Undercover Cache Mystery Cache
Hidden : 2/5/2012
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Micro, log only. Cache is not at the posted coordinates.

Russian trained spy, Dimitri Mendeleev, defected to the US undercover as a young Tulane chemistry professor in the 1950s. For almost 50 years he lived his life looking over his shoulder afraid he was being watched by the KGB. Old habits die hard and it was common knowledge that Dimitri encrypted all his laboratory notes before publication in a cipher that could not be broken without the code key. Mendeleev kept the code key on a slip of paper in his shoe which was a common practice among spies trained during the cold war era.

Mendeleev was working on a memoir he wanted to complete before he retired. After writing for 8 hours each day Mendeleev routinely walked in Audbon Park. On this day Mendeleev stopped at a bench. His heart was no longer strong and he tired quickly. As he sat there he caught a whiff of tobacco smoke and noticed a bald and bearded stranger smoking a cigarette behind an oak tree. The scent sparked a memory and instantly he knew it was a Russian Sobranie the stranger was smoking. Mendeleev was being followed by the KGB! He had been safe for so many years, but now with the news of the memoir leaked on the internet the KGB were after him.

He had to act quickly to hide the code key. His training took over. Inside his heart was racing, but by outward appearances he calmly continued his walk. He knew an area where work had been done recently in the park, a small improvement along the sidewalk. So at the right moment Mendeleev bent down to tie his shoe and hid the code key. Then he proceeded back to his lab to secure the encrypted manuscript.

A few days later Mendeleev was found dead in his lab. He seemed to have died of a heart attack, but the police found it strange that the shoes he wore to work that day were not on his feet and were never found. The manuscript of his memoir was missing also. Eventually his death though mysterious was ruled to be of natural causes.

Mendeleev's life's work is archived in the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library. Recently a graduate student working on his thesis opened the Mendeleev archive and a scrap of paper fluttered to the floor. The student, a geocacher with the handle ChemSleuth, immediately knew what he had found .... a signed and coded note in Mendeleev's handwriting. It read:

Calcium Carbon Helium Iodine
Sulphur Tungsten Iodine Thorium
Carbon Iodine Phosphorus Hydrogen
Erbium Astatine Cobalt Nitrogen
Carbon Tungsten Aluminum Potassium
CuCsFU + ThNHeNp
101

Decode the note to locate the cache.

Geochecker.com (visit link)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ryrzragnel

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)


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