In search of Captain Kidd's treasure, you are captured by pirates and tossed into the hold aboard the Annabel Lee. A crewman slams the iron grate closed above you, clicking a padlock shut and pocketing the key. You are trapped belowdecks. Squinting in the darkness, you see a lamp on a table, which you promptly light. Next to the lamp, you now see a wooden box, latched with a combination lock. Scratched into the wall above the table are these letters:

a  b  c  d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k   l   m
n  o  p  q   r   s   t   u   v  w  x  y   z

Something scuttles across the floor by your feet. You suppress a scream as a rat scurries over your boots. You take a deep breath and look closer at the floor. The rat is gone, but you see an old book on the floor tucked under a table leg. Next to the book sits an empty wooden crate. You pull the crate out from under the table and turn it over, making a stool to rest on.