A ‘Better Call Saul’ Fan Is Pretty Sure That They Cracked The ‘Little Black Book’ Code

The most recent episode of Better Call Saul, “Axe and Grind,” featured more Breaking Bad references and foreshadowings than usual. To name a few: Saul forced Francesca to make a “fake” phone call, which she would later do again to scare Hank into thinking that Marie had been in a car accident; Saul goes to a liquor store to buy an expensive bottle of Zafiro Anejo, which has been on Better Call Saul multiple times, but first showed up as a deadly gift from Gus to Don Eladio on Breaking Bad; and of course, there’s the Best Quality Vacuum card. The Albuquerque-based store is a legitimate business run by Ed Galbraith (played by the late, great Robert Forster), but it’s also where Saul and Walt (and Jesse in El Camino) seek help when they need to, let’s say, get away.

The Best Quality Vacuum card appears in “Axe and Grind” in a little black book owned by Dr. Caldera, a vet who also provides medical care to humans who want no questions asked. He’s leaving town, he tells Saul and Kim, and plans to sell his mysterious notebook — his “keys to the kingdom” — so his life can be “all animals, all the time.”

(Sidenote: It’s unclear how Saul comes into possession of the book, but as co-creator Peter Gould explained on Better Call Saul Insider, its appearance here is “us figuring out that Saul must have found out about [Ed] from the vet without Mike present.”)

What’s in Dr. Caldera’s little black book, you be might wondering Have a look.

— Better Call Saul (@BetterCallSaul) May 18, 2022

“I think we found the Zodiac Killer,” Saul jokes, but a Better Call Saul fan on Reddit believes that they have cracked the code. Redditor AsuranFish’s deciphering began following the season six premiere, when the little black book shows up as the feds are emptying Saul’s house, post-Breaking Bad. “What is this notebook” the post reads. “It seems pretty clear to me this is Caldera’s contact book for the ABQ underworld.” What follows is a list of names and numbers, and occasionally, prison information.

HUELL BABINEAUX – ** – II

505-115-_876

PUNCTUAL

​ARO – * – II

505-128-2_ _ 0

CSP 18 MOS.NOV.2004 (I think this is stating the guy got 18 months, and will be released in Nov. 2004)

​PATRICK KUBY – * – I

505-1_1-8720

​__LKUDI – * – II (finger covers the first part of the name)

505-170-2_58

ARRESTED & RELEASED

You can see it here.

AsuranFish went back to work following “Axe and Grind,” which gave viewers a better look at the notebook. “There doesn’t seem to be any familiar names this time around – but maybe some of these folks will turn up,” they wrote. Here’s that.

The Better Call Saul midseason finale airs next Monday, May 23.