Thursday
Jun302011
MY DARLING DARLINGS
Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 4:44PM I like where Sailor and Juliett are going with this! Whether where they are going where Dodge is — well, Dodge is the only one who knows that. But better to go towards than to go away, that's what I say. If the man has the jewel, and we desire to find the jewel, then we must find the man. And where is the man? Where did the man go? Am I going around in circles? Yes to the last, it seems — but as for the first two, what do we know? What information do we have? Of that information, what is relevant to his current location? Again, me no know, me just dumb ol' Gus, but here's one thing I do know: Anyone who thinks these marshmallow pics are a clue clearly hasn't eaten a marshmallow recently enough.
Reader Comments (177)
I understand the power of the marshmallow. Back in my first college dorm a bunch of us played a game called 'Chubby Bunnies' and the goal was to put one by one in your mouth and each time say 'chubby bunny' until you can't stop yourself from laughing/spewing hunks of mallow all over the Walls and Ceilings.
These seem to be the only substantive facts that we have concerning Dodge
The first floor drawing:
It is a replica of his apartment
Text:
Says if he had a fortune, he would drop his magnifying glass, move back to Washington and fish everyday.
Doesn't like mimes. His first crime he stopped was a mime robbing a hotel. The mime jumped in the water and couldn't swim.
The note, and magnifying class.
I wonder if there is more to that mime story than what is on the surface?
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It's nice how the "shm" in marshmallows stands out in this package. Where's MayorSara when you need an anagram? Do we "allow Mars s/h/m"? I hope not, that's far...
Gus darling, don't dodge the main issue - we need you to concentrate and contribute, not obfuscate and attribute.
Maybe we can have a group effort - everyone who lives close to a town, county, state, river, mountain or monument named Washington raise their hands. Now go look for Dodge and report!
Oh my darling darlings...
Where has Roy Dodge taken the Emerald 12 that I should have found in Idaho before he got there? When I saw the site where the 12 originally slept, I swear I could hear Dodge laughing as he ran off with the loot. He did drop his magnifying glass...
What was his next step? Did he drive away; did he hop a plane in Salt Lake? Did he go back home? (where is home?) Is he on vacation in a tropical clime? Is he fishing in Washington? He said in his note "Come and get it, if you can find me... but I doubt it."
I am personally offended by the notion that Dodge sleeps easy, snuggled under covers with the Emerald 12. Where is he sleeping? We will find him soon, and then one of us will be sleeping easy, snuggled under the covers with our Emerald 12, never to be stolen again.
I'm reading the book again tonight. It's funny how I could be watching TV or listening to the radio and I hear a clue. I have to laugh because it's not true....or is it?
snickers list got me thinking. seems like the washington clue is definitely a clue. since he mentions dropping his magnifying glass, and a magnifying glass is what they found in idaho. that doesn't feel like a coincidence. however, as dmonty notes, there are lots of washingtons. so we need to narrow it down somehow. what about snickers other clue, about the mime and the hotel and the river -- if that was dodges first crime, maybe it happened in his hometown: washington. which might help us narrow it down, by finding a washington with all those things. i need to reread that part tonight.
Two_hands:
I did some research into places named Washington that would also have proximity to a significant enough river for fishing and here is what I have:
Washington, DC
Washington, NC
The entire state of Washington.
Since a number was already found in Washington state, I would somewhat decrease the chance of that being a possibility.
Here is some food for thought for the DC solve:
The 1st floor is a replica of Dodge's apartment. If (and that is a BIG if), the 12 solve is an SHM solve, perhaps there are elements of the known 1st floor solve that overlap. Specifically, that solve was for Virginia, and there are several significant DC area landmarks that are actually located in VA.
I like where this is going, too, Gus!
Y'know... there's a very famous clock at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Underneath the clock? A fish market.
I'm trying to revisit Dodge's dodgy past. He mentioned his first case that puts a mime-infested hotel next to a river and near a graveyard. Since Washington is "home", it seems likely that all of these are in Washington.
Washington DC has a series of lettered streets and state-named streets, including W (23 Glyph). It so happens that W street runs near several cemeteries, including Holy Rood, Prospect Hill, Glennwood, and St. Mary's Catholic. Holiday Inn is near Holy Rood Cemetery, but it does not back up to a river, though it is not far from Rock Creek. No word on (or from) mimes.
Maybe Dodge was strolling past the Watergate Hotel after coming across the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge from Arlington National Cemetery, and the mime jumped into the Potomac.
Unfortunately, there are miles of trails along these routes with thousands of trees (assuming Dodge unimaginatively imitated the methods of the criminal residents). The obelisk on the 13th floor of course resembles the Washington Monument, as would any obelisk. Then there are a couple of Egyptian Embassy buildings and the Egyptian Defense Office. On the other hand, most areas around DC have lots of people most of the time, not such great places for hiding anything. There are some, for instance Theodore Roosevelt Island National Park, with a hopeless number of trees.
Maybe Dodge did not rebury the number. Maybe if we can just find him, we could shame him at last into forsaking criminality and giving up the 12. After all, Gus suggests he had a long and illustrious crime-fighting career. Surely he cannot be completely irredeemable. If he did not rebury the number, we must find him himself.
Incidentally, near Arlington, there is one possible solution to the paradox of the nautical terminology used by and to a general: the Navy and Marine Memorial.
cosmicjay, I like where you're going with this. Someone pointed out in the early days of the CWAF hunt that Pupkin/Dodge's main room was reminiscent of the mall in Washington, D.C. Items strongly associated with the Smithsonian are lined up on his table and the wall behind it; the bowl of Cincinnati chili could represent the equestrian statue of General Grant astride his horse, Cincinnati. The green carpet could represent the green lawn of the mall itself. (Of course, the obelisk doesn't quite work in this "map" if it is intended to represent the Washington Monument.)
If there is any relevance in this schematic map, the Navy and Merchant-Marine Memorial you cite would be located approximately where the venus fly trap or possibly the pan on the stove is located. Hmm. Unless the northern orientation of the map is at Pupkin/Dodge's front door instead of at Pupkin/Dodge's bedroom. In that case, the Navy and Merchant-Marine Memorial would be on the mantle, which fit with a theory I was pondering a few weeks ago. (Do you think that's a bust of Haydn on the mantle? As in hiding?)
I like the possible connection of this N and M-M memorial to a Klobberduck/Dodge solution because the memorial itself resembles the emerald 2 found using clues from Klobberduck's apartment: a seagull riding the crest of a wave.
I also appreciate your reminder that Washington's street names are a mix of alphabet letters (and states). Maybe the state names of some of the successful dig sites will help us to narrow a location. Maybe the letters in the illustrations will help us to navigate. There is an A-shaped foot stool in Jigsy's apartment, an X-file in Pupkin's apartment, a P floating on the surface of Jigsy's dunk tank; perhaps the eyes in the illustrations are directing us to I street. Or maybe I'm hoping for too much.
As for the zillions of trees in Washington, D.C., I have a pet theory that the portrait of a tree on Klobberduck's wall will help the final search to pinpoint the uniquely lopsided freestanding tree where the last treasure is hidden. The rope holding up the hammock passes in front of this work of art, and ropes that hold up hammocks are called clews. Perhaps Dodge calling the other rope to Gus' attention is also a hint that an important rope is "right in front of" our faces. (And this hunt is all about faces, right?)
I'm starting to doubt whether we should still be using the illustrations of the floors at all anymore (except possibly the 1st floor). Dodge criticized the tenants and Ternky for their methods, saying they should have been running off with the loot instead of concocting the perfect crime. When asked to help Vera & Josie with The Clock Without a Face book, he sniffed and said "I don't waste my time with imaginary games".
I think we should be using his own comments-home to Washington, cemetery/hotel/river, and maybe his cryptic request for saltines.
This will require a lot of Google Map searching! And a lot of saltines.
Sailor, I meant to ask you if you felt Dodge placed the picture in Klobberduck's apartment and the letter-shaped objects scattered throughtout the building himself, or if you feel he simply saw them there & used them for his own benefit? Do you think he had been in these apartments before this visit?
Hi Theda - Aside from the first floor apartment, I've been operating on the assumption that Dodge saw things already in place and made mental notes about his stash spot. In some cases, his remarks may have been deliberate hints about his stash spot. In other cases, I have suspected that he was in cahoots with one or more of the tenants. I think the two-page sketchbook could be Dodge's work, though, and that could be an important key to the solution.
Today I was working with a possible clue over the hammock clews on Plumpjack's window sill. If "sun umbrella" is the correct input, it could lead to:
ulna slumber <-- Dodge sleeping on a box of elbows
bus rune mall <-- Could the "B68" clue locate a place near the National Mall? B Street?
mull urn base <-- The urn in Ternky's apartment is on a white cylinder. Marshmallow?
number all U.S. <-- We've been doing that for awhile. It hasn't narrowed things down.
As you can see, I have no idea how to narrow this down. Everything seems significant. The next day, none of it seems plausible.
P.S. I almost forgot - sometimes I assume that the red boots near the chalkboard in Pupkin/Dodge's apartment are Bakula's anti-gravity boots. (Bakula said they would look like green galoshes to the untrained eye, but our eyes are well-trained now so maybe they appear red to us?) If Dodge had access to anti-gravity boots, and twelve letters (Hmm! twelve letters!) from Pupkin indicating that Pupkin was his number 1 fan, Dodge may have flown around the building hiding clues before Ternky called him in on the case.
CJ,
I had actually thought of the Arlington/Watergate possibility as well(hotel along river that was famously burgarilzed), so perhaps there is something to that. The one thing that keeps striking me when pulling up Mapquest images or using Google Earth is that big Pentagon that is in the vicinity. I feel very strongly we are in the correct area here, but just haven't seen a clue yet to narrow it down to a specific location worth making the daytrip for.
Arizona or bust! Hint: bust (so far).
We are poking around AZ along the 10. Two major spots seem to fit a few clues: Quartzsite, which contains Hi Jolly's memorial -- a pyramid in a graveyard -- and the 10/8 junction. The 10/8 seemed promising because of all the 10s and 8s on floor 9, and the "two paths diverge" line in previous blog posts.
I admit it's a bit hard to muster the requisite enthusiasm for the search when it's literally 115F outside. Really sucks out the life.
Any ideas while we're still in the area? Driving back to LA tonight!
Just finished searching in 2 locations in Pennsylvania, one of which I was really sure about.
Aside from scratches and muddied shoes, no twelve. I was going by the assumption that Dodge had followed the s/h/m model and had identified or tampered with different elements throughout the floors to leave his clues.
Now I think those were just extra clues to confuse each floor. I'm fishifting the paradigm.
I'll post a better report at tweleve after I get home. Good luck to other deducers on the field this 4th of July!
And Gus - the Turkey Devonshire was worth the trip...
I used to live in dc. The problem with this solve is that you are not allowed by federal law to hide things in dc. The secret service see it as a possible threat to national security and thus would have confiscated it by now. There was a big scare in dc a few years back where a geocacher hid a geocache on the mall and they were arrested and interrogated. For suspicions of terrorism. This on top of the 9-11survey incident would make me discount this solve all together.
There is however a loop hole. A treasure hunt can take place in the like library and the Smithsonian as they are public places and already had end locations there.
if this was the case then I think I know the solution. In the library there are hallowed out books that are used for storage. Some of them have been converted into geocaches and terracaches over the years. I know that two books in particular are referenced indirectly on this book.
one is of course "49 Clues" and the other being an hallowed out copy of "Oliver Twist".
The dimension of the wax box also would make a perfect fit in the container.
So I suggest you guys look for an isbn number if you search dc
There are millions upon millions of books in there.
Remi -
I think you are really onto something for a lot of reasons. The only problem I see is I don't get how you could plant a fake book at a library and have it categorized. I tried to do some google searcing on the concept of storage boxes and couldn't find anything. How did you hear of this?
MJSpin, how goes the search?
I like all the focus on Washington. The mention of mimes and rivers could be a a good narrowing clue. Maybe a river name in one of the MIMAL States.
The library book geocaches is a favorite of a grocacher/terracacher, ArtfulDodger. This also makes me suspect him of hiding the final number as Roy Dodge AND ArtfulDoger aren't too unsimilar in spelling. The library can approve it very easaliy if they are show the site. I have geocached a lot and have completed a large number of his caches. In. One of them was a chinese puzzle box made out of wood that you needed a cryptex to solve. The FTF(First to find) prize was a copy of this book about a month early. So he is obviously connected to this hunt somehow.
Here for example is a list of weird geocaches
http://hubpages.com/hub/Geocaches
OMG! Whoever has the magnify glass and newspaper, please help me with this. I need the date and title on that paper. Also does the bottom of the glass screw off or make a square shape key???
The newpaper headlines are from the Aug. 1st 1981 New York Times and reads:
Strike Over. Baseball Resumes Aug. 9th
I'm not sure this is what the front page of that newpaper actually looked like-the online version says it was on page 1, column 1. August 1st that year was a Saturday.
If Pupkin has a copy of the NYTimes, Dodge does too, and why would he be reading the NYT if he lived in Washington, D.C.?
I'm not sure about the jar-or which jar you are referring to: The one with the gorilla hand? The one with the starfish/coral/ alien hand? Another one?
Our expedition to AZ ended empty handed, if sun burned. Here's why we thought AZ, and Quartzsite in particular.
9th floor mat looks like the AZ flag.
Desert looking areas of 9th floor.
9th floor has many 8s and 10s -- I10 and I8 meet in AZ
1st floor flag has 48 stars (az 48th state)
12 was stolen from pyramid, and story mentions graveyard -- tomb of Hi Jolly in Quartzsite is a pyramid, and it's in a graveyard! Also, a river of sorts ran through Quartzsite. There's also a giant fishing pole in town.
Hi Jolly is reminiscent of Friendly Jerome
Anyway, we came up short. No sign of the marker, so no digging done. We did bake in the heat, tho!
We also searched a few rest areas along the way to Phoenix, and near the 10/8 junction. No luck. Of course, we could have just missed it, but some of those areas would have taken days to thoroughly search.
Ideas welcome!
Gus asks:
If the man has the jewel, and we desire to find the jewel, then we must find the man. And where is the man? Where did the man go? ...what do we know? What information do we have? Of that information, what is relevant to his current location?
We know the things Dodge did & said (sleep on a box of elbows, ask for saltines, tell the story of his first case, say he'd go home to Washington, say he doesn't like games, etc.). But the question remains, how did he know the 12 was in Idaho? He could have figured out Munari's hiding place by the clues, but what told him that's where the 12 was?
He didn't raid the other sites looking for it-he went right to that spot. Have we overlooked some key clue on each floor?
So now that Dodge has the number-are we still looking for the number? Or are we looking for Dodge the man? Gus suggests it's the latter.
I personally don't think he's in DC - because of the laws about burying stuff there (unless we are no longer looking for a dig site), and the fact that Dodge reads the New York Times.