In a previous article, The Secret Codes of Zodiac, we explored the idea that cryptographer D.C.B. Marsh dropped the name Edgar Allan Poe into his San Francisco Examiner newspaper article on October 22nd 1969, hoping that Zodiac would take the bait and design a cipher using techniques employed or featured by Edgar Allan Poe in one of his essays. We showed how the 13 character cipher of April 20th 1970 resembled a cipher technique shown in A Few Words On Secret Writing. The alphabet in both instances seemed split into two halves, with the 13 character Zodiac cipher beginning with A and ending with M. There was also a letter-writer who contacted Poe but "declined giving his name in full", dating the envelope April 21st 1841. Additionally, there was a Dick Tracy style technique mentioned in A Few Words On Secret Writing similar to that employed by Zodiac in his 340 cipher, 13 Hole postcard and Halloween card. But what if there was a cryptographic technique featured in A Few Words On Secret Writing that could directly produce the figure 888, clearly visible front and center of the Zodiac Killer's 13 character cipher.
The Zodiac Killer had certainly made the figure eight the centerpiece of his coding on April 20th 1970, not only using three, but circling them as if to imply greater meaning. Was the circling of the number eights a hint towards the technique used in the coding? When we look at the first paragraph of A Few Words On Secret Writing, it features a technique using two wooden cylinders (scytala) as a method of coding, but directly underneath the example of coding in the essay, where the alphabet is split A to M, and N to Z, lies the important paragraph It states;
The Zodiac Killer had certainly made the figure eight the centerpiece of his coding on April 20th 1970, not only using three, but circling them as if to imply greater meaning. Was the circling of the number eights a hint towards the technique used in the coding? When we look at the first paragraph of A Few Words On Secret Writing, it features a technique using two wooden cylinders (scytala) as a method of coding, but directly underneath the example of coding in the essay, where the alphabet is split A to M, and N to Z, lies the important paragraph It states;
A letter composed of such characters would have an intricate appearance unquestionably. If, still, however, it did not give full satisfaction, the idea of a perpetually shifting alphabet might be conceived, and thus effected. Let two circular pieces of pasteboard be prepared, one about half an inch in diameter less than the other. Let the centre of the smaller be placed upon the centre of the larger, and secured for a moment from slipping; while radii are drawn from the common centre to the circumference of the smaller circle, and thus extended to the circumference of the greater. Let there be twenty-six of these radii, forming on each pasteboard twenty-six spaces. In each of these spaces on the under circle write one of the letters of the alphabet, so that the whole alphabet be written — if at random so much the better. Do the same with the upper circle. Now run a pin through the common centre, and let the upper circle revolve, while the under one is held fast. Now stop the revolution of the upper circle, and, while both lie still, write the epistle required; using for a that letter in the smaller circle which tallies with a in the larger, for b that letter in the smaller circle which tallies with b in the larger &c. &c. In order that an epistle thus written may be read by the person for whom it is intended, it is only necessary that he should have in his possession circles constructed as those just described, and that he should know any two of the characters (one in the under and one in the upper circle) which were in juxta-position when his correspondent wrote the cipher. Upon this latter point he is informed by looking at the two initial letters of the document, which serve as a key. Thus, if he sees a m at the beginning, he concludes that, by turning his circles so as to put these characters in conjunction, he will arrive at the alphabet employed.
We know the Zodiac Killer often drew his inspiration from deep history, such as the short story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, first published on January 19th 1924, and The Mikado (1885), so what if he took this concept of two circles with a common center and looked for a cipher technique he could plagiarize in his April 20th 1970 letter. But more importantly, a technique of coding that had previously featured three eights (888) in its design.
We know the Zodiac Killer often drew his inspiration from deep history, such as the short story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, first published on January 19th 1924, and The Mikado (1885), so what if he took this concept of two circles with a common center and looked for a cipher technique he could plagiarize in his April 20th 1970 letter. But more importantly, a technique of coding that had previously featured three eights (888) in its design.
The Union Cipher Disk. Click image for link. The Union Cipher Disk from the American Civil War was 3.75 inches (95 mm) in diameter and made of light yellow heavy card stock. It consisted of two concentric disks of unequal size revolving on a central pivot. The disks were divided along their outer edges into 30 equal compartments. The smaller inner disk contained letters, terminations and word pauses, while the outer disk contained groups of signal numbers. For easier recognition, the number eight represented two. The initials A.J.M. represent the Chief Signal Officer General Albert J. Myer.
A cipher disk is an enciphering and deciphering tool developed in 1470 by the Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti. He constructed a device, (eponymously called the Alberti cipher disk) consisting of two concentric circular plates mounted one on top of the other. The larger plate is called the "stationary" and the smaller one the "moveable" since the smaller one could move on top of the "stationary". The first incarnation of the disk had plates made of copper and featured the alphabet, in order, inscribed on the outer edge of each disk in cells split evenly along the circumference of the circle. This enabled the two alphabets to move relative to each other creating an easy to use key. Rather than using an impractical and complicated table indicating the encryption method, one could use the much simpler cipher disk. This made both encryption and decryption faster, simpler and less prone to error. Wikipedia.
The single and triple 8 number is featured heavily within the design of the Union Cipher Disk, with the 888 representing "tion".
Not only did the split alphabet of Edgar Allan Poe's 13 characters appear in the Zodiac code of April 20th 1970, along with the near date of April 21st, but the concentric circle cipher technique explicitly detailed in A Few Words On Secret Writing, can be found in the American history of the Union Cipher, with the number 8 front and center of everything, including the number 888.
A cipher disk is an enciphering and deciphering tool developed in 1470 by the Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti. He constructed a device, (eponymously called the Alberti cipher disk) consisting of two concentric circular plates mounted one on top of the other. The larger plate is called the "stationary" and the smaller one the "moveable" since the smaller one could move on top of the "stationary". The first incarnation of the disk had plates made of copper and featured the alphabet, in order, inscribed on the outer edge of each disk in cells split evenly along the circumference of the circle. This enabled the two alphabets to move relative to each other creating an easy to use key. Rather than using an impractical and complicated table indicating the encryption method, one could use the much simpler cipher disk. This made both encryption and decryption faster, simpler and less prone to error. Wikipedia.
The single and triple 8 number is featured heavily within the design of the Union Cipher Disk, with the 888 representing "tion".
Not only did the split alphabet of Edgar Allan Poe's 13 characters appear in the Zodiac code of April 20th 1970, along with the near date of April 21st, but the concentric circle cipher technique explicitly detailed in A Few Words On Secret Writing, can be found in the American history of the Union Cipher, with the number 8 front and center of everything, including the number 888.
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