The Case of Known-Unknown

The Second Code

   'They were, but this says, "A professor's theory". Kind of hard to know who we should turn to? A professor or a mathematician?'

   'They're both the same. What's the difference?'

   'I don't know, I don't teach math. Truth be told, I sucked at it.' Akash said grinning, Dexter sniggered in response.

   'So, did we find anything?' Syna joined the conversation, her tone impolite.

   'Two hours since we figured out Rahul Arora's reason and we have nothing.'

   'Let me write it on the board, to make things easier.' Syna said and began to scribble on the board.

"From Aryabhata's zero to John Wallis's infinity,

a professor's theory was never given any continuity."

They stared at the phrase, wide-eyed. All of their attempts had been unsuccessful, till now. Dexter and Syna had run a full-fledged search on Aryabhata and John Wallis' creations and theories but to no avail. Syna had even thought about roping in a maths professor who'd help them solve the code, but she'd shunned the thought away as they didn't want any outside attention.

   'Let's assume that Abort Hazer had come up with a maths theory.' Dexter announced, 'So then according to the code, he presented his theory but it never received any continuity? That means his theory was never given the green signal?'

   'That means the authorities of the Math board, or whatever they're called, didn't allow his theory to be published?' Syna suggested.

   'Could be his colleagues as well. Heard of many cases where a professor steals someone else's theory or idea and publishes it as their own.' Dexter responded.

   'Considered. But then out of all the great mathematicians, why would he use Aryabhata and John Wallis? Just for the poetic effect that 'zero to infinity' displays? And we searched on the internet, it's still argued to this day if Aryabhata truly holds credibility for the invention of zero. I mean, it originated long back.' Akash asked.

    'Maybe they are connected in some way. His previous point about Rahul Arora did not consist of a single word that was used just for poetic effect. They all had some meaning.'

   'We've searched through everything! There's no connection' Akash exasperated.

   'There has to be.'

   'The second half of the code makes more sense. Not the first half.' 'Hang on. The first half has to be related to someone's identity.' 'Meaning?' Akash and Syna asked in unison.

   'Let's assume I'm The Stalker and I'm writing a letter to prove my existence.' Dexter began. 'Now the receivers of my letter include an SHO from Summer Hill and a private detective from Mysore colony.'

   'And?'

   'That means one thing, I have to keep things simple and easy for them to be able to understand, unless, of course, the SHO decides to approach her superiors. But judging from her comments through the media, she clearly had no intention of doing so. Then why would I, The Stalker, make things difficult for you? If you look at the previous letters he's sent to the CBI and other authorities, you'll find that they had complex codes, with different outcomes.'

   'What exactly do you want to say?' Syna asked, annoyed.

   'What will happen if those two reasons are never decoded and just like the previous two letters, we keep our lips tight about it?

   'No one will know he is back.' Akash said.

   'Exactly. And all this while he's been craving to announce his comeback. So logically, he would keep the codes simple. Now there's no way we would have found out about Rahul Arora if he hadn't said those final words at his execution.'

   'Which means?' Akash asked.

   'Which means.' Syna said, a small curve on her lips. 'The second point should have relevance to Abort Hazer's name. And I believe it is the first half.' Dexter nodded in excitement.

   'Your claim makes no sense to me.'

Half an hour went by, Syna worried that her juniors were starting to get suspicious. And to add more fire to that, there was Mr. Khatri who was trying to win the department's trust and overthrow her by lodging a complaint. She decided to solve matters separately, Akash couldn't be seen in her cabin again, or it would surely ring a bell in the DSP's ears. That was when her mind it suddenly came to her,

   'God-damn it.' She exclaimed. 'It was so simple.'

   'You found the link? What is it and where is it?' Akash asked, hurriedly.

   'It was right in front of our eyes! Just in a jumbled form.' 'Jumbled words? Where?' Dexter asked.

"From Aryabhata's zero to John Wallis's infinity"

   'The mathematicians.' She said. 'Let me break it for you.' She headed to her desk and took out a piece of paper and a pen. Dexter and Akash followed her, excited. She started scribbling on the paper,

A     R      Y     A      B     H     A     T     A'     S     Z     E     R     O

= ABORT HAZER

*************************

A glance at history will help you comprehend that it was love that waged many wars and hatred that ended all of them.

~The Stalker

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A/N: In the original novel and ebook, the unrelated letters from the code, i.e., Y, A, A, S (The ones without the underline) are striked off  by Syna. However, as Wattpad's formatting differs, I have simply left them blank. Do let me know your thoughts about the codes in the comments.