.”
The kids laughed. Cody looked up from her phone where she’d been searching for something about body language that could relate to her Science Fair project. “I don’t know. He seems to think he’s going to beat us to the prize because of his ‘top secret’ plan—whatever that is.”
“I kinda feel sorry for him,” Mika said softly. “I think he just feels left out.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Cody knew Mika was probably right. Matt just wanted attention, but he didn’t know how to get it without bugging people. He’d actually been getting better lately. He’d even helped the Code Busters on a couple of code-busting adventures recently, but only when it benefited him too. Still, she’d have to wait and see what he was up to this year.
“Well, let’s hope Matt’s project keeps him super busy,” Cody said, then changed the subject. “So, what are you guys working on?”
Quinn’s eyes lit up with excitement. “You know those rearview spy glasses I got at the Spy Museum in Washington, DC? I’m going to use something like that and ask a question about peripheral vision or blind spots or whether people can tell I’m spying on them when I’m wearing them.” He grinned at his idea.
But Luke frowned. “Dude, how are you going to test that using the scientific method?”
Quinn shrugged. “Uh . . . invent my own spy glasses?”
Luke nodded. “I want to do something about eavesdropping.”
“What’s your question going to be?” Cody asked Luke. “Like, ‘Is eavesdropping illegal?’ ”
Quinn laughed.
Luke shook his head. “Sort of like Quinn’s, but maybe ‘Can you disguise a listening device so a suspect doesn’t know you’re eavesdropping?’ I could use a remote robot race car and test it out.”
“Hey, guys,” M.E. said. “It might be fun to tie in a secret code with our experiments, since we are the Code Busters.”
“Great idea!” Mika said.
“Hmm,” Quinn said. “I could use the Reverse Alphabet Code or Backwards Code with my Eye-Spy Glasses project to see if kids can read and crack the code with them.” He got out his Code Busters notebook and opened to a blank page, then wrote something backward. The other Code Busters quickly deciphered the message.
? siht daer uoy nac
Code Busters Key and Solution found on p. 161.
“Then I’d test the subjects,” Quinn said. “I just have to figure out how.” He scratched his head.
“I was thinking of doing a steganography experiment,” Mika said, “like DaVinci did with the Mona Lisa.”
M.E. sat up. “Did he hide a message in that painting?”
Mika nodded. “He supposedly wrote the letter ‘S’ in her left eye and the letter ‘L’ in her right eye, plus the number 72 under the bridge in the background.”
M.E. looked intrigued. “What does that mean?”
“Well, it may be the way DaVinci left clues to the model and the date of the painting.”
“So cool!” M.E. said.
Mika continued, “I could test subjects to see if they can recognize a secret message inside a picture and whether they can figure out what it says. Some won’t even notice, but others might see a pattern. Have you guys read the Sherlock Holmes story, ‘The Adventure of the Dancing Men’?”
“I think I’ve read that one,” Cody said.
“Well, it has a cool code called the Dancing Men Code,” Mika said. “I’m thinking I could include it in the experiment.”
“I remember now!” Cody said. “This guy gives Sherlock Holmes a piece of paper with a bunch of stick figures on it.” She did a search on her phone and showed the results to the others.
A row of figures appeared on the screen. Each one was in a different position, some with arms or legs raised, bent, and so on. The figures all stood for a different letter in the alphabet.
“In the story,” Cody continued, “these strange stick figure messages kept appearing on windowsills, walls, doors, and things. They scared this lady, so Sherlock Holmes figures out it’s a substitution cipher, like the Alphanumeric Code. I’ll make an example.”
Using the Dancing Men Code on her cell phone, Cody created a message.
“Cool code,” M.E. said, after deciphering the message.
“Arthur Conan Doyle is one of my favorite authors,” Mika said. “I think the Dancing Men Code would be perfect for my project.”
“That code sort of reminds me of the Birds on a Wire Code,” M.E. said.
“What’s the Birds on a Wire Code?” Mika asked.
M.E. got out a piece of paper and drew some lines across the page. Then she added a bunch of birds sitting on the lines. She showed it to Mika. “This is the Birds on a Wire Code. Each bird represents a different alphabet letter.”
Mika nodded. “Yes, it’s the same idea, only with birds instead of stick figures.”
M.E. drew another line, then added some birds. She showed it to Mika. “Can you figure out my message?”
Moments later, Mika deciphered the message. “That was fun!”
“But wouldn’t your test subjects have to know the code to decipher it?” Cody asked Mika. “Maybe it should be a code that everyone can understand once they see it.”
Mika frowned. “You’re right. I’ll have to think about that. Maybe a visual alphabet would be better, like an ‘A’ that looks like a tent and a ‘B’ that looks like a . . .” She shrugged.
“What about you, Cody?” Luke asked. “I’ll bet you’re going to do something with sign language, right?”
Cody smiled. “I was thinking about using Morse code, since I’ve been reading about Samuel Morse. But I’d much rather do something with ASL. I just don’t know what my question would be.”
“How about something to do with reading the body language or facial expressions of suspects?” Mika suggested.
Cody nodded. “Yeah, I could ask the question, ‘If you study body language, can you tell whether a person is lying or telling the truth?’ Thanks, Mika. I’ll do some research on the science of body language and see if there are visible signs when people talk. I’ll call it ‘Liar, Liar, Lie Detector!’ ” She laughed.
M.E. stuck out her lower lip. “Great. Everyone has a project to work on but me, and I’m still clueless. I guess it’s back to moldy bread for my experiment.”
Cody patted her friend. “Hey, since we’re all doing experiments or creating inventions based on something we’re interested in—and using codes—how about a project on fashion or beauty? Something like, ‘Can regular beauty products be used for forensic analysis?’ I read something in The Official Nancy Drew Handbook that said you can lift fingerprints with face powder and tape and preserve them with nail polish.”
M.E. broke into a grin. “Awesome! I could use eyebrow tweezers to pick up trace evidence. Or write a secret message with lip gloss. Or use an eyebrow pencil to reveal a secret message on a notepad. Oh, this is going to be fun after all! Thanks, Cody!” Her face fell. “Of course, now I have to figure out how to put this all together into a question using the scientific method.”
“Just don’t forget to write the topic question in code so no one can read it,” Cody reminded her.
Cody’s cell phone tinged. She checked the message, then said, “Uh-oh. I gotta go. My mom needs me to babysit Tana while she goes to the store.”
“I should go too,” Mika said, getting up. “I’ve got a lot of homework.”
M.E. joined the two girls. “Me too. See you guys tomorrow at school.”
Luke nodded. “Let’s meet in the cafeteria at lunch and see what we’ve all come up with.”
Quinn said, “10-4,” using a police code for “understood.” “We’ll rendezvous at twelve hundred hours.”
Cody grinned at Quinn’s use of military time to say 12 p.m. As she, Mika, and M.E. started to head outside, she noticed what looked like some carefully arranged twigs and rocks in front of the clubhouse door. She held her arms out to block Mika and M.E. from stepping on them.
“Look!” she said, pointing at the ground.
“What is it?” M.E. asked, frowning.
“What’s up?” Quinn asked.
“Shhh,” she whispered, glancing around. “See those twigs and rocks?”
“Yeah?” M.E. answered. “What about them?”
“Don’t they sort of . . . look odd?” Cody asked.
Quinn squinted at the row of twigs. “Yeah, they look like . . .”
“Stick figures!” Luke said, finishing his sentence.
Mika gasped. “It’s the Dancing Men Code, made out of sticks and rocks!”
“Wow!” M.E. said, peering down at the message. “What does it say?”
“Someone’s been spying on us,” Cody said. “And they know about our projects!”
Matt the Brat.