Operation FAST

Alistair sat on the ground in the hidden room just as he had for the past hour.  Shortly after Mr. Moore left, he did a quick search of the room, assumed the position, and began to think back on their conversation.  He was onto something.  Robin Spartacus Moore did not create this room himself.  Something much more sinister was behind this place.  The first clue he uncovered in his inspection of the room was on the wall in the corner.  Rusted over, he found about fifty tally marks.  This room had at one time been used as a holding cell.  He rushed over to the handle of the door that he pushed in to gain entry to the chamber.  It too was rusting, but the shape and not the condition of the handle was what captured the Detective’s eye.  The metal that made up the handle curved to form the mirror image of the letters “CS” when viewed from the front.  Whoever created the room was both clever and full of themselves.  They couldn't bear the thought of creating something without putting their initials on it and yet, didn’t want to be traced in connection with the room.  Before leaving, Moore mentioned that he had spent part of his life in an asylum.  Although the idea that the man’s past might be connected to that of his mother did enter Alistair’s head when Moore mentioned the asylum, he quickly shook it off as nonsense.  Now, still sitting against the wall, Alistair couldn’t help but feel that he may have been right.  He noticed a thin ray of light shooting down from the ceiling in the middle of the room.  He shook his head to make sure that he was not seeing things.  The light was definitely coming from above.  The sun must have been blocked from reaching the hole at the angle it was at an hour ago.  With the passing of time, it had moved and let the light in.  It was strange that there was a hole in the ground deep enough to get into the chamber, but it was probably just a coincidence.  Before leaving the tunnels, Alistair went over to look at the spot where the light hit the ground.  Alistair’s whole body shook.  The light illuminated a list of numbers that appeared to be some sort of code -- preceded by the letters “CS”.  He had stumbled into something great.  Whether it was the good or bad kind of great had yet to be seen.  He made a quick exit from the tunnels, walked back to his shop, and went to sleep.  He would work more on the case tomorrow morning.

Alistair began work unraveling his newfound mystery at six o’clock.  He brewed himself a cup of Tea, and began to inspect the evidence.  He was so captivated by the case that he forgot to open his shop at 8.  “First thing’s first,” he thought.  “What did the series of numbers mean?”  It did not take him long to discover that he needed to divide every two digits by 7 and then multiply the result by 3.  The new number stood for the digit of the alphabet (1-26) and they started over with 27.  The results were stunning.  The code was list of insane asylums with their locations.  The first on on the list, the “Center for People with Special Needs” appeared to be the headquarters for something called, “Operation FAST,”  whatever that stood for.  So the the “CS” probably stood for the C and S in Center With People for Special Needs.  “Why didn’t they just use CPSN?” Alistair wondered.  About halfway down the list he nearly fainted after decoding the words “Bostall House.”  Now he knew that his mother was somehow connected to the plot.  He scrambled to his feet, stopping for a second to look at his watch.  It was 1pm.  He rushed out the door, sprinting towards the bowling alley, and hoping all the way that Robin Spartacus Moore was working today.  Alistair was close to uncovering what had really happened to his mother that day when she left him for good.  Victory seemed just close enough to grasp!