Friday
Jun042010
TWO SLEUTHS, ONE TWO
Friday, June 4, 2010 at 6:06PM Each and every one of these stories of discovery and justice sends shivers up my spine and krullers down my craw. You have impressed me to no end, and I can only hope our parade of brilliance carries us to the three remaining digits before Dodge gets his dirty hands in the dirty dirt. Today I present a tale of cooperation and bold speculation. In the proud words of Lauren below: "Sure" is for people who don’t want it enough!
Lauren here! I am half of the long-distance duo that retrieved the emerald 2 from the ground. Once the case broke wide open with the discovery of the 11, I started working the rooms backwards. I pulled a list of Florida stops and then began looking for numbers on the floors to use as the state and mile. See, I wanted the treasure to be in Florida. On Floor Ten I found a possible location — only a mere 400 miles from where I live. I couldn’t get there during the work week because, sadly, my day job is not hunting treasure. So I called on my friend Jim at his day job (also not hunting treasure); Jim was a mere 75 miles from the alleged dig site. I knew he could get there before I could, and I hoped he would make it there before Dodge. I still wasn’t sure that Florida was the right state, but we’re Junior Deducers — "sure" is for people who don’t want it enough!Jim here! It started out like any other Wednesday morning — half awake, reading the paper — and then the phone rang and everything went awry. It was Lauren on the line, talking of treasure, rest areas and a 75 mile drive. What is this girl babbling on about? There is nothing hidden there. But alas her confidence had won me over. I had no time to find a shovel or a flashlight, but who needs either when you have golf clubs in the back seat and a cell phone in your pocket?
The location turned out to be full of trees. I thought I would be there forever. But I pushed on, looking for the first group of trees not surrounded by grass. And then there it was. I began to dig with my hands, frantically, as if someone was going to beat me to it. The box was stuck under a root — I couldn't get it out. Next to me, almost like magic, I see a rock, and with the rock I am able to get it out the rest of the way. Not until I actually see the 2 that it hits me that we have found it. Covered in dirt, I walked back to the car, brushing off my phone as I went — for now it was time to call Lauren. As she answered, I asked, “Guess who has an emerald 2 in his pocket?”
My ear began to ring as she screamed. The screaming eventually turned to laughter, and then the questioning began. How long did it take you to find it? Did you use the golf clubs to dig? Did anyone see you? What does it look like? Please tell me your hands are not still dirty while you’re handling our treasure. The last one wasn't a question, but fortunately my hands were indeed clean. It was teamwork that netted this emerald, and now we’re trying to figure out how to have joint custody of the 2. We’re both confident we can solve that puzzle.
Reader Comments (3)
This one is so beautiful. I wish I'd ponied up for that impulse trip to Florida. :) Congratulations Lauren and Jim!
Gus! Where have you gone? I feel I'm hot on the trail of the remaining numbers, but all this radio silence is making me paranoid. What news? Are the 1, 6, and 12 still at large?
Flap: Sorry for the delay -- I have been busy in the basement, perfecting an experimental new use for powdered sugar. 1, 6, and 12 are indeed still at large, adrift, undiscovered, unloved, lonely... I will of course report here the moment that any are found. General roundup coming later this week.