And here's Chapter Four. I'll try and have the fifth chapter up sometime tonight or tomorrow. :)
Abigail led Ben, Jennifer, Riley, and Krista to an office where she placed the Booth diary page onto a scanner and it appeared on a computer monitor. Abigail then turned to Krista and spoke.
"Not to be rude or anything but who are you," Abigail asked.
"Oh I'm sorry I guess I forgot to introduce myself," Krista said. "I'm Krista, Riley's younger sister."
"Riley's sister huh," Abigail said as she glanced at Riley then started to type away on the keyboard. "Bringing more people into the whole treasure hunting thing aren't you Ben?"
Ben went to say something to defend himself but Krista jumped in first.
"Hey I'm here visiting," Krista told Abigail while giving her a small glare. "Don't blame Ben for me being here. I wanted to help."
"Okay Krista we don't want to start a fight," Riley said as he placed a hand on his sister's shoulder.
Krista sighed and she sat down on a stool, folded her arms, and continued to glare at Abigail. She wondered what Ben ever saw in her because from what she could tell Abigail seemed like a bitch to her.
A few hours had passed since they started examining the page and it was well passed three in the morning. Jennifer sighed and she rubbed her eyes.
"We've been looking at this page for hours," Krista said with a small yawn. "I'm really sorry guys but I don't think we'll find anything," she was hoping that they would find something but it was starting to look like they wouldn't.
"And look at it this way," Riley told Ben and Jennifer. "In a hundred years no one's going to remember anyone involved in the Lincoln assassination besides Booth."
"That's not true Riley," Ben said as he looked at his friend.
"I can't believe this," Jennifer said with a hurt look on her face. "We clear our name once and something like this happens."
Riley looked up at his fiancee's sad expression and he motioned for her to come over to him. A small smile appeared on her face and she walked over to Riley and sat down on his lap. He put his arms around her waist to let her know that he was there for her.
"Ben," Abigail suddenly said with wide eyes as she looked at the page.
"What," Ben asked.
"Look at this," Abigail said as she pointed to a red spot that suddenly appeared on the page. "See that?"
"Yeah," Ben said as he leaned in closer so he could see the page better.
"What," Jennifer asked as she and Riley got to their feet.
"That's quite something isn't it," Krista said as she looked at the page with an excited expression on her face.
Riley leaned in closer to try and get a better look. "What are you guys looking at? All I see is a smudge."
"Residual ink from the facing page," Jennifer said excitement filling her voice. "Flip it."
Abigail did as she was told and she flipped the page to show letters grouped together.
"The letters are backwards," Ben said matching his sister's excitement. "It's a cipher."
"Yes it is," Abigail said. She was just as excited as Ben and Jennifer were.
"See how the letters are coupled," Ben said pointing at the page. "Playfair ciphers include letters in pairs. This could prove his story."
"Unless you decode the cipher it does not prove his theory," Abigail told Ben.
"No it's okay," Jennifer said. "All we need is a five letter keyword."
"What's the keyword," Krista asked Jennifer.
"I'm not sure yet," Jennifer told Krista.
"Alright," Krista said with a sigh.
"Can we get a print out of this," Ben asked Abigail.
"Sure," Abigail said as she started to print the page.
"Let's see," Riley said. "There's a billion words in the English language. Let's start from the beginning. A, are, aardvark," Riley said as he started to list off words.
"You know I don't want to rain on your parade here," Abigail said as she got up to get the copy for Ben. "But I don't think this is going to stop Dr. Nichols from announcing the discovery of the page tomorrow."
"No now wait," Ben said as he walked up to her. "Can't you ask him to wait until we prove Thomas is innocent?"
"But what if he isn't innocent," Abigail asked him as she handed him the printed copy of the Booth diary page.
"He's innocent," Jennifer said as she walked up to them and stood beside her brother. "I know he is."
Ben turned to his sister and he smiled at her. Abigail rolled her eyes and she walked away from them.
The following day arrived and Ben, Jennifer, Riley, and Krista were at Patrick's house trying to decode the cipher. Riley and Krista both had their laptops out and they were typing in words that could be the keyword. Krista was working on the a's while Riley was working on the b's.
"Bacon," Riley said as he typed in the word. It wasn't the right keyword and Riley shook his head. "Yeah didn't think so."
Ben paced back and forth behind the two siblings and Jennifer walked in from the kitchen carrying two mugs.
"Here's your refills on your coffee guys," Jennifer said as she handed one to Krista and the other to Riley.
"Thanks Jen," Krista said taking her mug and sitting it down on the table.
"Yeah thanks honey," Riley said as he took the mug. He kissed her and went back to work.
"How's dad doing," Jennifer asked Ben as she pulled up a chair and sat next to Riley.
"I'll go check," Ben said. "Keep working guys."
Riley and Krista nodded as Ben left the room. Riley glanced at Jennifer and then back to his computer.
"How are you doing," Riley asked concern filling his voice. "You didn't sleep much last night."
"I'll be fine," Jennifer assured her fiance. "I've just been thinking about everything that's happened in the last day."
"Don't worry," Riley told Jennifer as he stopped typing and turned to face her. "We'll prove that Thomas Gates is innocent."
"Yeah so don't worry," Krista told her friend.
"Thanks guys," Jennifer said.
Riley smiled and he kissed her. He then went back to work. A few moments later Ben rushed into the room along with Patrick.
"Riley try death," Ben said as he stood behind his friend.
"Excuse me," Riley asked as he turned to his friend with a confused expression on his face.
"Death," Ben repeated. "It's the key code. The debt that all men pay is death."
"Alright," Riley said as he typed in the key code.
A smile appeared on Jennifer's face when she saw letters appearing at the bottom of the screen. Krista leaned in so she could see the monitor on Riley's laptop.
"L...A...B...O...U...L," Riley said as he listed off the letters that appeared on the screen. "Lab ool, lab ahl, it's gibberish," Riley said as he tried to make a word out of the letters.
"Laboulaye," Krista suddenly said.
"Laboulaye," Patrick and Ben repeated in an excited voice.
"Laboulaye," Riley said in the same excited voice. "What is that?"
"It's not a what it's a who," Jennifer told him. "Edouard Laboulaye."
"Where's the phone dad," Ben asked Patrick.
"I don't know son," Patrick told him. "I can't find anything in this mess."
"It's temporary tell I find a new place," Ben told Patrick as he started looking around for the phone.
"Find the old one," Patrick told his son as he watched him search for the phone. "I like her."
