WE GOT GOT?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 7:00AM Deducer Popper reports:
Our original ideas for Floor 9 seemed too good to be totally wrong, and I had been a fan of Theda's theories about the poem, and especially Heirloom's idea of starting from the other side of the state -- but none of that mattered, since I live at least a thousand miles away from either side of Idaho. But when I realized I would be visiting my cousin in Salt Lake City, not too far from the Idaho border...I started thinking, why not?
A week later the two of us were together in Utah. We travelled north on I-15/84, crossed the Idaho border, and stopped at the first rest stop (and semi-welcome center with soda machines) to the right -- the last stop for another 45 miles or so! The area was full of scrubby little tree-like things -- I wasn't sure whether they "counted," but after driving all this way I wasn't giving up without a search.
After a long while of roaming, we ended up on a short trail to a little picnic site. Trees all appeared to be unmarked. It was a sunny day, so we kept walking, through a clearing, and ended up in a stand of trees that looked...different, somehow. I don't know -- they looked like the kind of place whether something should be. There were three trees in a row, all with weird funky bark, and on the middle one...well, you can guess what I saw. I must not have been truly expecting to find anything, because when I saw the marker my heart just started pounding.
The dirt was surprisingly soft, and we scrabbled through it with everything we had, and then...about a foot down...plastic.
A plastic bag, and inside it some newsprint wrapping...but it didn't seem to have the shape of the other boxes I had seen pictured...but maybe the 12 was different? But when I unwrapped the paper...well, the photo shows what I saw:
It was a note (slightly soggy but legible) and a magnifying glass. With a name engraved on it:
My reaction was...well, I'm still figuring out what to feel. I was slightly disappointed to not be holding the emerald 12, but mostly I just felt (and still feel!) this overwhelming burning desire to find Roy Dodge (whatever that means). That monster's got my 12! Are we supposed to give up that easy? Augustus, we need your assistance!
You need assistance? I need a five-gallon tub of rocky road, Season 1 of Friday Night Lights, and a diaper! My brain is literally melting.
Reader Comments (72)
Wow, Popper-great story! So sorry you didn't find the 12, but at least you didn't come up empty-handed and now we know that Dodge is the culprit. I've suspected that all along. So now we have to figure out what clues he left. I suspect the 5 in the sawdust on the 4th floor is one, and the stuff written on the blackboard on the first floor is another. What other scribbled or scratched or hastily moved items can be seen on other floors?
Thanks Popper for re-invigorating the hunt!
Come, Watson. The game is afoot!
Awesome. But... what's on that newspaper wrapping? Doesn't look like your average newspaper to me...
Popper, I'm so disappointed for you. As I began reading your story and saw your familiar name I was so excited and felt your excitement when you saw the marker (I've thought of that moment myself and imagine it would be pretty surreal). You are a great sport - keep looking!!
Hey, you know what else? Now that a S/H/M has been established for the #12... that means all bets -- or rather, rules -- are off in terms of where Roy Dodge has taken it.
Whoo boy!
Is there a date on the newspaper...to at least let us know when it was buried?
Dodge! You must be suffering from extreme guilt. Its not too late to turn yourself in. Just send the jewel to my adress in Springfield, Oregon and I'll fight for your freedom or a short-term sentence, whichever is cheaper...do they have coupons for legal services? Groupons? Grey Poupon? Mmmhmmm.
catherwood mentioned on tweleve that the "one" in the wires could be part of the Stone rest area -if this is the site where Popper found the magnifying glass- but could not identlfy an "ST" to go with it. The rocket on the cupboard could be an Estes rocket, so the rocket and the one is "ST" + "one" - a rebus for Stone.
It seems the old rules have been discarded. Perhaps no mm, or even a highway. What if the 12 is buried in a park somewhere and S/H/M no longer apply?
Gus, does this mean the Hunt Card can be fileld out with ID, I-84, mm 269 for the 9th floor because that's where the 12 was supposed to be found?
Apparently we're going to be back on the hunt for the 12, but let's figure out Floor 9 first.
State: Idaho (state motto over door); Highway 15; Mile 7. Any ideas on why 15? Why 7?
Now: Did Dodge hide the 12 again? Are we still looking for a rest area with a tree marked with a pentagon? Did the front corner of the Idaho pentagon get rubbed off by the finders (if so, by light handling, it was not particularly durable. Why is that— was it supposed to rub off to create a clue)? Was it waterproof? Is the missing corner somehow a clue?
If we are looking for the usual State, Highway, Mile, will the clues be found from Floor 9 on down? Or did Dodge somehow go back up the building to scatter clues, and why would he leave clues anyway? Is he taunting us?
Gus: What do you really know about Roy Dodge? Where would he go? Did he ever say anything like, “If I ever found an emerald-studded number, I’d take it and ……”
Think, man, as if your marshmallows depended on it!!!!
Popper,
This was definitely worth the trip - you cracked the code of the 9th floor and liberated the entire building - a new trove of clues awaits us like emeralds for the picking...
I'm assuming that there isn't any particular clue together with the magnifying glass (like the newspaper) to give us some direction...
We then go back to the book, and gather every arbitrary number and possible combination.
This is actually exciting... I can still not have a life... :)
When Gus and Dodge were investigating the Third Floor.....Dodge said that if he had the fortune, he would retire. He would drop the magnifing glass, move back home to Washington, and fish everyday!
If Dodge found the number at a rest area, why would he re-hide the number at another rest area? Wouldn't he keep the 12 with him?
Are we supposed to continue looking for another rest area/state-highway-mile, or are we now looking for Dodge himself at a specific address/location?
gosh if artful dodger has the twelve the get ready for an extreme finish guys. he is know for hiding objectes in the woods in plain site and still have people miss it. the most logical place now is in the eastern areas like the Carolinas as that is where he lives
heres a sample of his puzzles
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ca5f9e1f-a181-42d5-9466-441d78f0e80b
Sinda, what gives us any clue that Artful and Roy are one and the same?
So Dodge said:
"With that kind of money? I would retire from this nonsense. Drop the magnifying glass, move back home to Washington, and fish everyday".
There are several grammatical, capitalization and spelling errors in that quotation. That phrase seems like a candidate for an anagrammed-location solution.
The challenge of finding Roy Dodge is one thing. If you do manage to pinpoint his whereabouts, would you have to steal the "12", or would Roy give it to you willingly because he is such a good sport?
This is a rather undefined assignment.
Deducer Popper,
Please, would you give us more information about
the newspaper in which the note and magnifying glass
were wrapped? The name of the paper and the date....?
I was unable to make out much of the printing in your photo.
Thank you.
AP
Deducer Popper,
There are those on Tweleve who are saying that the location of your "find" is:
Idaho, Hyw 84, MM 269.
Is this correct, or is it:
Idaho, Hyw 15 MM 7 ?
In your account you said that you were on Hyw 15/84 and stopped at the first rest area...
(kind of "unspecific"...)
If it is Hyw 15 and MM 7, we could determine the clues to be:
the "15" which is the sum of the telephone switchboard plug-in spaces...
and the"7" which is on the Logan's Run rug.
Popper, can you elucidate?
I think Popper gave us everything Gus allowed him to give. All previous posts about successful digs gave tantalizing, but incomplete information.
Perchance there was a clue in that ziplock bag that gives him a head start on the race to the 12. It would seem only fair. After all, he did solve the 9th floor, only to be stymied by Roy Dodge or by a junior deducer who planted that stash at that location. It seems he deserves something more than Roy's discarded magnifying glass for his brilliant effort.
@eric
well my theory of an ARG is back in play.
@sind I think it is a possibility artful dodger and roy could be one in the same based on the puzzle caches Ive heard from him.
So know we search for a person rather than a number hmm drop zone time!
Everyone, THIS IS NOT A GAME!
Floor 1 is conveniently an exact replica of Dodge's apartment. Should he choose to hide the thing, my guess, the clues are there. A statue in the center caught my eye. I think the 12 has not gone far.
I wonder if Popper CAN talk about anything else in the bag. However, I have a suspicion from the visible letters that the newspaper is the Sun Valley Express. Also, the visible letters indicate a headline that might reference the Nordic Nationals, a ski competition that I believe could have taken place in January. Any other light on this subject would be much appreciated.
At this point, we just don't know enough about where to look or what to look for. We definitely need some guidance from Gus on this one. It has been hammered home that the "12" is an Egyptian number. Would Dodge, perhaps plagued by the curse, try to dump it at an Egypt-inspired location?
I agree that the Wyoming indications have been appeared throughout. The painting next to the safe, of course, is of the Grand Tetons with mountaineer John Colter.
Anyway, it would be terrible to send someone off on another wild goose chase (poor Popper), but as people have indicated in these pages in the past, there is that strange pyramid-type Ames Monument in Wyoming near Laramie.
There is also a rock formation called "Pompey's Pillar" which was discovered and named by the Lewis and Clark expedition. This rock formation (near Billings, Montana) has nothing to do with the famous Pompey's Pillar in Egypt, but the name is still a coincidence, and John Colter (in the painting by the safe) was part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Again, we don't know even enough to begin.... let alone set someone off into the wilds unless there is a strong consensus that there is a reason to look there. All the western stuff might be a red herring, anyway.
Gus, have you gotten any telegrams lately? Odd postcards in the mail?
Mossy,
I don't think it's asking too much to give the State, Hyw, and MM where Popper found the marker.
No other finder was forbidden from giving that much. Only the finder of the "9" in San Antonio
was not forthcoming...and we already knew where that location was..and the clues that led there.
I'm going to reconstruct my book which is conveniently in 15 pieces, then I'm going reread it paying particularly close attention to Dodge's words and actions.
Travis' 1st floor apartment being identical begs the question, how did he know what Roy's home looked like? I would have to assume he had surveillance on Roy, but Roy is keen and would've figured that out, and then put surveillance on Travis. Double double surveillance! Roy even knew what Gus was doing and wearing at the very beginning of teh story. Surveillance? I'm guessing there's hidden spy cameras all over the place and Roy knew about all the plans to steal the Khroniker's jewels before hand. What if Roy isn't so smart at deducing but just really good at spying and has been exploiting that advantage to bolster his reputation as a great Detective?
We have wondered why the numbers found under the blue medallion have towns listed instead of S/H/M. After Popper's find, we now wonder whether his find is the site to be entered on the Hunt Card.
I think we are looking at two different lists that require different information. The Hunt Card asks for the solution to each floor. The Medallion list asks where the numbers have been found.
The Hunt card doesn't ask where the #12 was found, and the Medallion list doesn't ask for the solution to the 9th floor.
So the Hunt Card solution is Popper's site -and may be why he doesn't give full information.
The solution to "where is the #12?" will be a whole different answer, and I imagine the "burier" will be Roy Dodge, or his partner in crime: Ternky? Gene? Travis? Someone else?
Thanks for bringing that clarity, Theda...it shook me from my sardonic stupor. As it says in the Hunt Card, the Finder option looks like it isn't neccessary to write SHM for 9th floor where all we need to do is put Popper in the Finder column. Would you agree?