The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates, but it is within 6 kilometres.
Murder!!! That's the theme for this cache series, and that's what it's gonna be to find 10 micros in the woods.
One of my favourite authors is murder mystery writer Agatha Christie, and one of her finest novels is titled "And Then There Were None". Now that doesn't sound like much of a geocachy or outdoorsy name, but it's original title of "Ten Little Indians" does, so I'm running with that one. Originally published in 1939, it is the story of eight strangers that are invited to a secluded island mansion by an unknown host. The only other occupants of the island are two servants, a husband and wife. I won't ruin the novel for you should you wish to read it, but let it suffice to say that murder and intrigue ensue, and it is up to the reader to try to solve the mystery.
The geocaching version of "Ten Little Indians" will take you into many areas of the Rouge River valley, bounded by Lake Ontario in the south, and Steeles Avenue in the north. You will be required to find ten little micros, each representing one of the central characters in the book, and each containing information on the inside of the lid. For ease of naming the ten micro caches, I have shortened "Ten Little Indians" to TLI. Here is a list of them, in alphabetical order:
TLI - Dr. Armstrong (Revived)
TLI - Emily Brent
TLI - General Macarthur
TLI - Justice Wargrave
TLI - Mr. Rogers
TLI - Mrs. Rogers
TLI - Phillip Lombard
TLI - Tony Marston (Revived)
TLI - Vera Claythorne
TLI - William Blore
The following table indicates all possible secret codes that can be found on the inside of the micro lids, and their numerical equivalents:
| A 440 |
B 226 |
C 188 |
D 729 |
E 871 |
F 602 |
G 961 |
H 193 |
I 707 |
J 886 |
K 559 |
L 461 |
M 630 |
| N 638 |
O 572 |
P 787 |
Q 495 |
R 940 |
S 366 |
T 801 |
U 655 |
V 176 |
W 242 |
X 443 |
Y 522 |
Z 308 |
The real cache location can be found by substituting ONLY the secret code values actually found in the ten micro caches into the following calculations:
NorthPlus = (A + B + C + D + E + F + G) = ________
NorthMinus = (H + I + J + K + L + M) = ________
WestPlus = (N + O + P + Q + R + S + T) = ________
WestMinus = (U + V + W + X + Y + Z) = ________
NorthAdd = (NorthPlus - NorthMinus) / 1,000 = __.______
WestAdd = (WestPlus - WestMinus) / 1,000 = __.______
N Coordinate = N43 48.330 + NorthAdd = N43 ____.______
W Coordinate = W79 08.190 + WestAdd = W79 ____.______
(N43 48.330 W79 08.190 is the location of a parking lot that can be used as a starting point for easily reaching at least two of the micro cache locations.)
For those of you that like to take shortcuts, explore all of the possible permutations and combinations, walk the line, or whatever else you like to call trying to figure out the final solution without visiting all of the prerequisite caches, one or more of the micro caches contain two secret codes, potentially affecting both the north and west coordinates. Nothing comes easy!
The micro caches vary in difficulty based upon my assessment of terrain, view of the sky, and actual cache placement. Since this series is my first attempt at cache placement, I welcome any comments you might have. I only ask that if your comments include cache details, please send them to me directly instead of including them in your log entries. Geocaching is a year-round activity, and all of the micros have been placed with that in mind. They are all at least 15 centimetres above the ground, most considerably higher than that, and hidden in typical geocache fashion. When in doubt, think winter friendly. Please take time to enjoy the adventure!
Codes for archived caches:
X - Emily Brent
J - Tony Marston (Revived)
AW - Phillip Lombard
F - General Macarthur
BD - Justice Wargrave