Mark Meltzer Writings: Days 121-130

Letter to Dash Carmady

 * Mark G. Meltzer
 * P.O. Box 4668 # 32890
 * New York, N.Y. 10163

D.H. Carmady Auger Detection New York, N.Y.

Dash:

Just a line to let you know how much I appreciated your help (reluctant though it was)... The snaps you took of the floor in Lutwidge's lab circa 1958 have taken me leaps and bounds forward in my "Journey." By the time I found the lab, it was a shambles - even the white tiles looked pitch black under layers of dust, muck and clutter... never guessed I was literally STANDING on the code. (And your surmises about the pattern were 100% correct - my associate Phil is a grandmaster and helped me crack it.)

Not much point staying in N.Y. anymore. The trail of this mystery points to the oceans, so that's where I'm headed. Cash is low (assets frozen by my wife's lawyer) - so I sold the old sedan, unloaded some col- lectibles and cut a deal with the Capt. of a cargo freighter heading out of Baltimore next week. Couldn't offer him much, but he's "sympathetic to the cause."

Unfortunately, the route won't be a straight line - but I suspect it will give me the time and opportunity to crack a few of the other riddles that Lutwidge left behind.

Which leads me to the real reason I'm writing...


 * Pg. 2

I feel responsible for Celeste Roget's recent disappearance. I hope you are correct and she simply overreacted -- running & hiding the second the 'Red Pawn' reared his ugly head again. Can't say I blame her... having had some small taste of the Hell she went through when she was searching for her father.

Just like Celeste, I was led on what may or may not have been a wild goose chase concocted by Orrin Lutwidge and his "Red Pawn." Just like Celeste... I have begun to believe the impossible. And just like Celeste... I have discovered the worst thing is NOT KNOWING - being unable to separate the truth from illusion, fact from fiction.

She complained about hang-up calls & anonymous threats. I received similar communications... and I have to believe it's Lynch who was harassing us. Apparently my researches started him back on his old "tricks." It's my fault - therefore, my responsibility. It will take me a while to reach Europe - but I will have a week or so in dock. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help you find her while I'm there.

I suspect I'm not your favorite person in the world these days. But please stay in touch... ship doesn't set sail for a few days and Phil Isidore is teaching me how to use my shortwave for internat'l transmissions.


 * Sincerely,


 * Mark Meltzer


 * Mark Meltzer

Letter to Amanda

 * Mark G. Meltzer
 * P.O. Box 4668 # 32890
 * New York, N.Y. 10163

Amanda K. Meltzer New York, NY

Dear Amanda:

I wanted to thank you for forwarding me Cindy's codebook. I was hoping maybe it meant you hadn't given up on me - or our baby girl. Based on my last conversation with your lawyer, I'm guessing that's not the case. (He says you were "livid" about me missing the court date... sorry I was busy TRYING TO FIND OUR DAUGHTER.)

By the time you read this, you will have realized I've left the country. Your attorney seems to think I'm running away from my problems. He's got it exactly backwards.

Amanda, I have stumbled across evidence that our daughter has been taken somewhere out to sea. With the last of my OUR cash (the assets your lawyer hasn't frozen!) - I've bought passage on a cargo freighter. A decommissioned rustbucket, frankly, all I could afford. With a captain bold enough or crazy enough to swear he'd get me to my destination. (Though, unfortunately, we're going the long way.)

Amanda, understand for once: I don't have a choice. I HAVE to chase this to it's end. With luck - I will see you soon enough - with our daughter by my side. Ship leaves this A.M. Whatever you do - please don't try to stop me.


 * With love (still),
 * Mark

Note about the Knight's Tour 11/12/09
Knights Journey = Knights Tour
 * (of course)


 * Feigned Obsession ???

''If so.... He's faking it at BOOK-LENGTH !!!''

Note about ADFGX Code
ADFGX style code!!!

Hiding in plain site – in his codebook.


 * (100,000 copies in print??)

Disguised as word search puzzle…

7 keys = "Sevenfold Lock???"

Once again: Lutwidge –


 * Madman or Genius?


 * Possibly: A little of both…!!!

(The writings below will be added to the next folder when it opens up.)

Journal, "Aboard the S.S. Nellie Bly"
ABOARD THE S.S. NELLIE BLY

Groggy and red-eyed - didn't get much sleep last night - too eager to see us ship out this A.M. A distinct chill in the air and mist clinging to the water - dicey getting through the choppy waves and the packed dock, but Capt. Ferrence is an old pro at this (worked as a maritime pilot in Hong Kong, he claims).

Knew I should be working on cracking the riddle of the next layer of the puzzle - but distracted by the sights & sounds of the ship. The Nellie Bly was one of the WWII Liberty Ships, it seems - one of the few to see action. (Chief Mate pointed out the rusted moorings that used to hold the guns - and the faded swastikas on the stacks, marking her "kills"!)

The crew is, by & large a quieter type than I expected... and surprisingly bookish. 2nd Mate advises me that reading is, by necessity, one of the few amusements available. Most of the crew trade pulp & pop literature. But the Captain is a different matter - his cabin is well stocked with Greek Classics, literature (Hesse, Machen), philosophy (Nietzsche, Schoepenhauer!)& psychology (Wm. James, Carl Jung). An elusive character - I'm left wondering exactly how & why Capt. Ferrence became a friend of Phil Isidore. He's not the paranoid crank or drunken lout I half-expected.

GOT TO WORK ON PUZZLE BOX LATE - NEED "FROZEN TRIANGLE"

''BOOK FOR CLUES. DON'T TELL ME I LEFT IT BEHIND???''

IN MONTAUK OR AT PHIL'S PLACE IN BALTIMORE??

MUST RADIO PHIL FIRST THING!!!

Journal, "First Dinner with Capt. Ferrence"
FIRST DINNER WITH CAPT. FERRENCE

The Captain was a mystery the first few days of the voyage... brusque, intense. Hints of mercurial intelligence flickering behind that leathery, mask-like face. I wondered what possible connection there could ever be between this man of the world and someone like Phil Isidore. Tonight, I found out.

Dinner, just the two of us, in my private cabin. Not a drop of wine or liquor... Capt. Ferrence seems to be a teetotaler. but the conversation itself was weirdly intoxicating. Ferrence hinted he knew more about my quest than I did. he forced upon me a volume of Jung's psychologi- cal writing - Vol. XX - and pointed out an essay on "Flying Saucers!"

In his weird swirl of words, grounded by that gruff New England accent - he hinted that my "aquatic anomalies" are some kind of vision - comparing them not only to U.F.O. sightings, but to encounters with ghosts, fairies, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. I admit it got my dander up. I asked him if he thinks I dreamed up everything I've encountered.

"It's not you that's dreaming, lad," he said. "It's the world."

Taped part of the conversation. Not sure what to make of this character!

Letter to Phil

 * Mark G. Meltzer


 * P.O. Box 4668 #32890


 * New York, N.Y. 10163

Phil Isidore c/o N.U.F.O.S. Baltimore, Md.

Phil:

Just wanted to thank you again - your contacts in the Southeast really came through and got me the info I needed. Only problem? I'm stuck again - though I suspect the info I need is in The Frozen Triangle.

Here's hoping my copy of the book is safe with the mail you forwarded from my New York P.O. Box. If everything works out, I'll be picking up the packet tomorrow at our scheduled stop in Nassau. Not sure exactly what Capt. Ferrence is loading in there.... As a freelance cargo freighter, he books as much of his hold as possible and picks up additional cargo on his own dime while he travels, hoping to unload it in Europe.

Beautiful blue waters - dolphins bobbing in the surf. If it wasn't for the grimness of my mission, I'd be enjoying this little cruise.


 * Yours,
 * Mark Meltzer
 * - Mark Meltzer