The Romanov Ransom (Fargo Adventures 9)

Sam eyed the book. “What do you mean?”

Karl pointed to a notation underlined. “First.”

“First what?” Sam asked.

“Brand thinks it refers to how the code should be read.”

Remi looked over Sam’s shoulder, taking everything in. “Does Lazlo know?”

“We just spoke with him. Now that he has the photos of the Enigma machine, he’s going to take another look.”

And, sure enough, Lazlo called fifteen minutes later. “The boys were right,” Lazlo said. “The notations in the logbook are the key on how to read the coded letters. Now that we have everything set in the Enigma machine, it didn’t take long at all. It was the first letter of each sentence.”

“What did you translate?” Sam asked.

“That we know where the Romanov Ransom was taken.”

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nbsp; “Where?” Sam and Remi asked at the same time.

“South America.”

Sam exchanged glances with Remi, asking, “Any chance you can narrow it down? That’s a big continent.”

“Argentina.”

“That fits,” Brand said. “A lot of Nazi war criminals ended up there.”

Sam quickly looked over the pages of the logbook, wondering if there was anything they’d missed. “Lazlo, what are the chances that Rolfe and Leopold know this information without the logbook in their possession?”

“Assuming they aren’t somehow already in possession of this knowledge? After all, they certainly seem to know what the tins are for.”

“Good point.”

“It’s really only a matter of time,” Lazlo said. “Anyone with the least idea on how cryptology works has probably already tried deciphering the first letters of each sentence. I certainly tried it. Of course, it didn’t work until you recovered the Enigma machine settings. And now that they have those—”

“How?” Karl said. “I thought—”

“A long story,” Sam said, turning to the last page of the logbook, where Strassmair’s name was circled. “I’ll let Selma tell you. Right now, I’d like you and your brother to concentrate on finding out whatever you can on this Strassmair person.”

“Anything in particular?”

“Where he was from, any family he had. In other words, anything that will help us pinpoint where in South America he might have gone.” He closed the book, placing it on the table. “In the meantime, it looks like our next stop is Argentina.”

“What about Rolfe and the Wolf Guard?” Remi asked.

“Let’s hope they’re not as astute as Lazlo is at deciphering codes.”

65

Rolfe paced the room, looking over at Leopold, who was sitting at the computer. “What’s taking so long?”

“Nika’s photo is not the best,” Leopold said.

“She only took one picture?”

“More than likely, she only managed to send the one before she was caught. A shame they discovered her. She was a valuable asset for a while.”