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Inspector Crumblesniff thinks he is on the verge of arresting a notorious Mafia hit man, but he needs your help. First, after a raid on Sal's Pizzeria, he found an address book with these contents:

  • BRUNO, ALFONSO - 123 LOVEJOY
  • GIORDANO, VITO - 456 AINSWORTH
  • LANGELLA, TONY - 789 WYGANT
  • PICCOLO, SAMMY - 159 JARRETT
  • TOCCO, FRANKIE - 357 EMERSON

Next, by disguising himself as a table lamp, the Inspector was able to sneak in to Don Furfante's secret base, the Piazza di Sei, and acquire the following job list:

  • PLUMBER - 2074123927971998088
  • PAPERBOY - 3907210679561031886
  • MAILMAN - 3724268395359054732
  • ASSASSIN - 4149097910918443572
  • GARDENER - 1394589336448442100

Unfortunately, the job list seems to be encrypted, and the Judge Maldestro will only issue a single search warrant. Can you figure out the killer's address?


Edit: Since a day has gone by with no progress towards catching the murderer, I'll just pop in with a few words of encouragement:

  • The encryption is simple and not arbitrary. In some languages, you could convert "2074123927971998088" to the plumber's identity in a single line of code.
  • That said, if you use all of the information available to you and have access to google, neither programming nor guesswork is required to identify the killer.
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    $\begingroup$ I think the practical solution is, "go to a different Judge". $\endgroup$
    – KSmarts
    Commented Jan 26, 2015 at 19:11
  • $\begingroup$ "A fine idea, but quite impossible, I'm afraid," reports the Inspector. "You see we're rather short of judges at the moment, what with all of them emigrating to South Africa. But cheer up, chap! My informants tell me that the encryption is quite simple - a single maths function in fact." He pauses for a sip of tea. "Should be no problem for a boffin like you, eh?" $\endgroup$
    – DevOfZot
    Commented Jan 27, 2015 at 16:58

1 Answer 1

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ASSASSIN - GIORDANO, VITO, 456 AINSWORTH

4149097910918443572 (10) = VITOGIORDAO8 (36)

It is all about converting from Decimal to Hexatrigesimal system. Unfortunately, I have no idea why base 36 was chosen. It was just the largest possible system that online converter was capable of. So, I found this solution by pure luck.

Piazza di Sei = Squared six = 36, Great!

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  • $\begingroup$ @Quark Thank you. I guess 456 AINSWORTH is not encoded further, otherwise there won't be "Judge Maldestro will only issue a single search warrant". I think it means that addresses are real. $\endgroup$
    – Xellos
    Commented Jan 28, 2015 at 6:39
  • $\begingroup$ I figured it was some kind of base conversion, but the obvious ones (16, 26, 64) didn't yield any results. Seems really arbitrary. $\endgroup$
    – Otaia
    Commented Jan 28, 2015 at 14:29
  • $\begingroup$ If 36 seems arbitrary, it's because you overlooked a rather gigantic hint in the text - feel free to update your answer if/when you see it. Still, Bravo for the right answer! $\endgroup$
    – DevOfZot
    Commented Jan 28, 2015 at 15:58
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    $\begingroup$ @DevOfZot Piazza di Sei! Edited my answer. Judge Maldestro and Don Furfante are awesome too. ^^ $\endgroup$
    – Xellos
    Commented Jan 29, 2015 at 5:03
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    $\begingroup$ Get it? Secret base? Har har. $\endgroup$
    – DevOfZot
    Commented Jan 29, 2015 at 5:09

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