Inspector Clark was a man of few words but many thoughts. The Chief gave him the hardest nuts to crack, the ones the other detectives simply couldn’t solve.
This was one of those cases. The criminal was well known to the police force as Person X [X], a mastermind who had been responsible for heists of valuable art and artifacts from museums throughout the region. There seemed to be little to no pattern for the kinds of artifacts that X liked- she or he was a person of many interests, apparently.
Inspector Clark knew that X was devious but had a distinct character flaw. X loved the thrill of the chase, and liked to set out clues to see if law enforcement was up to the challenge. He knew that X was aware the Inspector’s past successes in other areas, and believed that X had deliberately laid out this particular set of bread crumbs for him.
At the scene of the last heist, a small origami swan was left standing on the pedestal that held the now-missing artwork. Two small dots were placed on the swan to represent eyes. One was purple, one was gold. The Inspector was baffled. What did the colors mean? Upon further inspection, he realized the purple eye was actually a microdot that contained coordinates to a location on the University’s campus:
N 42° 16.509 W 083° 44.284
He suspected there was something at this site that would help determine where to go next. He gave the swan to a member of his team and headed out to the site the microdot had provided.
As he drove to the site, his radio crackled to life, “Inspector, there was data in the other eye as well. We had to utilize two different forms of lighting to get the clues to emerge. The second clue reads as follows:
Names in multiples should be the cue,
when finding which coordinates to pursue.
A count will determine the appropriate Nth,
the number to divide the longitude and length.
While the possibilities are infinitesimal,
your answer is truly in the decimal.
338.193336 -669.917736
“Thanks for the information, team. I am 10-76 to the site and hope to solve the riddle upon arrival!”
The inspector got to the site and scoped the surroundings. He put his foot up on a wall and pondered just how he was going to solve the puzzle. He started pacing. “what is it, what is it…” he thought. Then it became clear. He saw the clue that would help him. He pulled out a calculator and did the calculations. Boom! There was another set of coordinates, which he radioed back to his technical assistance team, “please convert and send me the new coordinates.”
“We’re on it, Inspector.”
Moments later, the team radioed back and provided him with the new coordinates. He crossed at the crosswalk, walked through the arch, and headed toward the next GZ. He had to brush away some snow to read the next set of inscriptions that he suspected would be present. He was not disappointed.
As he crouched and viewed the text and words, his radio crackled to life again. “Inspector, we located a second origami character; this one appears to be a Roman Centurion. On the shield there are some words:”
You seek numbers that match my style,
without walking more than a mile.
The bigger minus the smaller notation
provides the divisor for my location.
168 64 1668 332 176 1696
“There’s more there too, Inspector, but we still have to decode it.”
Inspector Clark radioed back his thanks. He determined the notations in question, gave a salute, and then moved on to the location that his team had provided. Upon arrival, he scratched his head. There were all kinds of inscriptions everywhere. How was he supposed to figure out which ones were important? “Wait a minute,” he thought (as he heard angels sing), “I think I understand the other part of the clue now!”
His team leader’s voice came onto the radio: “Inspector, we got the rest of it. Here goes:”
As you stand in awe,
don’t forget the law.
Each individual element is art.
but the law is the sum of all parts.
Your number is X just like my name
take the first digit – they both are the same.
N 42° 16.X7X W 083° 44.62X
The inspector raced to the final GZ- he knew this would only get him part way to finding X, but every clue mattered to bring this mastermind to justice...
Congrats Tessandfriends, FTF