"Not just a good friend," said Heiji, stopping to think about this for a second. "Someone who could decipher the code I sent them, and figure out how to send a message in return so the people holdin' us captive wouldn't be able to tell what it was. I explained the code to Hershel, but the return message told me to lure one of them out."

He grinned happily. "So they'd obviously have to be someone as smart as me."