Duck Duck Gray Duck

After being handed a $50 bill along with this note by a “raggedy dressed man” on a train, Redditor delverofsecrets turned to Reddit to decode the note, which was quickly identified as using a Bifid Cipher. The translated message reads:

THERE’S PLENTY MORE MONEY TO MAKE FIGURE THIS OUT AND PREPARE TO MEET JULY 19 FIFTY SIXTH AND SIXTH HOT DOG STAND OUTSIDE RUE57 CAFE ASK FOR MISTER INPUT.

After discovering the fact that the note had been spread around the Reddit community, “Mister Input” sent a message to delverofsecrets under the name hoboman (which was apparently sent from a US Department of Defense Network IP address), stating the following:

You may not believe me, but I will remind you of your personalized backpack [personal information redacted] You have recruited the help of friends, the offer is now on the table for them too. I cannot have strangers inquire about me, rather we will use a proxy. Here is the next step: DWY JLRR QUBPKSJ IL NDLM OQD OUCEQMW KGXI CSH RFRM XL WEZUXKJ. YME QLPRBAZ OQD TPVJG HPM UK CQJS H. PPVD BFSRST NJYT KR. BFPU EWP BMHY BTK WL VGB FXK R PXFE DTC GPBQL QWHKI JFA QRPE EJW EYC KLJ HCB JHGN.

This coded part of the message, which was also translated by the community, reads:

YOU HAVE MANAGED TO FIND THE MESSAGE WITH THE HELP OF FRIENDS. YOU CHANGED THE RULES NOW SO WILL I. JULY TWELVE FOUR PM. FIND THE BLUE JAY AT SIX AND A HALF AND FIFTY SIXTH AND TELL HIM YOU ARE THE LAST.

In an interesting twist, a contributing Redditor discovered that a Google Street View snapshot of that location shows a UPS delivery man with what appears to be a blue jay tattoo on his arm.

The debate rages on in regards to whether or not this is some clever viral marketing scheme for The Dark Knight Rises (whose release date coincides with the date in the original message), or BASE Entertainment’s upcoming Spy exhibit. Regardless, the story is an interesting one and continues to develop at the original post.

UPDATE: Original poster has his life threatened.

(Read more at the High Define)