Deduced | Mericcup

Chapter 17

Merida stared at the numbers for a while until she finally gave up. Of course, it confused her. After watching a bunch of documentaries about deciphering codes, she still had no luck. She then noticed the word underneath the numbers saying "NEON". It confused her even more.

Officer McGuffin went inside. He looked at Hiccup then Merida.

"What have you found?" He asked.

"He was burnt with sulphuric acid and poisoned with polonium before he was cut in the neck." Hiccup answered.

"Why did the killer have to cut the neck?" He asked.

Hiccup gave him a "seriously?" look. "To write down those numbers of course!" Hiccup exclaimed.

Officer McGuffin nodded. "Any luck deciphering it?" He asked.

"None." Hiccup answered in dismay. "What did you try so far?"

"We tried the Letter Numbers. We even tried to use ROT1 after we have deciphered using the Letter Numbers. No such luck." He said.

Merida looked around the room and realised that they were inside a laboratory. "What if we use the periodic table?" Merida asked. "That word underneath the numbers. That could be a clue that we should use the periodic table."

Both Hiccup and Officer McGuffin turned to look at Merida. "You know, those changing the numbers to the acronym of a word from the periodic table to for a message?"

"That could work." Hiccup said. He stood and went over to the shelves to look for a book with a periodic table in it.

When he finally took one, he placed it down on the table and began deciphering the code. But, he frowned.

"Nothing." Hiccup said.

"Nothing?" Merida asked. "There should be something." Merida went over to Hiccup to look at his work.

SHeCl  ?HeAr
BBeB  LiLi

Merida frowned. She's pretty sure no normal parent will name their kid Shecl or ?hear.

"What's that question mark for?" Merida asked.

"There's no zero in the periodic table." Hiccup said. "And that word 'neon' confuses me."

Merida groaned. "There should be something."

"The numbers are low." Hiccup said. He kept scanning the periodic table. His eyes then lit up. "This could work."

He started working, jotting down the acronyms until he finally stopped with a groan. "No!" He exclaimed. Merida looked at his paper. Nothing good.

PoCaI  ?MgAr

"I don't get it." Merida said.

"The numbers on top were new notations." Hiccup said. "While the numbers below were the number of what element their in."

"What's the word 'neon' for?" Merida asked.

"I'm trying to know." Hiccup said, slightly getting irritated. "Ne." He said, reciting the acronym of "neon".

After repeating it over and over again, he screamed with delight. "Coordinates!"

"What?" Merida asked.

"These numbers are not here to form a word!" Hiccup exclaimed. "They were written here for us to know where to go!"

Hiccup wrote with speed. He was calculating on his mind, thinking about every possibilities. He took his phone and began typing. When Merida looked at it, it said: