Culper Junior Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Cache is not at the listed coordinates. This is a puzzle cache, solve the puzzle to find the coordinates for the final cache.
This cache was originally part of the PMC2 Series but is a stand-alone adventure that can be enjoyed by all. If you are working on the PMC2, the information you need is still inside the cache.
I’ve known since I was 13 that my dad is a spy. My dad is Culper Junior. I know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but since the Revolutionary War there has been a Culper Junior in the service of the President. Some presidents used the Culpers more than others, but every president has used us. We aren’t like the CIA or the Secret Service. We don’t exist on any governmental budget or in any official paperwork, and the position of Culper Junior has been passed down from parent to child since General Washington first asked us to spy on the British Army residing in New York City in 1778. The Culper Spy Ring created a convoluted system of moving information from New York City to Setauket, then to Fairfield, then to General Washington’s headquarters in New Jersey. The Culpers continued to serve Washington after he became President, and have served presidents ever since. It’s been up to us to maintain our training, and prove our worth to the sitting President. The first Culper Junior owned a dry good store in “Holy Ground,” a section of the city that is now underneath where the Twin Towers stood. Since then we’ve been shopkeeps, tavern owners, tobacconists, reporters, financial gurus, whatever it took to have an ear where we could listen to what was really happening in the back rooms and board rooms of New York City. We're here to help the president connect the dots. My dad always said that we were part of the tradition of America and that it was our responsibility to maintain the history of the Culper Gang and the way they’ve always done things. He taught me the old Culper Junior Code or the "Tallmadge Code" and how to read it, how to write in it, their old routes and dead drops. It was more than I learned in any history class. Dad even told me once that President Washington gave the Culpers a sacred trust to watch over… part of a greater mystery that even Washington himself had never fully understood. I don’t know about all that, but what I do know…
…is that my dad is missing. A few days ago he told me that Benjamin Tallmadge had died, and Dad was going to meet with Austin Roe. These are codenames too of course, Austin Roe is Dad’s handler, and Tallmadge is our code for the last guy before the President, the most powerful man in our chain. Dad goes away all the time, delivering information, I guess… whatever it is he does. But he always checks in everyday. Our most recent method is Twitter. At least every 24 hours while he is on a mission Dad tweets. But his account hasn’t been active this time. It’s been 97 hours since he left. Our deal was that if he didn’t check in for more than 96 hours… I am supposed to open the envelope that he had hidden in his office. The problem is… I don’t know what it means.
I’m coming to you with this because my dad trusted you. I need your help. I need to figure out if my dad is in trouble, and maybe even more importantly I need to know if the Culpers are needed... or if we even still exist. My dad always said that I’d be Culper Junior someday. I hope that day isn’t today, but if it is… well… I have to be ready. Can you help?
Here is what I found in my dad’s stuff. I hope you can make more sense of it than me.
Alert: You will be required to download a file in order to solve this cache. As the cache owner, I represent that this file is safe to download although the files needed to complete this geocache have not been checked by Groundspeak or by the Geocache Reviewer for possible malicious content. As a result, you are downloading this file at your own risk.
PLEASE Replace the cache firmly. It is a tight fit.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Puzzle Hints (in no particular order)] QbrWbua, pngpu 22, svaq pbzzbanyvgvrf, cevag ng shyy fvmr, yrnea gur uvfgbel, cerpvfvba vf lbhe sevraq
[Cache Hint] Bssfvqrf, ubevmbagny, cyrnfr ercynpr svezyl!