At 50 degrees and 51 minutes north latitude and 4 degrees and 21 minutes east longitude, something unusual happened. While we, the students and teachers, were spending time at school (as usual), just then unexpected events stirred up the whole region. Even Dr. Sher Lock of the London Institute of Mysterious Phenomena could not explain the strange white dust cloud over the entire city. Even the latest computer did not clear up the mystery. We thought natural phenomena were harmless.
An even bigger surprise awaited us in the evening broadcast of international news. Hear it for yourself…and now to follow that…an abandoned house was found, all the windows and doors were open and there was no one inside. The Brussels police found only a few clues about the resident of the apartment, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Days later, it became clear that the white dust had emitted from the abandoned house. The secret of the dust could not be solved, but people in the region started coughing and getting sick as they breathed. The police deepened the investigation into the occupants of the house. They could only get information from his neighbors that a scientist with strange behavior lives in the house.
Police found documents and audio recordings similar to
encrypted methods in the house. The mysterious voice was saying, "I highly
respect intelligence. Decipher the cryptic clues and catch me if you're smarter
than me. Otherwise, the white dust will be the end of you all"...
Days later, the rental car that the scientist parked in
front of his house was found abandoned in Turkey… The police thought long and
hard... They combined all the clues and decided that this person was a very
intelligent, talented and somewhat unstable scientist. Therefore, they thought
that he started using their information for malicious purposes. They thought he
was escaping and leaving clues about himself wherever he escaped.
Finally, the police decided to assemble an international team to catch the mysterious scientist. They sought help from students with knowledge of cryptography from different countries...
PART 1 – SUSPECT IS IN TURKEY
Firstly, TURKEY KIRIKKALE HİGH
SCHOOL CRYPTOLOGY TEAM (Strange, Fung Runin, Colonel, Doctor, Sun, Lisa, Black)
started working to help the police. The mysterious evaluation meeting took place as
follows.
Strange: Dear Turkish
cryptanalyst team. I am your team leader. My code name is Mrs Strange .As you
know, the suspect person’s car was found abandoned in Turkey. We did an
inspection and found some CIPHER TOOLS, a KEYCHAIN and MINT OIL and a strange
RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL in the vehicle. Then each of you traced this radioactive
substance. Friends, what information did you get about this mysterious event ? Please summarize your works.
Fang Runin: What do you
think Doctor?
Doctor: I am
working with Croat partner. And he went to a mystical place too. I'm curious
about the strange note on Rumi's tomb. My partner will solve it.
Strange: Your turn
Sun!
Sun : I am
working with Portugal partner. I came across the same radioactive material
around the old ancient city where the Temple of Artemis is located. I found a clue here. My partner is
trying to decode the message hidden here. Salvage…
Salvage: I am
working with Czech partner. I found
traces of radioactive material in Turkey's most crowded city. I found a clue in
a place that has been used as a cathedral, mosque and museum throughout
history. And this place is on the world heritage list. My partner is trying to
decode the message hidden here.
Strange: What dou you
think Lisa?
Lisa: I am working
with Spanish partner. I found that the suspect also went to the tomb of the founder
of the Turkish state. My partner will decipher the clue he left
here.
Black: I am
working with a Slovak partner. This man cannot live without science. Because he
went to the hometown of the 2015 Chemistry Nobel winner. My Slovak partner is
trying to decipher the clue I found there.
Strange: Fang Runnin!
Fang Runin : I am
working with French partner. I came across the scientist's trail at an
international tourist center formed by the erosion of layers of lava and ash
erupted by a volcanic mountain 60 million years ago. My partner is trying
to decode the message hidden here.
Doctor: What dou you
know about this person, Colonel…
Colonel: I am
working with Turkish partner. This person is a really interesting person. He
went to the zero point of history and left a clue. My partner will decipher it.
Strange:Ok. Now, we
sent interactive map and we are waiting deciphered clues from our partners.
Telephone rings This is me! How could we miss him? No... Dear friends, center
said that the strange radioactive material was just found at the coordinates of
48° 9′ North, 17° 7′ Easth. Our work will be long and hard...
Just at this
time, the phone rings!!! Strange answers the phone,
Strange: This is me! How could we miss him?
No... Dear friends, center said that the strange radioactive material was just
found at the coordinates of 48° 9′ North, 17° 7′ Easth. Our work will be long
and hard...
Fang Runin: Damn it…
After everyone has
left the meeting room, the phone rings again for a long time and a cloud of
dust begins to cover the room…
Cryptology teams from 7 countries were alarmed as soon as they received the interactive map sent by the Kırıkkale team of Turkey. The Slovak team found the first cipher in Mardin/Turkey where Aziz Sancar was born. They worked very hard and cracked the Vigenere cipher. The clue they unraveled said: "I should have received this Nobel prize instead of Aziz Sancar".. Why was the suspect jealous of this Turkish scientist? They would think about that later. Without wasting any time, the Slovak detective department shared the clue with partners.
On the same day, Turkey Ankara team deciphered the
interesting code they found in Göbeklitepe. In this message, it was written
with Affine encryption and it said; "The first letter of this place reminded me of
my first love". Evidently, the suspect was in an emotional mood at the zero
point of history.
The deciphered clues began to be transmitted at the
center and we watched in amazement...
And the Spanish team worked day and night. This time, the suspect had hidden a challenging message. They got a little disappointed. Just as they had fallen asleep from exhaustion, a crew member woke up screaming. In his dream, he somehow saw the place where the password was hidden, this was the mausoleum of Atatürk, the leader of Turkey. Afterwards, it was easy for the whole team to decipher the Polybius cipher. The deciphered clue said: "The last two digits of the year that the leader in this mausoleum died is my age". It wasn't hard to find out that this year is 1938.
The Czech team also carried out a very meticulous work in those days. First they found the password in Hagia Sophia. Then they broke the password of Affin. The clue was: "Hagia Sophia's north latitude coordinate is my shoe size". They immediately shared the 41 measure with the partners.
It was not difficult for the Portuguese team to find the password in the ancient city of Ephesus. Having a very good software team made things easier. They worked hard and wrote a program on caesar encryption. The program's decryption was greeted with enthusiasm by the team. The clue was: "I like ancient cities but I have a Aquaphobia". I have to leave this city. It was immediately forwarded to these partners.
As soon as news reached
French Guiana, they took action. They quickly deciphered it with the
permutation encryption they found in Cappadocia. The suspect, under the spell
of Cappadocia, left a note: "Have you ever thought how balloons fly? I like to
fly like the balloons here".
In those days, Croatian Team worked hard, too. They deciphered the Polybius code they found in the Mevlana
(Rumi) tomb. The clue said:"You misunderstood me. Actually, I am a tolerant
person like Rumi".
All the clues in Turkey
were resolved in a short time in November. The center was delighted that it was
working with the right cryptology teams. But catching the mysterious scientist
would not be easy. The strange radioactive material has now been found in
Slovakia. And now all the Teams were on alert for the incoming information from
Slovakia.
PART 2 – SUSPECT IS IN SLOVAKIA
Turkish partners from Kırıkkale contacted our detective sk.jakub. In a telephone conversation, sk.jakub learns that the wanted person is in Slovakia. In the Department of Mysterious Codes, headquarters in Stará Ľubovňa, all seven work teams are on standby: the public relations team, the IT team, the Decypher team, the Geo-caching team, the data analysis team, the research team and the foreign language consulting team. All detectives are busy. Sk.jakub visits all teams to find out the current information.
Consulting in foreing languages team - sk.jakub, sk.jarka, sk.mario.
sk.jarka: We had no idea what he was interested in until he visited the home of our most talented athlete. Partners from French Guiana know him well, he has already won every Grand Tour.
sk.jakub: Okay guys, thank you for the available information. I will take this paper now and I will go up to other teams. To see what they gathered. All right. Thank you.
IT Team- sk.radka, sk.timea, sk.lenka, sk.veronika
sk.jakub: Hi guys. So. The Turks called in and we have got a problem. So, any new information?
sk.radka: I have talked with our Czech partner and we found out that our mysterious person needs a new passport photo.
sk.timea: He doesn't have time. He needs it fast.
sk.veronika: Therefore he visited his friend Maximilian Maximilian in his native house.
sk.lenka: He has a miracle lens in his camera.
Research team - sk.livia, sk.slavka
sk.jakub: Hey everybody. So, we've got new information from other teams. Do you have something new?
sk.livia: We got the wanted person on the recording from the cable car that leads to the highest peak in Slovakia. We don't know if he wants to enjoy year-round winter, snow, nature, or a beautiful view of the whole of Slovakia.
sk.slavka: We also have to consider the possibility that he will try to cross into Poland, which is close by. We believe that our partners from theTurkey Kırıkkale, who have good contacts there, will help us with this.
sk.jakub: Mmm, okay. Thank you for the information. I will go to another team. Bye.
Data analysis team - sk.adam, sk.martin
sk.jakub: People! I talked with our other teams and we have got new information. What have you got?
sk.martin: Our informant from Turkish Ankara informed us that they saw the wanted person in the capital of Slovakia visiting the oldest Slovak university.
Public relations team - sk.matus, sk.brano
sk.brano: Together with my Portugal colleagues we think that our wanted person is running out of money. He has gone to what we consider to be the heart of Europe. We assume that we will try to solve his problems here. We are sending in our fill team.
sk.jakub: Thanks. Goodbye
Decipher team - sk.vanesa, sk.martina, sk.kvetka
sk.jakub: Hi everybody.
all: Hi.
sk.jakub: We have got new information from our other team. Have you learned something new?
sk.martina: We already know that we are looking for a smart one.
sk.kvetka: Therefore, we are not surprised that due to working with chemicals, he has health problems.
sk.vanesa: From the spa near the Slovak "Dead Sea", they sent us a video recording, the stinking water and sulfur mud do not bother him at all. He enjoys a moment of relaxation.
sk.jakub: OK, thank you for the information. Goodbye!
all: Bye!
Geo-caching team - sk.martinka, sk.janka
sk.jakub: Hey, girls! So, we have new information from our other teams. Do you have something new?
sk.janka: The Spanish partners informed us that they know the wanted person. He is a mineralogy enthusiast.
sk.martinka: So we assumed that he would use the opportunity and see a world unique that can only be found in three paces on Earth - in Mexico, Argentina and here in Slovakia. Unfortunately, we arrived late. He found a secret exit from the underground and escaped us again.
Sk.Jakub received new information from all his teams. What now? The trail disappears at the Slovak border. It's time to contact Czech partners. So he looks for a phone number and calls. (the phone rings...)
sk.jakub: Hello. Am I speaking with the Czech Republic? Oh, all right. So, what I want to tell you is that we need your help because we found new information but the path ended on the border of the Czech Republic. So, can you, guys, help us? Oh, yeah, okay, okay. Thank you. Bye.
The cryptological teams from the 7 countries were again very worried and as soon as they received the map and coded messages from the Slovak team, they started working hard. The Slovak team diligently continues its work. They also recruited external help, a Slovak legend among codebreakers and ciphers, Mr. Af Fine. Even with this help and help from all national teams, they got a lot of new useful information over the other days.
The fastest team was Turkey Ankara. In the capital of Slovakia, he found the oldest Slovak university called Istropolitana, found out that the person we are looking for thinks this: "History is interesting and education is important. In these places I feel that I live for science. I love learning new and new things all the time.”
In the difficult pre-Christmas period, solving problems with the wanted person was not at all easy for the teams. Lots of people everywhere, difficult logistics, crowded telephone lines and so little time. However, the teams are not giving up. Another hint was sent by the Spanish partners. They discovered that the wanted person had visited the beautiful Aragonite cave - unique in the world. It is not surprising that the wanted person used the opportunity and hid for a while in the beautifully decorated underground -"I'm happy that I found at least a moment to relax. I have so little time. But the sound of water, the symphony of drops and the echo is a boost to a tired mind."
Christmas is just a few days away, time is short. However, the team from French Guiana does not stop working. They found the house of a very talented Slovak athlete - cyclist Peter Sagan. He sent a deciphered message to his partners, which reads: “I like to do sports. Too bad I don't have much time for them. Now I don't need a bicycle for fun but as a means of transport.”
Slovak nature is beautiful, especially the High Tatras - our highest mountains. The Turkish team Kırıkkale can confirm this, the view on the highest peak called Gerlach is magnificent. While the Kırıkkale team was trying to solve the clue by enjoying the magnificent view, they received a frightening phone call. The mysterious voice was saying, "If you can't decipher the password in half an hour, a mysterious dust cloud will cover the whole place. The team got worried and accelerated the work. But they were not lucky and the wanted person was not in Gerlach. They obtained information from a random tourist, with which the wanted person confided: "How beautiful it is here. High above the clouds. I feel that I belong here, I'm not the highest here, I don't stand out from the crowd ."
The Czech partners were not lazy either. They confirmed their quality work when they found another clue in the birthplace of Jozef Maximilián Petzval. Thanks to the famous mathematician, you don't need to sit in front of the camera for hours, just a quick click is enough. Because of his famous photographic lens, he was also sought out by our wanted person. If we had even guessed that he was so close to the Headquarters of the Slovak team. Unfortunately, even the Czech partners only send an indication: "Those were beautiful times when we studied together with Jozef Maximilián Petzval, a world-renowned inventor, at the boys' gymnasium." Do you understand what that means?
The Croatian team almost caught him. Unreal how little was missing. Just 2 days before Christmas, tension and preparations are at their peak. But our wanted person doesn't seem to see it that way. He visited the Slovak medical spa Smrdáky, which is world-famous for its mineral water with a unique composition and healing effect on human skin. Would you like to give yourself a Christmas present? An employee of the spa, who does not want to be named, revealed to members of the Croatian team what he talked about with the wanted person during therapy. The wanted person told him this: "I did not listen to experienced people to protect my face and hands while working in the laboratory. It's hard for me to look at myself in the mirror."
The Portuguese team was successful. The solution was born thanks to the hard work of the entire team using the most modern devices and technologies. On a forgotten note lying around unnoticed in the Kremnica Mint, they found and encrypt the following words: "I offered my expertise and skills to the Mint. I need a job, I am running out of money. I hope they will employ me."
All the clues that the suspect encrypted with the mathematical Affine method and left in different parts of Slovakia were deciphered by the partners. Undoubtedly, communicating with local people was very helpful as well as knowledge of cryptology in achieving this successful result. The Center confirmed that it cooperates with the right cryptological teams, with the best. However, catching the mysterious scientist is not easy. Well, it won't be long. The trail disappears at the Slovakian-Czech border. The Czech team is on standby. The mysterious man moved to the Czech Republic. It seems that even in 2023, the teams will not rest and will work together with the Czechs to catch the wanted person and eliminate the threat from the white radioactive powder.
PART 3 – SUSPECT IS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
cz Alex: Hello from the Czech Republic and
welcome to the breaking news related to suspicious incidents on our territory
involving an unknown stranger. At the moment, groups of members of the Czech
special team have set off across the country to track down suspicious clues. We
will now contact single teams to update us on the latest developments and the current
situation. And we're already in contact with the first one.
Team 1 – cz Tana, cz Viki
cz Viki: Hello, our team has gone to
western Bohemia, to the area of thermal hot springs. We've found a clue.
cz Tana: To decipher it, we'll ask a Turkish team from Kırıkkale High School to
help us.
cz Alex: Thank you. We will now ask Team 2
for the latest information.
Team 2 – cz
Terka, cz Pavel, cz Martin, cz Kuba
cz Terka: Hello, we are located in a large
metropolitan area with many beautiful heritage buildings, where we have very
difficult access. Nevertheless, we managed to find a clue at Charles Bridge.
But we'll need help deciphering it. We plan to ask the Turkish team from Ankara
for their cooperation.
cz Alex: Thank you for the information and
the third team has the floor.
Team 3 – cz
Eliska, cz Aneta, cz Kristyna
cz Eliska: Greetings from our position,
gingerbread area. We've managed to find a clue to be deciphered. That's why
we'd like to work with a team from Spain that we're going to connect with. We
hope to gain something beneficial.
cz Alex: Thank you, very much and good
luck, in your future work. And now there is a fourth team here.
Team 4 – cz
Richard, cz Vojta
cz Vojta: We report from the region of
Silesia. We are in an old factory near a closed old mine where we found a clue
that needs to be decrypted. We'd like to request the cooperation of the Slovak
team.
cz Alex: Thank you. We believe you will
succeed. And now we'll contact the fifth team.
Team 5 – cz
Maria, cz Amelie, cz Marketa
cz Amelie: Hello, we are in Moravia in an
area known for its shoemaking past. We found a clue in the hangar and it needs
to be deciphered. We're going to ask the Croatian team for help.
cz Alex: Thank you to the fifth team and
fingers crossed. And now we go to the sixth team.
Team 6 – cz
Filip, cz Tomas
cz Tomas: Hello, everyone. Thanks to the
bike transfer, which is common here, we quickly explored the area. Looking for
clues, we were amazed at the architecture.
cz Filip: In one of Gočár's buildings, we discovered a clue with an encrypted
message. We're going to collaborate with a team from French Guiana to decipher
it.
cz Alex: Great job, thank you. Let's move
on to the last team.
Team 7 – cz Viky,
cz Simon
cz Viky: We greet you from South Bohemia,
where we found a clue near Samson's fountain in a huge square of about 1.7
hectares . We'll ask a team from Portugal to help us decipher it.
cz Alex: That's great. Thank you for all
the information. We'll wait for the results of the international collaboration.
That's all for now and goodbye.
We started working hard with 7
international teams. Individual groups of the Czech special team together with
international partners started to decrypt the found messages using their
decoding knowledge and the map of the Czech Republic. They succeeded and in the
following days they obtained new important and useful information.
The fastest team was the Spanish team, which worked with Czech
partners and in Pardubice, in the
area of gingerbread and horse racing, helped solve the clue, which they managed
to decipher together: "In Pardubice,
where I wanted to bet, at the horse races I saw my love, G., with a man chasing
me."
Many questions have to be solved. Who is
the suspect? And his love? And the mysterious man? Keep an eye on it!
The same day came with their solution also the
members of the team from Turkey Ankara.
In Prague, the capital of the Czech
Republic, he helped decipher a clue that was found near the Charles Bridge.
They found the following facts: "Everywhere
I can feel the art and history that I admire and adore."
Prague was certainly admired by the suspect
because it is a beautiful city and there is history and art at every turn..
The Turkish team Kırıkkale visited the
Karlovy Vary thermal spa this time. In addition to helping decode the message,
members of the Turkish team could admire the world-famous spa town, which was
founded in 1350 by the Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. Really the
same king as the Charles bridge in Prague? Although the task was not easy, the
message was finally deciphered: "It
is less than fifty kilometres to the border of the state where my father comes
from." They all looked at the maps and confirmed that it was less than
50 kilometers to Germany. So the wanted suspect's father is GERMAN!
Not everyone was lucky enough to visit a
spa town with hot springs. The Slovak
team went to Ostrava, a city
associated with mining and metallurgy, but which underwent significant changes
after 1989. Some industrial areas from earlier times seemed interesting but
somewhat oppressive. Even the clue, which was deciphered in cooperation with
the Czech team, confirmed to us that the suspect has similar feelings: "The climate here is unkind. My health has gone bad again, I am sick and I
need my medication." It is serious? It's up to us to find out…
The
Croatian team bet on strong teamwork. Together, they studied encryption methods
and deciphered a clue that the suspect left in Zlín, the so-called "BATA'S
CITY", connected to the famous shoe company of Tomáš Bata. But the tracks
led them directly to the hangar of the nearby airport. From the clue they
discovered, they found: "I also have someone who is by my side and that is my sibling."
A detective team from French Guiana
appealed to Miss Karinik for help in decoding the message, but received no
help. They had to rely on themselves. They carefully studied the map and found
the location they were looking for. They visited Hradec Králové. In addition to
the hard work of decoding the clue, they used the bikes they had borrowed and
toured the city and the surrounding areas. They loved architecture. It is not
without reason that the city is called the Salon of the Republic. The clue gave
us another piece of information: "I
can drive a car, I like to ride a bike and I am great on a motorbike."
The Portuguese team visited České Budějovice (the square of Ottokar II. is the largest square, a shape of square in the Czech Republic and one of the largest in Europe. it is also known as the city of beer – Budweiser Budvar Brewery.)
Cipher: transposition cipher, keyword: SOUTH
Ciphertext:
ecloi nslol unklz ciiim aipad spkii tyaaa nisde azlca
Deciphered clue:
I like music and I like to play jazz and classical piano.
Thanks to international cooperation, we were able to decipher all the clues that the suspect had encrypted using the transposition cipher method and left in various parts of the Czech Republic. Knowledge of cryptology, perfect communication and excellent orientation in maps and terrain undoubtedly helped to achieve this successful result.
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