This is a contemporary fiction story based on Poe's "The Gold Bug". It is licensed
cc-by-nc.
Captain Kidd
Minerva Engel is a twenty-something DHS agent, who everyone calls Minnie. But today, she’s in her civilan clothes, joining her mother Juno and 8-year old sister Nina, to witness the neighborhood event. Standing with them are a dozen local residents, and a half-dozen reporters. Everyone is bundled up against the cold winter day.
“Mommy, when can we leave? I’m cold!” Nina says.
“In a minute, Nina. Don’t you want to see what happens with the apartment building you used to live in?” Juno says.
“No.”
“Go play with your friends,” Minnie says.
“Okay!” and Nina rushed off.
“Don’t go out of my sight!” Juno ordered.
“Okay!” Nina says as she continues running.
“Speaking of children, are you still mad at Dad?”
“Did your father tell you that? That’s between your father and I.”
Minnie smiles and waves at Nina as she plays with her friends.
“No. He never thinks he needs any help.”
“Exactly. Don’t to try to solve his problems. He’ll have to try decipher them for himself.”
Luther “Captain” Kidd, Sr. owns the Hope Towers Apartment complex, a triple of high-rise low-rent apartment buildings he bought 10 years ago.
Kidd emerges from of one of his apartment buildings with an entourage making a beeline for a luxury car waiting for him. Kidd wears an expensive overcoat, the picture of a very successful middle-aged businessman. The reporters jump into action.
A twenty-something woman, a reporter for WBAL-TV, shoves her microphone in his face.
“Mr. Kidd! What happened in there? Changes to your real-estate empire?”
“A meeting. No further questions at this time. Thank you,” Kidd says.
She follows Kidd’s brisk stride and elbows in closer to him, flashing a big smile.
“Mr. Kidd. We are live on WBAL TV! What was the meeting about?” the reporter asks.
Kidd ignores her, but pauses and looks around then, resigned to the inevitable, steps up to a small podium set up by the news crew. The reporter shoves her mic in with the others, causing some feedback and echo effects.
“I changed my mind - I will make a brief statement. My business associates and I have concluded our meeting on the Hope apartment complex. On 10AM Friday, ... ”
There is a feedback screech from the reporter’s mic interrupting Kidd. It is so loud that people across the street stop and stare. Nina and her friends cover their ears and the stop their playing.
“On 10AM Friday, I will announce to the media my plans for the future of Hope,” Kidd says.
The reporter’s mic caused a feedback echo. The fading echo “the future of Hope,” “the future of Hope,” ... , blankets the crowd as Kidd steps away from the mic and walks to his limo.
There is a silence until the limo drives away.
“He can’t close down these apartments!” Minnie says.
“Word is he uses it to launder his drug-money. Why would he sell?”
“Mom! Where did you hear that?”
“I have friends too. I guess he has better ways to launder his money.”
“Or something big is going down and he needs to cause a distraction.”
“Come here Nina!” Juno yells.
Juno, Minnie and Nina walk away as the crowd disperses.
Twenty-something DHS agent Gonzalez “Gonzo” Galtero, parked further down the block from Minnie, is watching the scene from a distance. Over his uniform, he wears a windbreaker. A car parked a block away has caught her eye. Occasionally, he takes off his gloves and raises a camera with a telephoto lens to take a picture. Gonzo is watching the Captain’s son, Luther “Bug” Kidd, Jr., sitting in a tricked-out gold-colored Volkswagen Beetle.
Gonzo is careful to shoot the detail of the MD license plate GOLDBUG and an Orioles bumper sticker.
Gonzo punches a number into his cell-phone. “He looks thinner but - I don’t know. It’s freezing cold out here, and he’s bundled up, and - I really can’t say for sure.”
Bug
The next day, a van is parked on a beautiful suburban neighborhood in Baltimore, with a few kids playing in the street and a few joggers on the sidewalks. It has a “Acme Cable and Internet” sign painted on it.
Inside the van, middle-aged “Sarge” is organizing his team. Jupiter Engel is squeezed between his daughter Minnie and Gonzo, who is wearing a headset. Sarge is giving his agents a pep talk.
“Gonzo, what’s going on with the FBI team down the street?” he says, then checks his watch.
Gonzo talks into his headset in low tones. Sarge adjusts a screen showing a live feed from the hidden security camera mounted on top of the van. he screen shows Bug’s gold-colored VW Beetle parked in the driveway of a house down the street.
“Sir, they are still in prep,” Gonzo says to Sarge.
“We’ve got a few minutes before commencing operations,” Sarge says eyeing the live feed “Looks like a damned repairman convention!”
One of the vans starts driving down the street scraps the side of a BMW parked across the street from Bug’s house. The BMW’s alarm goes off and a few people spill out of Bug’s house and start yelling at the guys in the van.
“Sir, three of Bug’s men have exited the house,” Gonzo says.
“Good,” Sarge says. “Remember, without a no-knock warrant we must be careful how we enter. He is to be considered armed and dangerous. Also, we do not know a lot about our suspect’s appearance. He was 250 pounds at last report but may have undergone plastic surgery and a special diet to disguise himself. Galtero, you saw him last. What do you say?”
“I’m not sure, sir. He didn’t look 250,” Gonzo says.
“If you don’t know, we go with what we know. Also, we want this to look like a normal heart attack. Are we clear?”
Nods all around, followed by silence.
Jupe grabs a candy bar and looks at Gonzo and Minnie.
“Have I told you two the story of the time I killed Kidd’s brother?”
“500 times,” Minnie says.
Gonzo raises an eyebrow, which is more than enough to get Jupe going.
“The Sarge, Jesus ... ”
“My dad?”
“Yes, he was there! Sarge, your Dad, and I were staked out in front of a house in this bad neighborhood. I mean bad - the rats were as big as cats, and nasty too. We had reliable intel that this house harbored a very high-profile target.”
“Did you have an id?”
“No id. The house had not paid its property taxes, so we got a search warrant to investigate suspicious activity. The city was trying to do something about squatters. We had no idea that our squatter was, in fact, a suspected terrorist and leading drug cartel member, running their M14 cell.”
Jupe takes a bite.
“Tell them about how you gained that intel, Daddy,” Minnie suggested, with a wink at Gonzo.
“Oh, right. Thank you, dear! You are my little angel. I busted a rival gang leader, calls himself Brick, on drug distribution.”
Minnie smiles.
“Legally?” Gonzo asks.
“Oh, hell no! Completely made up,” Jup admits.
“Engel, I’m fucking standing here!” Sarge yells. “Do you want me to fry you?”
Gonzo listens to his headphones and holds up his index finger. “Sorry to interrupt, sir - FBI reports that the girlfriend and two men left the house.”
Sarge checks his watch and nods to Gonzo. “Right on schedule. That leaves only Bug and one other guy.”
“Sorry about Brick, Sarge. I fucked up. But I released him,” Jupe says.
“That’s just great.” Sarge rolls his eyes.
Jupe looks at Gonzo and says, “Then I put the rumor on the street that he rolled and was a new informant. Now, Brick knew Kidd’s M14 gang would be after him. To save his ass, he made it his mission to find intel on M14 to give to us, so we’d get them before they got him.”
“Did it work?” Gonzo asked.
“No, they killed him anyway. He was an idiot - fuck him. I think that was how he got his name. But, anyhow, we got the intel, and we’re outside this house. We’re behind this wall, in front, getting organized. Sarge gives his BS pep talk.”
“Hey, asshole, did you say ‘BS pep talk’?” Sarge says.
“Sorry, Sarge. I didn’t mean it.”
“Did you have a warrant?” Gonzo asked.
“Yes, of course.”
Sarge looked at his watch and signaled to Gonzo to get in contact with the other vans on the street also involved with the operation. Gonzo gets on his headset and whispers some commands into his mic.
“Did you have a ‘no knock’ warrant, Daddy?” Minnie asked.
“No, we did not. Thank you for reminding me, sweetie.”
“No problem,” Minnie says.
“Sarge says, ‘Galtero, take the rear.’ Jesus, quiet as a panther, runs around to the back of the house. I’m looking through the window of the first floor living room with my binoculars.”
“Did you see a TV set?”
Jupe ignored her question. “Don’t interrupt your Daddy, dear.”
“Sorry,” she says, suppressing a smile.
“Then the Sarge looks at me and says, ‘Engel, take the front door.’ So, I charge full sprint to the front door, taking out my revolver as I run. I’m running full blast and I kick the door in with both feet and, miraculously, it busts off its hinges and I land with both feet, landing inside the house.”
Minnie is mouthing the words behind his back.
Jupe continues: “Gunfire erupts. I’m so fucking scared, I’m shooting everything. The TV is blaring some fucking cops-and-robbers show. I shoot the TV. The guy watching TV is so high, he had to think to put his TV remote down and pick up his gun. By the time he got his gun, I see him and I shoot him. Jesus killed the others.”
“Then I walk in. ‘I told you to fucking watch the front, not fucking charge through the front!’, I told him.”
“Do Not Argue with the Sarge when he gets angry like that.” Jupe advised.
Minnie zips up her cable repairman suit.
“We found a ton of drugs and explosives and guns. Big haul,” Sarge says.
“Huge haul. Jesus comes over and says ‘Don’t you like that TV show?’. Then he bends over the clicker guy and stared at him carefully. ‘This one is Kidd’s older brother!’ he says. That’s the story of how I shot Captain Kidd’s brother.”
Gonzo gives him a look of admiration. Minnie rolls her eyes.
After a pause, Sarge says,“I was real sorry to hear about Jesus.”
“What about Jesus?” Jupe asked.
Gonzo takes off his headset. “What about him?”
“You were at the briefing this morning. - The mandatory briefing?”
“Alarm clock didn’t go off,” Jupe says, rubbing his nose.
“Stuck in traffic on I95,” Gonzo says scratching his face.
“Jesus Galtero was shot and killed in Mexico City as part of a classified joint Mexican Army-DEA operation. I’m sorry. I thought you both knew, especially you, Gonzo. You should have been told. But, we’re not even supposed to talk about it in the open like this,” Sarge says.
There was a silence.
Minnie hugged Gonzo. “Sorry, Gonzo, I thought you knew.”
Jupe slaps Gonzo on the back then hid his face in his hands.
Gonzo made a silent prayer and says, “I think my father would want us to continue.”
All nod.
Gonzo puts on his headset and checks in with the ther vans as he wipes his eyes. “The others are ready, sir,” Gonzo told the Sarge.
Minnie is now dressed and starts to double check off the items in her repairman bag. When she is finished, she nods at the Sarge and gives the thumbs up sign.
“All right, cut it,” Sarge says. “and disrupt cell-phone reception.”
Gonzo says into his headset, “Hit the kill switch.”
Inside the house, Bug is watching TV in the living room when it dies.
“Damn TV!”
Bug fiddles with the clicker for a minute before he picks up a cell-phone and a phone-book. Punches in a number. Scowls and listens.
“No signal? What the fuck?!”
He tosses the cell-phone across the room and picks up the land line and starts dialing.
In the van, Gonzo puts a hand to his headset and mic. In his most polite voice, he says “I’m sorry to hear you are having problems, sir. By coincidence, it happens we do have a van in the area at the moment. Would it convenient if it stopped by within the next 30 minutes? Yes, sir. Thank you for using Acme Cable, where the customer is always right!”
Gonzo hangs up.
“Minnie, remember hit him hard at the top of the spine, with the patch,” Jupe says.
“I know. We’ve practiced this 100 times.”
“The dosage is set for 250 pounds. If he has gained weight, cancel the op,” the Sarge says.
“Yes, sir.”
“Right at the base of the neck. The needles have to sink in,” Jupe repeats.
“Don’t worry, Daddy.”
Minnie moves to sit in the driver’s seat of the van.
“And don’t let him slouch too much,” Sarge says.
“Slouch? What do you mean slouch? I was never briefed about that,” Minnie says.
“The drug is a paralyzing agent which should only affect his lower body. His breathing and talking should be functional. But too much of the drug could kill him, so keep him seated and upright. If his head gets too low, to much of the drug could go to the brain. He could die,” Gonzo says.
Minnie nods and starts the engine.
“Do we care if he dies?” Jupe asks.
“Our mission is not to terminate. You are simply to do a blood test. Unless you want to fill out paperwork for six months, keep him upright, until he get ID’d by headquarters,” Sarge says.
“No, sir. I mean, yes, sir,” Minnie replied.
She pulls onto the street and drives towards Bug’s house. Another van takes off at the same time, but turns to drive down a side street as Minnie pulls in front of Bug’s house and parks.
“Plug the clip into the reader, then jam this clip onto the tip of his index finger. It will take a blood test and feed the data back here. We will match it with the FBI database,” Sarge says.
“Then we can kill him,” Minnie says.
“No,” Gonzo says.
“Let headquarters worry about that,” Sarge says.
Minnie grabs her bag, and exits the van.
An agent from the other van jogs to an area bordering Bug’s back yard and tosses into the back yard a backpack with a wireless speaker inside. It lands unseen behinds some bushes. Loud cat noises emanate from the backpack.
Minnie walks up the driveway, steals a quick peak at the gold-colored VW, zips down the front zipper of her suit a bit, and walks up to ring the doorbell.
In the living room in the house, banging on the TV, Bug is alone with Diego, his 1st lieutenant. Bug gets up from the sofa and sees Minnie from the window.
“Diego, go kill that fucking cat,” Bug orders.
Diego gets up and goes to the back yard, which is surrounded by privacy fence. He walks out the back door and, listening for the cat noises, heads towards the bushes in the backyard. FBI agents come out from behind some bushes and taser him.
Alone, Bug goes over to the front door and opens it.
“Aren’t you the prettiest repairman I’ve ever seen?”
“You are the 10th person today to say that to me today. Sir,” Minnie says. She sees he is about 140 lbs. Bugs waves her in.
“In here,” he says and walks towards his living room.
Minnie quietly shuts the front door and silently pulls out the patch from her bag. As he starts to point to the TV set, she slams the patch into the man’s neck.
“Fuck, that hurts!”
During his brief struggle, he knocks over the TV set, which is next to a chair.
“To the chair. - Sit!” Minnie points.
Bug barely makes it, slumping into paralysis. Minnie stands on the chair, pulls him up straight by his armpits. He starts to slump.
Minnie grabs her cell phone and punches in a number. “He’s slouching!”
In the van, Gonzo puts a hand to his headset. “Quiet! It’s Minnie ... She says he’s slouching.”
“Shit!” Sarge says.
Everyone thinks for a moment.
Jupe has an idea. “Duct tape!”
“Your father says to try duct tape.”
Inside the house, Minnie hangs up and says “Duct tape, my ass!”
Minnie yanks Bug upright in the chair and slaps him awake. He shakes his head and looks at her.
“What are you going to do with me?”
She takes his right index finger and plugs the clip into the tip of them into the his finger.
“What’s going on? ... ”
“I ask myself that very question every morning, Bug. What is the world coming to?”
“I mean, what’s happening to me?”
“Bug, think of it this way. You are part of a very special experiment.”
“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”
“No, Bug. You didn’t let me finish. You are the first trial in a new program to use remote DNA testing and ...”
“Let’s me go! I have rights! Get me my lawyer!”
“Well, Bug, there’s the rub. Once your DNA is matched to who I think you are, rou’re citizenship is going to be revolked. You really don’t have rights.”
“That’s craziest idea I’ve ever heard of! Who thought of that?”
“CIA. I am not supposed to tell you that, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“This is legal?”
“The future of the law, Bug.”
“Ow! Please, don’t kill me.”
“Stop whining.”
“Please, don’t kill me. I’ve got a deal for you. There’s lot’s of money to be made.”
“Stop acting like a baby. I just have a few questions for you.”
“Ask me! Anything!”
Minnie sees a reading on the screen attached to the clip on Bugs finger.
“Hmm! You have come back positive.”
“Does that mean I’m healthy?”
“Not exactly. - Did you or your father, the Captain, have anything to do with the murder of Jesus Galtero?”
“No. Who is that?”
“Is a drug shipment coming in before your father’s announcement on the Hope Projects?”
“Who told you that? No!”
“I can tell you’re lying. Both times.”
Bug looks at the screen attached to the clip on his finger.
“That thing there tells you that?”
“The lie is in your eyes.”
“Fuck you!”
Minnie starts to pack.
“You know Bug, there is a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”
“I don’t know. I flunked my Shakespeare class. Professor,” he says sarcastically.
“Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3:8. The Bible. Not Shakespeare.”
Minnie gets up to leave.
“Oh. ... Wait! I can’t think. ... Uhmm ... there is no love between us ... ” Bug says. Sounding groggier by the minute, he tries to focus and finally says “...no war ... I forget. What is left?”
While the man gasps his last breaths, Minnie sees some money, drugs, weapons, a cell-phone, a laptop, and car keys. She powers down the laptop and cell-phone. The laptop has some post-it notes stuck on it with some passwords, which she also packs into her bag.
“Hate, Bug. It is a time for hate.”
Bug looks at his right index finger. “OWW! What ...?” He slumps over.
She zips up her suit, pull the finger clip off Bug and puts that in her bag, and exits with the bag over her shoulder and the keys in her hand.
Walking down the driveway, heading back to the van, Minnie pauses to check out the gold-colored VW. Looking around and seeing no one, she opens the car with the keys she has just taken. Laying in the back seat is a book on cryptography and in it a piece of paper with some cryptic symbols. She takes both and heads back to the van.
Legrand
Ensign Jason Legrand is a Coast Guard computer tech. His DHS office has several desks, each with a computer. Minnie and Jason are next to one of them.
“You really work for the DHS?”
“Yes, ma’am - the USCG is part of the DHS now.”
“Please, just call me Minnie.”
“Call me Jason.”
Minnie hands Jason a USB stick and he plugs it into the computer and opens a file on it.
“The file on the USB stick is a scan of the paper I found in the back seat of Luther Kidd Jr’s car. The original is still in the lab. Can you help?” she asked.
Jason studies its image on the screen.
“I will try.” Let’s put the ciphertext up on the screen so we can look at it. On the computer screen, the following text is projected:
EK1JBK95WK9QWKB4CEX1GW1K9LUKLLXZ94T5W0Y3H627R
“This cipher seems classical. Very unusual. Most just use PGP, or something equally uncrackable.”
“I don’t know anything about cryptography. What do you mean by ‘classical’?” Minnie asked.
“I just mean it looks like it was written using a cipher which has already been invented before the days of computers. Most of the more recent ciphers, like PGP, are much stronger. Much less likely to be cracked.”
“Why would someone use a classical cipher?”
“Possibly it was written while in prison, then smuggled out. In prison, they would not have access to computers. It’s also possible whoever wrote it just doesn’t know any better.”
“Is it likely they would not know the difference between a strong cipher and a weak cipher?” Minnie asked.
“There was an al-Qaeda terrorist who thought the infidels had invented PGP, therefore knew how to crack it. So he used a classical substitution cipher.”
“What happened to him?”
“Leavenworth I think - or Guantanamo - or dead. Some criminals are so dumb they don’t know how dumb they really are,” Jason says while typing on the computer. “They are blind to danger.”
“Sounds like a Darwin Award winner.”
“25. Hmm.”
“What? - the length of the cipher is 25 characters? Did you count them?”
“The length is 45. If you add the 26 letters of the alphabet A through Z to the 10 digits 0 through 9, you get an expanded alphabet of 36 characters. However, only 25 of those 36 are used.”
Minnie looks at him wide-eyed.
“I can count really fast. Like Rain Man.” Then Jason smiles and points to the computer screen, which has that information.
Minnie punches his arm.
“Let’s try frequency analysis,” Jason says laughing.
“What is that?”
“We see how often each symbol in the ciphertext is used in order to try to correlate it with ordinary English language usage. That should help crack it if a classical substitution ciphers preserve the frequency, so if they used a substitution cipher, frequency analysis might crack it.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“K occurs 13.3% of the time, W and 9 each about 8.8%, 1 and L about 6.6% .” Jason says, pointing to the computer screen he is reading from.
“That means K could be E, which is the most commonly occurring letter.”
“Yes, good.”
“ ... I wonder if it’s a bank account.”
“And it’s loaded with tons of cash!” Jason adds.
“We could get huge bonuses and a promotion!” Minnie laughs.
“Promotion? I would seriously like to be captain.”
Minnie laughs louder.
“Seriously, do you know that it is a bank account?”
“It’s either a bank account or the location of a treasure chest. I think I read it in a story once.”
Jason shakes his head.
“Let’s go back to frequency analysis?”
“E, T A, O, I, N. Those are the most commonly used letters.”
“Doesn’t mean they were actually used in this cipher.”
Jason nods and says “Let’s make the computer search though those substitutions for possible word matches.”
“Good idea.”
Jason goes an gets a cup of coffee.
“Coffee?” he offers.
“Yes, please. Black.”
Jason makes her a cup and brings them back and sits down.
“How long will this take?” Minnie asks.
Jason takes a sip and says, “It’s done. It found the message!”
Jason points to a jumble of text on the screen, Minnie grabs a pad of paper and writes:
maryland bank baltimore branch account sdb12345678
Aas she is writing, she says, “It’s a bank account.”
“You were right!”
Minnie makes an ‘of course’ face.
“You knew the person with this account?”
“Bug Kidd? I met him once. Then he died. Suddenly.”
“Were you the one who... ?”
“Kind of. It might have been awkward. For him, I mean. I think he was attracted to me. Then - well, he died ... suddenly.”
“Awkward.”
“Yes. Well, for him.”
“No, not for you.”
“No.”
“These things happens.”
“True.”
There was an awkward silence.
“What’s next?” Jason asks.
“Can you help me get a search warrant?”
Jupe walks in.
“There you are, angle! I’m hungry. How about some lunch?” he says and gives Minnie a kiss.
“Hi Daddy! This is Jason Legrand. He just cracked the cipher I found in Bug’s car. It’s a bank account number.”
Minnie shows Jupe the paper with the decryption. Jupe shakes hands with Jason, noticing his Ensign bars.
“My pleasure, Ensign. I’m Jupiter. Call me Jupe. Everyone does. Congratulations on the cipher!”
Jason smiles modestly.
“Thank you, sir. Please, call me Jason. I’m happy to help.”
“This calls for something special! How about steak?”
“Can you help me with a warrant?”
“What’s the hurry? I’m starving!”
“Bug’s gang could be emptying the account as well speak!”
“Okay. Jason, do you have a phone?”
Jason brings the office phone, on a long cord, over to Jupe . “Here, sir.”
Jupe dials a number. After some pleasantries, Jupe says
“Your honor, I need a warrant right away. ... I’ll hand the phone over to my daughter, who has the particulars.”
Jupe hands the phone to Minnie. Minnie gives details to the judge at the other end and hangs up.
“Thanks Daddy!”
“No problem. Let’s eat!”
“I have to go. I’ve got a warrant to execute!”
“Before you go ...” Jupe takes Minnie aside and whispers, “Is your mother still mad at me?”
“I think so.”
“I don’t get it.”
“She said you had to decipher it yourself. Have to run - good luck!”
Minnie runs out. Jupe’s mouth hangs open.
“I’ll have lunch with you, sir!”
Jupe sits down and ponders what Minnie just says. “... decipher...” he says to himself.
Sarge walks in. All eyes turn to him.
“FBI wire-tap now gives us proof Kidd is a connected with a drug gang. I just got the report.”
“We knew he was involved. Now we have proof?”
“Affirmative. What you don’t know is that Bug was connected with a much larger major drug cartel.”
“Do you have proof Bug was also involved? Do you want to go eat?”
The Scout Run
Sarge, Jupe and Jason are seated at a table in Paul’s Restaurant.
“We have proof Bug was involved. The wiretap confirmed he also ordered the hit on Jesus.”
A waitress walks up to the table.
“Good day gentlemen. Here are the menus. What would you like to drink?”
“Black Russian,” Jupe says.
“You’re on duty. No Black Russians,” the Sarge says.
Jason and the Sarge order iced tea.
“Beer,” says Jupe
“We don’t serve alcohol. We don’t have a liquor license.”
“Large chocolate milk-shake then.”
“I’ll be right back with that.”
They look at their menus. In a moment, the waitress returns with the iced teas and shake.
“Are you ready for your orders?”
“I’ll have a burger with the works! ... Hey, Sarge, are you saying Bug is, or was before his unfortunate heart attack, a major player?”
The Sarge nods. The waitress looks at Jason with an upturned eyebrow.
“If he is such a big deal, could we track so easily?”
“Maybe he thought we didn’t know anything about his Dad. I’d like to have a steak,” Jason says.
“How would you like that cooked?” the waitress asks.
“Medium well.”
“Besides, it was his girl-friend’s house. ... I’ll have a BLT,” the Sarge says.
“And fries, for me,” Jupe adds. “He let down his guard.”
“He made a stupid mistake.”
“Another Brick,” Jupe says.
“Gentlemen, the steak will take a little longer. Would you like the orders to come out together?”
“Bring mine out as soon as it’s ready.”
“Same here,” the Sarge says.
“I’ll wait,” Jason says to the waitress.
The waitress smiles at him and leaves.
“Jupe, this was your daughter’s first point role in a raid. How do you think she did?”
“Great! Why?”
Sarge shrugs.
“What is that ... supposed to mean?” Jupe says, imitating Sarge’s shrugging motion.
“She said she wasn’t briefed on the slouching problem with the drug. I think she was.”
“If she said she wasn’t briefed then that is the truth. She followed directions and protocol to the letter, as far as I can see.”
“Who dosed the medipack Bug was hit with?”
Jupe raises his hand.
“You? Did you brief her?”
“My bad.”
Sarge snorts.
“Jason, have I ever told you the story of Earl Weaver and Jim Palmer?”
Jason shakes his head. “From the Orioles?”
“Them. My Dad was at a game, this was back in the 1980s. They are playing the Yankees.”
“Go Bombers!” the Sarge says.
Jason and Jupe look at him with narrowed eyes.
“Go on, Jupe. Was this a home game?”
“No, it was away.”
The waitress shows up with the burger and the BLT. Jupe and Sarge take a bite out of their food.
“If this was ’82, then Don Mattingly would be on the team,” the Sarge says.
“1982 sounds right.”
“That was his rookie year. The Hitman!”
“The O’s pitcher Palmer is fucking phenomenal. I mean he is in top form. In his zone. But, the fucking umpire has a floating strike zone. So Earl Weaver signals a time out to talk to the ump,” Jupe says, tapping his forearm. “Weaver says to him, ‘You are calling strikes balls.’ ‘No I am not. Go back to the dugout,’ the ump says. Weaver says, ‘Jim Palmer is a 3 time Cy Young winner, a 4 time Gold Glove winner, and a 6 time All-Star. If you tell him what spot over the plate you want him to pitch to, he will hit that spot. Make up your mind where the strike zone is.’ Then he turns around and heads to the dugout.”
“Great manager - Weaver.”
Now Jupe turns to the Sarge.
“Minnie is your Jim Palmer. You point her in the right direction, decide on your mark and she will hit the fucking mark every single fucking time.”
The Sarge nods.
“Speaking of the Yankees, do you know what happened to my Yankees cap?” “Fries Jason? What cap, Sarge?”
“Well, just a couple, thanks. I saving up for my steak!”
Jason takes a few fries from Jupe’s plate with a fork and puts them on a napkin.
“My collectors item - it’s a Yankee’s cap worn by Don Mattingly. It’s inside a glass case in my office. Are you saying of all the times you’ve been in my office, you never noticed it?” Sarge asks.
“I remember that. What do you mean? That cap is in your office.”
“It has a pizza stain on it.”
“No doubt The Hitman liked pizza.”
“This stain is new.”
“Jason, did I tell you about the scout run on Bug’s house?” Jupe asks.
Jason shakes his head.
“What the fuck is this? I didn’t order that operation!”
“No harm done. I just wanted to check out the house before my little girl took him down. I did it the night before.”
“What the fuck did you do?” the Sarge asks.
“One of my snitches told me that Bug was in this house. During one of the stakeouts, I noticed they liked to order pizzas from Four Brothers Pizza. I convinced Four Brothers to let me do the delivery, just so I could check out the inside.”
“Did they really let you inside the house?” Jason asks.
“Yes!”
“Really? How did you manage that?”
“Well, they couldn’t very will put a beating on me outside,” Jupe says.
“They messed you up?” Jason asks.
Jupe waved it off.
“Why didn’t you report this?” Sarge asks.
“Really Sarge, I’m fine. Stomach bruises. I got a good look around. Small crew. Cute girlfriend. I didn’t get a good look at Bug but I knew from that inside look that we had to think of some way to separate his crew from him. Otherwise, Bug wouldn’t have to answer the front door when Minnie knocked the next day.”
“Brave as hell,” Jason says.
“What caused them to beat you?” Sarge asks.
“Uhmm. A little misunderstanding?”
“What would that be?” Sarge asks.
“They thought I was a Yankee’s fan.”
The Sarge’s eyes get big.
“You didn’t!”
Jason tries to suppress a smile.
“I had to, Sarge. I thought you’d understand!”
The Sarge stands up.
“Get the fuck back to work, both of you. Now!”
“I haven’t... Yes, sir,” Jason says.
They all get up, throwing money on the table as they leave.
“Sarge, I didn’t know they’d mash my face into the pizza while I was wearing ...”’
They step outside the restaurant and head back to their DHS offices.
“Shut The Fuck Up! You are assigned to Ensign Legrand’s command.”
“Sarge, I outrank Jason by ...”
“I can change that before you can say ‘Go Bronx Bombers,’ if you’d like.”
“I would never want to say that.”
“Legrand, you make sure Engel stays occupied. I want that stego-cipher cracked.”
“Yes, sir. Top priority.”
“Engel, there is just one part of your story I don’t understand.”
Jupe is a little chastened and is polite for once.
“What is that, sir?”
“Can you tell me how you convinced them you were really a Yankees fan?”
“That was easy, sir. I used my New York accent.”
“Let me hear.”
In his best Bronx accent, Jupe yells “Yo, pizza delivery!”
“Good Bronx accent. You’ve been practicing!”
“I have the best impersonation of you in the division,” Jupe says.
“Get out of my face, you two! Solve that cipher!”
More gold bugs
Minnie enters the lobby and heads over to the desk of a bank manager. She pulls out her badge.
“I’m DHS Agent Minerva Engel. We spoke on the phone,” Minnie says.
“Yes, I’ve been expecting you. You have the search warrant with you?”
Minnie pulls out a piece of paper and hands it the manager. The manager looks it over and sends a file to the printer.
“The safe-deposit boxes are this way.”
They both head to another section of the bank. The manager pulls out the safe deposit box and unlocks it, allowing Minnie to open it up. They see a USB stick and a key.
“If you take possession, please sign this form,” the manager says.
Minnie dons rubber gloves and pulls out a plastic evidence bag. She puts the USB stick and the key in the evidence bag and seals it. The manager hands Minnie the printout, which Minnie signs.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Minnie says as she takes her exit.
Minnie enters the DHS office where Jason, Gonzo and Jupe are seated. They are staring at a computer.
“I knew I’d find you here,” Minnie says.
Jupe smiles, gets up and goes over to Minnie.
“How’s my little angel?” Jupe says, as he kisses and hugs Minnie.
Minnie places the evidence bag on the table and says, “Hi Daddy. Hi Jason! Hi Gonzo!”
Jason puts on a rubber glove and plugs the USB stick into a computer in his office. He studies the files that are on it.
“These are all image files.”
“Images of what?” Gonzo asks.
“They look like beetles,” Jason says.
“They’re pretty,” Minnie says. “Very unusual gold-color.”
“These images have been altered. I ran a program that checks if known steganography algorithms have embedded a message into the image. It came back positive!” Jason says.
“Stegonagraphy?” Gonzo asks.
“Yes, hiding a message in a picture,” Jason says. Gonzo shakes his head, still not understanding, so Jason continues, “A picture is composed of pixels, right?”
“Right,” Gonzo agrees.
“Each pixel is one of a million shades of a color. By default, a jpg image arranges these pixels in a very special data structure. By changing that color slightly, or not, we can keep track of those color differences as a sequence of 0’s and 1’s.”
“That sequence of 0’s and 1’s is the embedded message?” Gonzo says.
“Exactly,” Jason says, nodding.
“And the embeddingof that image ruins the data structure in some way??”
“Yes, you got it!”
“I don’t get it.” Jupe says.
“Can you figure out what the message is in this case?” Minnie asks.
“I will try. I also have software for decrypting some steganography encryptions. I don’t know if it will work on this one.”
“Will it take long to find out if you can crack it or not?” Minnie asks.
“I don’t know. I’ll start it working and maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“How can the computer tell if a change was made but not know the system used to encrypt the message?” Gonzo asks.
“Image files, such as jpg, have a very systematic formatting. It’s easy to check it if changes were made to alter the formatting. It is not so easy to remove the changes.”
“Cool,” Gonzo says, satisfied he understands the basics now.
“I’m hungry. I’m going to lunch,” Minnie says.
“I’ll go with you,” Gonzo says.
“I’ll stay with Jason and look at this more.”
Minnie kisses Jupe on the cheek. Gonzo nods to Jupe. They wave to Jason and leave.
Jupe and Jason stare at the computer screen, which shows a little progress on the progress bar. Jupe twiddles his thumbs. Jason goes to get a candy bar from the vending machines. Jupe gets up and finds a crossword puzzle on a desk. He looks at for awhile, then tosses it aside. Jason goes to get a bag of chips and a coke form the machines. Jupe searches through desk drawers.
“What are you looking for?” Jason asks.
Jupe slams the draw shut.
“No porn? Jeez!”
The computer’s progress bar is at 100’% and it makes a soft “ding” sound. A pop-up menus says
Put that cocktail down! Your cipher is solved!
“Jupe! Check this out!”
Jupe runs over and grabs the mouse from Jason.
“I got this.”
He clicks the “Okay” button and the cipher pops up in a new window:
Beltway to Reisterstown Road West 10 miles Cherry Hill Storage Unit 1729
“Why is the name ‘Cherry Hill Storage’ so familiar?” Jason asks.
“Cherry Hill Storage is one of Captain Kidd’s properties.”
Jason nods and smacks his head. “Want to go check it out?”
“You read my mind. Grab the evidence key. I’ll print out this message,” Jupe says.
Jupe dashes off a quick note to Minnie and tapes it to the monitor. They take the printout and the key and they leave.
The treasure
Jason and Jupe are in Jason’s car, driving on Reisterstown Road, outside the Baltimore beltway, heading west. Jason is driving while Jupe is looking at the GPS app on his cell-phone.
“I’d forgotten Kidd owned Cherry Hill Storage,” Jason says.
“He’s had that place for some time, has’t he?” Jupe asks.
“Must’ve been ten years.”
“Ten? Really?”
“I think it’s ten years, this year.”
“Ten year anniversary. That’s a big deal.”
“Not really.”
“I mean, to my wife it is,” Jupe says.
‘Are we taking about Kidd or not?’’
“Never mind, I think I just figured something out.”
Jason shrugs.
“Turn into here.”
“That’s a jewelry store,” Jason says, but he turns off of Reisterstown Rd into a parking lot and stops the car.
“I’ll just be a minute,” Jupe says, jumping out of the car and dashing in the store.
Jason checks his cellphone for messages. He reads one from the Sarge that says
If you get stuck on the cipher, give it to NSA to work on.
Jupe runs out of the store with a gift bag and jumps back in the car.
“Ready?” Jason asks.
“Let’s go.”
Jason pulls back onto Reisterstown Rd and drives a few miles.
“Turn into here.”
Jason pulls off Reisterstown into a large parking lot in front of a large box-shaped corrugated steel building. He stops in a parking space and turns off the engine. They see a sign saying
Cherry Hill Storage Facility
They get out of the car, noticing the numerous security cameras.
“I’m going to go see if someone can answer some questions about 1729,” Jason says.
“Good plan.”
Jason heads to the glass front doors and enters, followed by Jupe .
Inside the warehouse storage facility foyer, it looks deserted. They notice more security cameras.
Noticing a door in a back of the room, Jason says “This way.”
They head down a hallway leading to a door. Jason grabs his service revolver and checks the safety. Jupe does the same, as he slides next to the door.
“Ready?” Jupe whispers.
Jason nods. Jupe cracks open the door and peeks inside. Seeing no one, they enter.
Hallways to the left, right and forward, with numbered doors on each side. Ahead they see 0100, 0101, ... . More security cameras.
Jason taps Jupe on the shoulder and points to the right hallway. Jupe nods and that is the way they go.
The next hallway has doors 0200, 0201, ... .
Jupe points to a sign “Stairs.” Jason nods and they jog over to the door. Again, they pause, open the door a crack, peek through and, seeing nothing dangerous, enter.
They run silently up the stairs and pause at the door at the top of the stairs. Jupe nods and Jason opens the door slowly. Seeing no one, they enter the second floor.
Straight ahead they see a hallway with doors 1400, 1401, ... . Jason points down the hallway to their right. They jog in that direction. Jupe holds up his hand when they get to a hallway whose doors are 1700, 1701, ... . They jog to 1729.
“Key?” Jupe whispers.
“I thought you brought the key!”
“Oh, I guess I did.”
Jason shakes his head and Jupe tries the key. It fits the lock. Jupe turns the key and the door unlocks. They enter.
They switch on lights and see a small room crammed with boxes and crates on a concrete floor with steel walls.
“Did you hear something?” Jason asks.
“No. What?”
“Voices.”
“Shut the door. I’ll call Minnie,” Jupe says. “She should know anyway.”
Jason shuts the door and jams a metal bar under the door knob to stop anyone from opening it. Jupe dials a number on his phone. Jason looks over the boxes and crates.
Jupe speaks in a low voice: “Minnie, hello! Jason and I decoded the cipher ... Oh, you saw the note I wrote you. Are you in the office? ... Okay ... We’re at the Cherry Hill Storage facility in Reisterstown. Second floor. Unit 1729. ... Yeah, Kidd owns it ... It seemed dead here when we arrived but Jason just said he thought he heard voices. ... Okay see you soon.”
Jupe hangs up and puts the phone in his pocket.
“Are they coming?”
“Yep. Minnie thought Kidd would have a big shipment of drugs in. Maybe this is it. Let’s see what’s in these.”
“We don’t have a search warrant. We aren’t supposed to be inside here.”
“We were testing the key, and, fearing for our safety we hid inside. Worried we might be breathing poisonous fumes....” Jupe ad libs.
“It smells fine!” Jason objects.
Jason puts his ear to the door and listens.
“... we opened up some boxes because ... You’re right, that sounds stupid. I haven’t worked out the story yet. Let’s open up these boxes and crates anyway. I’ll figure out something to say later,” Jupe says.
‘ Jupe , No!’’
“If you don’t, I will.”
Before Jason can stop him, Jupe takes a crowbar and pops the top off a crate. He sees drugs and cash.
“Shit!” Jason says.
They both start opening boxes and crates, finding money, drugs and weapons. Jupe steps back and calls the Sarge.
“Sarge, before you start yelling, Jason have found a stash house. We’re guessing over 10 million in cash and drugs and weapons. ... Cherry Hill Storage, in Reisterstown. Yes, sir.”
“What did he say?” Jason asks.
“Sit tight.”
There is a very loud banging on the door. A number of armed guards stand outside 1729.
“Who is in there?” one of the guards yells.
“Who is out there?” Jupe yells back.
“Security for Cherry Hill Storage. Open the door and come out.”
“If they were really security, wouldn’t they have a key?” Jason whispers to Jupe.
“They aren’t security. Those are Kidd’s men,” Jupe says quietly.
Jason text messages to Minnie on his cellphone, “Hurry.”
“Security, do you always order around your customers like that?”
“You aren’t the customer who rented this space.”
“Oh really? What makes you think that?”
“Unit 1729 was rented by Luther Kidd, Jr. He died yesterday.”
“That wasn’t reported to the police,” Jason whispers to Jupe.
“Make up something before they start shooting,” Jupe says quietly.
“Me? Why don’t you?” Jason whispers.
“Because Sarge put me in charge!”
Jupe thinks. More banging.
“I was hired by the lawyer of Luther Kidd, Sr, to do some inventory. I was given strict orders not to open the door for anyone but Mr. Kidd himself or his lawyer,” Jupe yells.
“I’ll check on that story.”
They hear the clomp of boots receding. After a minute, the sound of footsteps approaching and a very loud banging on the door.
“Your story does not check out,” the guard yells.
“How do you know? Did you ask Mr. Kidd?”
“Yes he did. This is Luther Kidd, Sr. I said my lawyers haven’t sent anyone over here. Who are you?” Kidd demanded.
“My name is Jupiter.”
“And I’m Mars, the god of War. - I think you are from the New York gang, trying to start something. Well, I’m going to start something out here. We are going to open fire if you don’t open this fucking door right now!”
“That idn’t work out as I hoped,” Jason whispered.
“He sounds upset,” Jupe agrees.
Outside, Minnie and Jason pull into the parking lot of Cherry Hill Storage.
“That’s Jason’s car. They’re here!” Gonzo says.
Minnie parks next to Jason’s car and they get out, running toward the front door to the Storage facility.
Inside 1729, Jupe yells, “Wait a minute! You got me. Don’t shoot. I’m coming out,” and jiggles the handle. “The lock is jammed. Call a locksmith!”
“The lock is not jammed. You have put something against the door. Remove that and come out or we will start shooting,” the guard yells.
“You have 5 seconds.,” Kidd warns.
Jason and Jupe hide behind large boxes and crates.
The guards carefully take aim at the lock of the door to 1729 with their guns.
Minnie and Gonzo sneak up right behind them and have weapons pointed at their heads.
“Hands up! DHS! You are all under arrest!” Gonzo yells.
Minnie bangs on the door to 1729 and says “Daddy! It’s me! Open up!”
Inside, she hears some noises of boxes being pushed and steps and a metal pole being thrown on concrete, then the door to 1729 flies open. Jupe and Jason emerge, smiling.
“Thanks, Minnie and Gonzo!” Jason says.
“My angel! Let me help with the handcuffs,” Jupe says, as he starts to cuff one of the guards.
“I’ll help too,” Jason says.
“I called in a search warrant,” Minnie says pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket.
Just then, Sarge shows up while they are frisking and cuffing the suspects, reading them their Miranda rights. He lloks in 1729 and emerges. He is smiling.
“Sarge, I think there is something deformed with your face,” Jupe says, winking at Minnie.
“Very fucking funny. You have never seen me smile. Good job. Jupe, I almost forgive you,” Sarge says.
“I have to make a phone call,” Jupe says.
“Now? It better be important,” Sarge says.
Jupe punches a number into his cell-phone. He talks as they escort the suspects outside.
“Hi Honey. Happy anniversary! ...”
In the kitchen of Juno and Jupe’s home, Juno is on the phone.
“You remembered?” she says, biting her lip.
Jupe is walking with the other agents and the suspects to the vehicles outside. Jupe pushes one of the hand-cuffed guards to make him walk faster and says on his cell-phone, “Of course I remembered - I even bought you something at the jexlery store ... ”
Juno touches her lips and asks, “What did you get me?”
Jupe laughs, “I’ll be home in a bit. - Ten years, honey -. I love you too.”
