Straight Lines is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the December 1985 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
Summary[]
In the Union Club library, a conversation about memorizing U.S. states leads Griswold to recount a story from the Second World War, told to him by his mentor, Wingate. The case dated back to 1916 during the American expedition into Mexico to capture the revolutionary Pancho Villa. The U.S. forces relied on a crack undercover scout, an American citizen of Canadian origin named Mackenzie Clifford, who operated under the alias "Pedro." Pedro used a simple substitution cipher to send messages, with the key for deciphering them being the name of a U.S. state, which was changed periodically.
Before a critical mission to locate Villa, Pedro secretly visited the American camp but forgot to convey the new key word. Wingate was sent to intercept him and, in a brief, hostile exchange designed to maintain Pedro's cover, Pedro indicated the new key was the "northernmost" place with boundaries that were "all straight lines." Wingate and his colleagues interpreted this to mean the U.S. state of Wyoming. However, when Pedro's final, crucial message arrived, deciphering it with "Wyoming" as the key produced gibberish. Attempts with other similarly bounded states like Colorado and Utah also failed. The message was never decoded, Pedro disappeared, and Villa was never caught. Wingate was blamed for the failure and was haunted by the mystery for over twenty-five years.
Griswold, upon hearing the story, deduced the error. He realized that Pedro, being Canadian, would naturally think of Canadian provinces as well as American states. While Wyoming is the northernmost U.S. state with all straight-line boundaries, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan also fits that description and is located farther north. Griswold correctly guessed that "Saskatchewan" was the intended key. Using this, the message was successfully deciphered, solving the long-standing mystery for Wingate.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Baranov
- Jennings
- Wingate
- Mackenzie Clifford (alias "Pedro)
- American Soldiers
- Pedro's Mexican Allies
Historical Figures Mentioned[]
- Pancho Villa
- Black Jack Pershing
- President Woodrow Wilson
- William Lyon Mackenzie
See Also[]
List of short stories by Isaac Asimov