No they don't. It's fiction. There's many books of fiction taking place in/around historical events(such as the John Jakes novels "The Bastard" and the rest of the "Kent Family Chronicles") which are about lives interwoven with historic figures and times. Giving credence to someone's imaginative works only build it up in other's minds.
The book was fiction, and to be honest I found most of the "puzzles" so obvious that I had them figured out 4 pages before the characters did. And no, I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express while reading it.