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7/8/04
Dear Rupert,
I'm writing this letter from the hospital in Saranac Lake, NY,
looking out on Lake Colby from my room, and pumping out
"sick-person" smell by the cubic yard. The doctors use long words
to tell me about my injury, but their shifting eyes tell a more
succinct story. The cops have been by, but they seem to have bought
the "I thought it wasn't loaded" line...mostly. If you're reading
this, it means I'm dead. I chose the life I lived, so don't cry for
me.
The last job me and the boys pulled went pretty badly, but we
got out of the warehouse with a bunch of their dirty money. I am
(or was, if you're reading this letter) the last living
member of my crew, so the money is yours (I don't think anybody
will come looking for it, if you're worried).
Turns out I'm really grateful for the GPSr you got me for my
birthday, sorry I didn't thank you then. Geocaching paid off as a
hobby...it's a great way to hide things in wild places, and that's
what I've done with your money (see how easily I've given it up...I
really must be dying). I got in touch with a geocacher living in
Lake Clear, and he's agreed to post this cache so you can find the
money. Don't worry about him, I paid him out of my "walkaway" money
(remember how dad always kept $2000 in money to buy himself a
couple of minutes headstart from cops or whoever?). The geocacher
("NFA") knows there's more money in the woods, but also knows that
he'll never find it; I told him you'd give him another 3K after you
get the money.
After the job in Albany on the 4th, we headed North to try and
throw "them" (whoever they are) off, planning to rent a
cabin up in the Adirondacks somewhere, and lay low for a week or
two. Sheer bad luck, I ran into Jimmy Fingers at a gas station in
Lake Placid (up for a fishing vacation with his kids he said, while
reaching for his cell-phone)...I knew I had to dump the cash
quick.
The sun was just climbing over the mountains when we started our
"hike" into the woods. Mo caught one during the job, but didn't
trust me and Floyd enough to wait in the car while we hid the
money...he splashed into a small pond on the side of the trail
about half an hour into the walk (we'll just call that "Mo's Pond",
tip your hat as you go by). By the time the sun was over the trees
and we could hear the first plane of the day flying out of the Lake
Clear Airport, Floyd had decided two things: that he had walked far
enough, and that he would rather have all the money than split it
with me. You'll pass "Floyd's Bog" not too long before you get to
the cash/cache. Floyd's the one responsible for my "accident", and
the reason you're going to be moving out of that rat-hole near the
university, so give him a nod as you go by.
The directions to the money are in the code we used in math club
during undergrad...alpha-numeric wheel ("a" through "o", space, "p"
through "z", "." then 0-9, and finally ","); same function we
always used; code-key and "offset" from this letter...I hope this
is ringing a bell, or else some hunter 50 years from now is going
to be a very happy man.
xkspwi.qq6dx8a7f,,eu46d5w882e6a3w2h
nfvznlxpdjs.kiekxv0vgkmy-wriwrxu0oj
u-0qkovfh.kupt--uwehpx2x3qoqrnus1ps
u7,x7978g7r2286u57035b8vuwwsr7crgif
wqvpuzmnqy5p5yxpmtyonx1wknuapn-vi-y
tuivtx0vqy4nypxhphrwloyiyr0lqlxt1zq
xgs-v7tuoipttqo5wqtxpsyjrtc-owqfkqw
ypnmypwqofspoiynz5
The message (& code) use letters A-Z, numbers 0-9, commas,
periods, and spaces (shown in encrypted form as dashes because I
don't trust the geocacher I found to get the spaces right
otherwise). I left out nulls and reverses since you may be a little
rusty. The coords listed for the cache are just a place to park, so
don't get excited...the cache is within 20 miles of the coords
given, so top up your tank, and resupply for a wet hike of about 5
miles.
When you get the money, remember to pay the geocacher who listed
the cash/cache for me ($3000), and also to leave a $100 bill in
addition to the other stuff you regularly find in a geocache (log,
pencil, trade items, etc.), so that if anybody else figures out the
code, they'll think it was just a regular mystery/puzzle
geocache.
Good Luck little brother! Sorry I can't be there to spend it
with you!
Zach |