The Puzzle Box
"I have this great idea for a new invention, Agent Q-3," Alvin said, as he and Shoie headed for Mr. Link's house, the Pest humming to herself as she followed them, occasionally reaching out to grab a snowflake with her tongue.
"Is that why we're going to see Mr. Link?" Shoie asked.
"I want to look at Mr. Pinkney's code book," Alvin said "I know I can make a better code for him."
As they reached Mr. Link's house, there was the sound of a slamming door and a woman stood for a moment on the porch, before heading towards the street.
The woman, dressed in a strange black dress, stomped past them on the sidewalk as they turned to Mr. Link's door. Something about the woman caused a shiver to run down Alvin's back. His eyes followed her down the sidewalk, until Shoie poked him to get his attention.
"What's wrong, old bean," Shoie asked.
"There was something wrong about that woman," Alvin said.
"That woman," the Pest echoed. "I liked her dress. I saw one in the museum like it."
"No, that wasn't it," Alvin said. At only twelve years of age, he didn't quite understand why girls liked some clothes. His sister wasn't a good example of the species, he'd decided years ago. Only eight, she'd rather run around in jeans and t-shirts than a dress like the girls in his class.
"What do you want to do, Alvin?" Shoie asked. "Think she's a spy? An enemy agent?"
"Or maybe someone trying to get Mr. Pinkney's code book!" Alvin said. "Come on!" Alvin took off running, down the walk, up onto the porch, and started knocking on the door.
"Well, hello dears," Mrs. Murphy said. "Come right in. Hang up your coats. I was just getting some tea."
"Mr. Link is alright, isn't he?" Alvin said, handing her his coat. "Who was that scary woman?"
"Scary woman," the Pest echoed, pulling off her coat.
"That woman should know better than upset him," Mrs. Murphy said. "He doesn't need her kind of business."
"Who is she?" Alvin asked.
"Never you mind," Mrs. Murphy said. "He's been looking forward to your visit all afternoon. Go ahead, I'll be there in a minute."
Alvin, Shoie, and the Pest hurried to Mr. Link's room. When they enter his room, he waved them over. "What can I help you with today, Alvin," he said.
"Was that an evil spy?" the Pest asked, before Alvin could say anything. "She looked like someone's evil stepmother."
"Gave us the shivers," Shoie added, to give Alvin time to remember what he wanted to say.
"And what do I always say?" Mr. Link said.
"People aren't bad when you first meet them," Alvin said. "Get to know them before deciding that."
"Yes," Mr. Link said. "That woman is a very complicated person," he said. "A colleague of sorts, she isn't someone you should concern yourselves with."
"Here we go," Mrs. Murphy said, carrying a large tray. "Cocoa and gingerbread for the three of you, and extra strong tea for Mr. Link."
Shoie poked Alvin, and nodded before taking a sip of cocoa. "Tell him your idea," he said.
"My idea, right," Alvin said. He took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I think I have an idea for a way to make Mr. Pinkney's code better." He spread the the paper out on Mr. Link's bed.
"That's amazing, Alvin," the Pest said, staring at it. "What's it do?"
"That's an interesting idea, Alvin," Mr. Link said. "If I understand it correctly, you want to combine the code with a cipher?"
"Yes," Alvin said excitedly. "It would cut the code in half, saving him even more money. And works just like a typewriter."
"The Germans had a machine to write coded messages during the war," Mr. Link said. "I wrote my last book about how it worked. It looks like you had a similar idea."
"Someone already thought of it?" Alvin said, his excitement disappearing.
"It's not exactly the same," Mr. Link said. "They had to use a special typewriter to get it to work. It looks like your idea is using an ordinary typewriter and something I can't make out."
"I'm not sure what that part is yet. I'm still working on it," Alvin said. "It's the part that makes the code from the cipher you type in."
"I might have just the same," Mr. Link said. "Mrs. Murphy?" he said loudly.
She quickly came back into his room. "What can I get you?"
"Do you remember that puzzle box, the one made from that blueish metal?" he said.
"The one that woman was asking you about?" she said, frowning.
"She was wrong about it," Mr. Link said. "She couldn't use it for what she wanted. But I think Alvin could make good use of it."
"A puzzle box?" Alvin said.
"Usually, a puzzle box is a small puzzle that is hard to solve," Mr. Link said. "This one can be used as a sort of calculator, except much smaller. When Mrs. Murphy comes back with it, I'll show you how it works. I think it can be the missing idea for your cipher machine, or at least give you some other ideas."
"Here you go," Mrs. Murphy said, handing a large blue object to Mr. Link.
Taking it, he held it up for Alvin, Shoie, and the Pest to see. "It doesn't look like much, but watch what happens to this letter when I do this." He twisted the object several times d stopped when there was a loud click. He then showed them another side of it.
"How does it work?" Alvin asked. "Like a strange cuckoo clock?"
"No one has ever been able to take it apart," Mr. Link said. "But it always behaves the same way. You can use it to create ciphers or to make complex codes. Just by twisting it in the other direction you can decode the message." He handed it to Alvin.
"You would need two of them," Alvin said, weighing it in his hand. "One to write the message and one to get the original message."
"Yes, exactly," Mr. Link said. "It should be part of a pair. Someone claimed to have the other one but they disappeared during the war."
"I have an idea," Alvin said, his eyes glazing over.
"Who do you think that woman was?" Shoie asked, as they headed home for dinner. They'd spent an hour playing with the puzzle box and discussing it with Mr. Link but eventually it was time to go.
"I bet she has the other puzzle," Alvin said. "She wants Mr. Link's puzzle so she can create undecipherable messages to send to another agent."
"I bet she has an awesome evil secret agent name," the Pest said, sighing. "Evil Poppins!"
"Who would she be sending messages to, and why?" Alvin said, squinting through the snow, and humoring his sister, as his brain churned through idea after idea for using the puzzle box.
"A Poppins needs a Burt," the Pest said. "Just like in the movie. Evil Burt!"
"Or maybe she's not evil," Shoie said.
"She was dressed to be evil," the Pest said. "Like in a Disney movie."
"No more talking about evil agents," Alvin said, when they reached their front door. "Mom won't like it."
"Evil agents," Muttered the Pest. throwing the door open and rushing in out of the cold.