A Diversion For Conspiracy Theorists!

The judge who presided over the just completed plagiarism lawsuit brought against the author of the Da Vinci Code put his own secret coded message in his written decision.

LONDON, April 26 — Justice Peter Smith's 71-page ruling in the recent "Da Vinci Code" copyright case here is notable for many things: the judge's occasional forays into literary criticism, his snippy remarks about witnesses on both sides, and his fluent knowledge not only of copyright law but also of more esoteric topics like the history of the Knights Templar.

But there is more to it than that. Embedded in the first 13½ pages of the ruling is Justice Smith's very own secret code, one that when partly solved reveals its name: the Smithy Code.

According to the Reuters story on the same incident, the correct name is "Smith Code", they also provide the exact text: "smithcodeJaeiextostpsacgreamqwfkadpmqz."

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard have a crack team of cryptographers (have you noticed the immense resources we bring to bear on every issue?) from the Arbo School of Code breaking, Cryptography and Shoe Shinery. Pounding away madly on typewriters like monkeys writing Shakespeare, they have already cracked the code.

The message reads: Smith Code: Please send lots of money to Blue Crab Boulevard.

We await the deluge of cash. Thanks in advance.

UPDATE: The actual code was decyphered fairly rapidly after the initial reports. It turns out to be, well, stupid. "Jackie Fisher, who are you? Dreadnought". We like our translation much better. We await the deluge!