The cache is not
at the above coordinates
I was on temporary assignment in Arlington from my usual haunts in
South Florida. I stood looking at the banks of the Potomac River
from the window of my Pentagon office. On the other side was
Washington - a symbol of democracy for nearly a fourth of a
millennium. I was just getting a feel for my new quarters when I
heard loud footsteps fast approaching my closed office door.
Moments later, an awkward young man burst through carrying a single
sheet of paper.
"Sorry to rush in like this, Agent O'Cash, but this just arrived
and I knew that you would want to see it immediately!"
I examined the sheet and saw several sentences written in
English.
"Please, call me Gary or just G. Is this all of it?"
"Yes, Sir. That was the complete message."
I had been expecting to receive data regarding the location of a
hidden cache of information vital to our interests.
"This must be some kind of code", I said.
"Sir, I've been stationed all over the U.S. - from Dover to
Honolulu, and I have never seen a code like this. Maybe we should
run it through the FBI's Washington headquarters."
"Let's try to solve it ourselves for now," I said with pride. "I
do have considerable experience with codes."
Somehow, I needed to get a set of geographic coordinates out of
the following odd paragraph:
What could it mean?
The young man leaned over my shoulder and said, "Sir, maybe the
mention of all those animals and the capitol dome means to go to
the National Zoo. They have lots of animals."
I pursed my lips in mild annoyance. "Yes, but there are also
zoos in other capitals, like Denver or Philadelphia."
"Um ... Sir ... um ... Philadelphia is not a capital..."
"Thanks." I said knowingly. I had changed my mind. Perhaps my
first impression of him was wrong. Maybe he could be of use solving
this puzzle after all. If only he would just stop breathing on
me.
"That zoo idea doesn't seem specific enough" I said, "And, son,
if we are going to be working in such close quarters you might want
to consider a mint", I said pointing to a bag of wintergreen
Tic-Tacs on the desk.
"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir", he said backing off a bit or two. He
opened the bag, took out a mint and started to set the bag back on
the desk.
"Make sure you seal that bag completely or else the contents
could become waterlogged", I advised. "Does anything else about
this code strike you?"
"Well, Sir, the wagon and the falcon and the bronco could all be
vehicles, but that just may be a coincidence."
---
We went back and fourth like this for six hours. Breaking a code
like this could take years.
Just when I was convinced that we would never make any progress,
my mind was changed again. Suddenly, I was struck by an idea.
As I began to test the concept my heart hammered and my
circulation increased in excitement. I was on a roll. Then, just
like that - Jackpot!
"Change of plans," I stated. "Looks like I head back home after
all."