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The Shadow Knows! Mystery Cache

Hidden : 10/9/2007
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is not at the posted coordinates. Those coordinates however are an excellent parking area within 0.5 miles of the cache. The cryptogram attached to this log will provide you with the actual cache location.

The Shadow was a popular crime fighting superhero in the 1930's and 1940's. Lacking the broad range of powers and/or gadgets used by most other superheroes (e.g., Superman or Batman), the Shadow relied almost solely on his mental powers to 'cloud men's minds'. This power allowed him to render himself almost completely invisible to the unaided eye (The only exception being that his shadow remained visible). Others might have taken advantage of this ability for more mundane purposes and amusements. The Shadow used it to track criminals undetected and foil their plans.

The Shadow primarily operated around New York City. However, in at least one instance, his work brought him as far North as New Hampshire. In this case, he trailed a member of a criminal gang (H. Rhubarb Baroque, AKA HRB) who was smuggling stolen goods to Canada. HRB had been followed onto a northern bound train in Portsmouth, NH. The criminal apparently detected or suspected the presence of the Shadow since he unexpectedly jumped from the train in Wolfboro in an apparent attempt to escape. Unfortunately for HRB, the Shadow and local police were able to quickly corner him. Characteristically, the criminal refused to be taken alive and he was killed in the ensuing firefight. The goods he was smuggling were never recovered, leading to the speculation that HRB had either thrown them from the train or had handed them off to a second gang member. In either case, the only clue to what might have happened was a strange cipher message found in HRB's pocket following the gunfight.

The cipher message was left unsolved in the Shadow's files until just recently. Can you solve this 70 year old mystery and find where the loot was 'cached'? Only "the Shadow knows!"

Feel free to send me E-mails with questions concerning this cache. As with all my puzzle caches, I encourage you all to work in teams to solve it and/or to exchange hints with other cachers.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Pvcure: Punva bs Qrngu. Pnpur: Uvag rapvcurerq va pelcgbtenz.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)