In the days that follow, several events
shake the warden’s faith in his
escape-proof prison. While Van Dusen
talks with jailers and examines his cell in
order to plan his escape, he also begins to
leave a series of notes, giving them to his
jailers or dropping them from his barred
windows. He uses part of his white shirt as
paper, and he continues to write on white
linen even after the warden takes this shirt
away. Moreover, The Thinking Machine
has found substances to serve as pen and
ink, although he took no such materials to
the cell. In the notes, Van Dusen includes
two five-dollar bills; he entered the cell
with only one. The warden arranges a 3:00
a.m. search but finds little more than a
dead rat stuck into an old pipe.