Karen Daly bit her lips hard to distract her from her emotional pain.
"Karen?" Kevin Kyle held her trembling shoulder and asked, "What happened? Tell me, I can handle it."
"Why am I so useless? Why can't I even do just one thing right? Why can't I help you when you are hurt?" Karen Daly was beating herself up for failing at this task.
Kevin Kyle held Karen Daly in his arms and patted her back gently. He comforted her and said, "Karen, don't worry. Share your concerns with me."
Perhaps they had misunderstood each other earlier. Karen Daly asked again tearfully, "Kevin, is there any other meaning from the letters on the mug?"
Kevin Kyle said, "Describe it to me again. I'll use another method to see if I can interpret another meaning."
Substitution cipher was one of the methods to decipher codes in cryptography.
There were also several types for substitution cipher which consist of simple substitution, homophonic substitution, polygram substitution and so on.
When he listened to Karen Daly describe it the first time, Kevin Kyle used the homophonic substitution method. Using that method, the code sounded like a love letter for the decoder.
Kevin Kyle thought that Karen Daly wrote it for him, so he was excited and might have been a little careless. He forgot that it could be possible to be decoded in two different methods, and the results of each decoding method would be different.
"You didn't interpret them thoroughly, then you spoke so confidently. You disappointed me!" The little flame of hope that extinguished earlier had rekindled in Karen Daly's heart.
"Tell me more." Kevin Kyle thought about his eyesight had badly affected his quality of life. He needed to ask Nick Black to rush those doctors for a cure soon.
Karen Daly described the letters and the patterns on the mug again.
Kevin Kyle listened carefully and focused on those letters. After listening to them again, he quickly concluded, "Francesca... chapel... Francesca Chapel. Is there such a chapel in Chatterton Town?"
This kind of simple replacement method was often used by Kevin Kyle, Nick Black and others at work. When he heard Karen Daly's descriptions again, he analyzed carefully and found the correct answer.
"Francesca Chapel?" Karen Daly did not know how Kevin Kyle deciphered that, but she immediately took out her mobile phone and opened the map application.
"There is indeed such a chapel in the western suburbs of Chatterton Town." Karen Daly guessed that Amelia Gray must have hidden an antidote for HDR in the chapel.
After getting the clue, Karen Daly was so excited that she turned around and was about to run away. She has forgotten that Kevin Kyle was still by her side until he pulled her back.
Kevin Kyle asked in a low voice, "Karen, who gave you this mug?"
Karen Daly smiled perfunctorily. "It's a friend of mine. She's playing a game with me. She asked me to find out what she's hiding."
"Did you go to meet Amelia again?" At first, Kevin Kyle just thought that Karen Daly came up with some tricks to make him happy, but as soon as he solved the mystery on the mug, he thought of Amelia Gray.
They often used this kind of substitution ciphers at work. The one who knew this method and passed the mystery to Karen must be Amelia Gray.
Kevin Kyle was right but Karen Daly felt guilty. She lowered her head and did not speak.
"Karen, what did you promise her?" Kevin Kyle held Karen Daly's shoulder tightly. He was so worried about Amelia Gray's request for Karen Daly to leave him that he may have held Karen a little too tight.
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