This is part two in a five part series.
Here are the other "Charlie" caches:
PART 1 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5
***UPDATE*** Charlie has been sending us information through other cachers!! Read the logs.
Now I am really worried.
With your help, we figured out the meaning of the code that he left in his paperback. I drove to the given coordinates and waited but he did not show. Out of habit and just to kill time and with the hope that I would find a clue, I started searching the area “Geocaching style”. I found a container.
Charlie knew what geocaching is. He told me a few stories about geocachers that stumbled upon his camps during the night; scaring both him and the poor geocachers. It looks like Charlie figured out how to mark coordinates without a GPS device. He did tell me once he was fond of Google Earth and used it often at the library to explore areas outside his normal walking paths. He also knew I loved to geocache for stress relief. But what was all this about? Maybe he is just toying with me to see if I will really be worried about him or perhaps he is challenging my puzzle solving skills. I don’t know.
Anyway, when I opened the container it looked like a normal cache in every respect including a log and a few happy meal toys. There was also an orange USB thumb drive with “911” and “DANGER” written on it. I knew it was for me. By now my ‘spidey’ senses were tingling. I was beginning to think this might not be a game.
Charlie once told me in passing that he worked "for the government" but I figured he was just caught up in telling stories and embellished the facts a little. Now I had second thoughts about that conclusion. I decided to get serious with my search for him and to start being more aware of my surroundings. I also decided this USB drive was NOT getting plugged into my home computer or my work computer. I went off to the closest library to use theirs.
The file directory on the thumb drive showed several files were on the drive, most of them documents. I double clicked on the one that said README.doc.
“Sarge,
If you are reading this, you obviously figured out my code. I apologize for involving you in this. In fact, I hoped it would never come to this. My past has caught up with me despite my best efforts to disappear. I thought no one knew I was still alive. But they apparently do and I will have to go deep in order to survive. Hopefully, they don’t know we have talked and don’t suspect that you know anything. You really don’t know anything valuable to them other than you probably suspect I am more than a hobo.
The truth is I have kept certain information hidden all these years in order to protect myself and certain national security interests. That information is safe as long as I remained “dead” but now it is at risk. I have secured copies of this information at various locations, but if something happens to me you have to assure that it gets to the right person. This information is an insurance policy for me in a way and I hope I don’t have to cash it in. If I do, it will get ugly.
I’ve included additional information on this thumb drive that will assure you have the means to contact the necessary people when the time comes. Memorize it and destroy this drive. Since I am not one to put all my eggs in one basket, I’ve hidden other important information in the area. I hid it in such a way that you can recover it while geocaching and it will look quite natural. You should be able to decode the coordinates based on your knowledge of me and things I’ve told you during our coffee chats. If you can’t break the code, just present it as a puzzle cache to the geocaching community. Someone will solve it. They won’t know what it means but I am sure you can get them to share it with you at that point.
If I need to get in touch with you in an emergency, Look for a mark on the one of the two coin operated “one-armed guards” behind the empty blue/green building near the St Francis Wellness Center (the old bilo arena). One of them is named Cincinnati. The container will be hidden thirty of my steps to the north (approximately 15 degrees magnetic). I know you do wilderness search and rescue and are familiar with orienteering and land navigation so you know the difference between steps and pace counts. Thirty steps.
Thanks for treating me so well and for being my friend. You helped ease my mind with your kindness and willingness to listen.
Signed, C.T.
IMPORTANT NOTE--- Please do not search the blue/green building or in its parking lot. The property owner was asked, but did not give permission to hide a cache there, so it is offset accordingly to a more publicly accessible location. No climbing of any sort is neccessary to retrieve the cache. Do not go up or down any stairs in the area. This area can be very busy during Bon Secours Wellness Arena events. Please use stealth.
