CASE #64Justice KillerWeek OneThe NYPD receive a letter:
Quote
Hello,
I am about to commit a series of murders upon those most deserving of such a fate:
The corrupt scum that feed upon the good people of our city.
This week I will strike down my first victim and this hint should help you identify this kill as one of mine, if you can figure out the code.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
M P R D P W J
L O K J S J Y
N M U J Q H S
B L D R H J M
C J U B Y Z G
D X O F Q W L
G I J W B J A |
Included in the letter is a map of New York City:
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
There are so many murders committed in New York over the course of a week, and so many of the victims matching the description of "corrupt", that it would be impossible to ascribe any particular victim's death to this fledgling serial-killer without first figuring out their hint.
Are you up to the job, Detective?
Only one post per person before I update the thread each time please.
Only one guess at the code's meaning per post please, including your theory on the meaning. No brute-forcing allowed.
Posts that are just guesswork will be ignored without confirmation one way or the other.
Wow, you are surpassing each other !!
This is challenging and i give it a try.
Somehow reminds of the Zodiac Killer movie ….
As far as i can see on my smartphone’s
tiny display, all initial letters of the parks
( shown in green on the map ) are found
in the 7x7 letter matrix, except the "V"of Van Cortlandt Park,
which is where the first victim will be found
Nothing found at that location.
Since there are 8 lines of text in the code, does that represent 8 murders?
Quote from: CaptainD on Wed 17/06/2020 13:49:06
Since there are 8 lines of text in the code, does that represent 8 murders?
I read it as being a clue for the first kill only, but I might be wrong.
Quote from: Stupot on Wed 17/06/2020 14:04:15
a clue for the first kill only.
This is correct.
"Justice" is another word for "judge", so maybe the name "Justice Killer" is literally telling us he intends to murder a judge?
The NYPD receive a letter:
Quote
Hello,
it's just a Jump to the left.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
Quote from: Mandle on Wed 17/06/2020 14:17:42
The NYPD receive a letter:
Quote
Hello,
it's just a Jump to the left.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
Bushwick. That's where the murder will take place.
(take every J in the code and use the letter to the left of it).
Ok...good to know, having ROT-13'd around the alphabet, finding nothing.
"Justice Killers" is used as a term for corporations who try to get laws passed that free them from responsibility in various cases. But it may
just as well mean a judge, of course.
Google also tells me that mprd and pwj are actual companies from NYC. I hope the case doesn't involve real companies.
I'm not sure where this part of the riddle ends, though. Was "Bushwick" the whole code? Are we still missing something?
If we still need to figure something out, I thought that continuing with the RHPS reference, after a jump to the left comes a step to the right.
If we take the letter to the right of every J, we get S, Y, M, U, W, A, Q, but I have no idea what to do with this. I can form the words "quay", "sq" and "way", but nothing that makes sense with the remaining letters. So, probably a red herring...
If Laura is right that "after a [J]ump to the left comes a tep to the right", which sounds like a dance instruction, we should take the letters to the right of the S's. Which
are only two . J B. So...John the Baptist? The second victim killed at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine? It's so hard to know when we're reading too much into a code.
And admittedly, this may be a stretch.
If the answer we’re looking for is simply a location, then surely Laura has solved it. Unless we need to ‘step to the left’ (or East) on the map, which would take us to Forest Park.
Are we still supposed to be guessing motives and stuff?
Quote from: Stupot on Thu 18/06/2020 00:37:42
Are we still supposed to be guessing motives and stuff?
Thread closed for now while I prepare my next post.
EDIT: Thread now open again.
CASE #64Justice KillerWeek TwoFollowing the lead provided by Officer Laura Hunt, the murder victim of Justice Killer is indeed discovered. He was found dead in his own Bushwick apartment.
The victim was a lawyer who had, in the past, been publicly accused of bribing witnesses into providing false testimony.
He was found stabbed multiple times, with his own Oath Of Attorney pinned to his chest, with the knife, by the final thrust through his heart.
While forensic evidence is still under analysis and other leads are being followed, the NYPD receives another letter from the killer:
Quote
Hello,
I see from the newspapers that my first victim has been correctly identified by you noobs.
Good idea, not revealing my nickname to the press. I'm sure they'll come up with their own. I can't wait.
My second victim is in my sights, or maybe they are already dead.
I guess you'll find out if you can figure out my next puzzle.
I will be sending you no more hints until I see my puzzle, fully solved, in the newspaper.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
Also included in the envelope is the following crossword puzzle:
(https://i.imgur.com/lqATY27.jpg)
Here is the map of New York City the police received in the first letter for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
The rules are a little different from the last round as I expect people may be collaborating on the puzzle.
Any discussion of the puzzle itself is freely allowed, as are theories about its overall meaning.
But potential solutions as to its overall meaning may be attempted only once per individual person between each of my own update posts.
From now on, please begin any attempted solution with "POTENTIAL SOLUTION:" in bold as shown here.
I will specifically mention when new potential solutions are allowed again by people who have just attempted one.
Myself merely answering a question about game rules etc. does not count as an official update.
PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING ANY ONLINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE SOLVERS OR THE LIKE. HONOR SYSTEM.
I have some suggestions for the crossword clues:
5 down
Spoiler
MONSTROUS (clearly an anagram as the clue as no relation to the other clues)
10 down
Spoiler
ILL
11 down
Spoiler
HATE
12 across
Spoiler
LEECHES
(I also think I might have the solution already but I want to do more of the crossword first)
Also, Mandle, would Googling types of pasta go against the honour system? I can’t think of any with 6 letters.
Quote from: Stupot on Thu 18/06/2020 07:32:42
Also, Mandle, would Googling types of pasta go against the honour system? I can’t think of any with 6 letters.
That's fine. Only using a site to fill in all possible combinations of letters, a "crossword helper/solver", is not okay.
EDIT: To answer a question I received via PM asking if it was okay to post a solution attempt without having completed the entire cross-word first: Yes that is fine, but please mention your reasoning. Blind guesses are not okay and will be ignored. The police chief is not going to send out units on blind guesses.
1 Down:
Spoiler
The only kind of pasta 6 letters-long I can think of is "trofie". Or maybe "noodle" (shouldn't it be "noodles", though?).
Referring to letter two i am pretty sure that 6 across is
Spoiler
Noobs
I think 3 across was hidden in your last post
Spoiler
Honor
?
And for 9 across, could it be
Spoiler
Ingenious
?
Plus a suggestion for 1 down
Spoiler
Napoli
?
5 down:
Spoiler
While Monstrous may be correct, we should also be aware that there is a Mount Ross in New York state, north of the city. Thus this one may be something personal for the killer.
Maybe I'm thinking too literally but I thought 7 down would be:
Spoiler
ineffective
I am a loser. Aha yes. I was trying to find a word that fit the letters we already had for 9 across. And your suggestion is indeed...
Spoiler
INGENIOUS
.
Also I think you might be right about 3 across.
mkennedy - I also think you are right about 4 down.
CaptainD - I think there is a high chance 7 down ends with ED because it needs the E of 12 Across, and ED is a common way to form an adjective out of verbs.
If 1 Down is (as suggested by Lorenzo):
Spoiler
TROFIE
Then 2 Across could be:
Spoiler
LIARS
I had been working on the idea that the solution was a 12-letter word made up of all the numbered squares in the crossword. When I said in a previous post that I thought I had solved it, I was thinking Murray Hill. But I have since actually bothered to count the letters in that name and there are only ten, so I was wrong. But I still think that might be how we get to a solution
We are getting close , i guess.
The pasta leaves me clueless,
so do 7 down and 2 across
As far as I understand, there won‘t
be an update until the puzzle is solved
Note: For 12 across it could also be :
Bedbugs :-))
The solution might as well consist of
the letters found at the intersection
of rows and columns (10, if i counted correctly)
Quote from: I am a loser on Thu 18/06/2020 21:30:21
As far as I understand, there won‘t be an update until the puzzle is solved
No, anyone can make an attempt at guessing the overall meaning of the puzzle before it is complete.
They will have to also provide their reasoning though and if it is reasonable enough (as in, not just a blind guess or close to one) the police chief will send out units to check it out.
Quote from: heltenjon on Fri 19/06/2020 00:17:30
8 across:Spoiler
Justice
Yes. This has to be it. I was thinking more specific things like CASTRATE, but couldn’t quite get anything to fit.
As far as I’m concerned we only need
9 across 7 down . 11 down might be something different, but we’ll soon realise if it is.
Also, I said previously that ‘pasta’ was a unrelated to the case. But I know Mandle better than that. This is probably a clue. And serial killers often take a ‘trofie’ from their kills, albeit spelt differently.
And we still need 7 down. I would guess the killer finds the court system corrupted or unfair, so we need an eleven-letter-word for that, probably ending with ED, if not
Spoiler
12 across is LAWYERS instead. But I think LEECHES is correct because of 11 down.
The police chief calls you all into his office and yells:
"YOU'VE ALL BEEN MEANDERING OVER THIS PUZZLE LIKE IT'S YOUR BREAKFAST COFFEE ENTERTAINMENT!!! I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVEN'T SOLVED THE WHOLE CREEPY THING YET!!! ARE THERE ANY LEADS?! ANYTHING?! A LIFE IS AT STAKE HERE!!!"
Dear colleagues,
I have tampered with the crossword using MS-Paint and the
suggestions that look reasonable to us. Also, I have marked
the intersections of rows/columns in light blue.
Maybe one of you will find the missing 7 down and solve
this mystery. You find the file in the link below :
(https://i.imgur.com/FpNVImE.png)
Good luck !
Iaal
Can we ask the local police at Mount Ross north of the city to do a sweep? It's the one keyword that stands out, as a fellow officer pointed out. At worst, we can cross it out as a dead end.
I am still a bit baffled about the meaning of Justice Killer's letter :
Quote
I will be sending you no more hints until I see my puzzle, fully solved, in the newspaper
Maybe the primary task is only to publish the solution of the crossword puzzle....
The numbered boxes contain too few vowels, whereas the light blue intersections contain too many
to make a meaningful sentence or location
That’s assuming we have the right answers. I mean ‘hate’ was simply the first negative adjective ending in an E that came to my mind. If the real answer begins with a vowel we might have more to go on. And again, there’s no guarantee that Leeches is correct, but it feels right.
As for 7 down. I can only think of one word that fits:
Spoiler
CONSECRATED
It doesn’t fit our current thinking that the Killer thinks the system is broken or corrupt. Perhaps, rather, he views the court as a holy, sacred institution.
Of course, we could be barking up the wrong tree that it ends in ED, so we should look at other ideas.
Quote from: heltenjon on Fri 19/06/2020 13:20:57
Can we ask the local police at Mount Ross north of the city to do a sweep? It's the one keyword that stands out, as a fellow officer pointed out. At worst, we can cross it out as a dead end.
The police in the Mount Ross area did a sweep as requested but encountered nothing but a rather violent raccoon. The raccoon bit one officer who required a couple of weeks downtime to undergo treatment for potential rabies. During this time the officer did have the opportunity to engage in more marital sex than she would have usually had the chance to, and her and her husband, childless up until that time, achieved conception and that baby grew up to be a character in a future case hosted by me.
And now you know... The
rest ... errr ... start of the story.
Quote from: I am a loser on Fri 19/06/2020 13:29:28
I am still a bit baffled about the meaning of Justice Killer's letter :
Quote
I will be sending you no more hints until I see my puzzle, fully solved, in the newspaper
Maybe the primary task is only to publish the solution of the crossword puzzle....
The numbered boxes contain too few vowels, whereas the light blue intersections contain too many
to make a meaningful sentence or location
The stuff that Justice Killer writes in his letters are not game rules. It's just what he writes.
(Oh, and yes, Officer Heltenjon is cleared to provide another potential solution now that the Mount Ross sweep turned up nothing involving this case.)
7 down could also be:
Spoiler
INCOMPETENT
But that would mean that 9 and 12 would be wrong, and by extension, probably 11 too. Can anybody see any other words that would fit there? I've always sucked at Scrabble-type puzzles.
EDITED:
I think that Leeches and Hate make sense, but Hate could as well be Love,
for whatever reason only the killer knows
Stupot may be right :
Quote
It doesn’t fit our current thinking that the Killer thinks the system is broken or corrupt. Perhaps, rather, he views the court as a holy, sacred institution
The first victim was a criminal lawyer, not
a judge,who was accused by the court, so maybe the killer
is actually a judge.
Just a thought , so 7 down might rather be a
positive adjective......
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:In my desperation, I have searched the map for locations with 12 letters.
Assuming that from what we have so far the words HONOR, ILL, LEECHES and LIARS are correct,
the only 12 letter location with HILL i found is :
RICHMOND HILL, which in turn means that a few other words
in our crossword solution are wrong :-((
BUT: The current score would be 9 letters of 12, so TROFIE und JUSTICE could be wrong
with 7 down still unknown
Instead of JUSTICE, DESTROY could be an alternative, but a kind of pasta with Y at the end ??
That would be TROPHY instead of TROFIE, but the T doesn't appear in Richmond Hill
However, with the D in DESTROY instead of JUSTICE we would have 10 hits out of 12,
if i counted correctly
So 1 and 7 should be O and C
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
RICHMOND HILL
(see above post)
I think 1 down is a different kind of pasta.
Spoiler
CREEPY
That‘s ingenious !!!!!!!!
Never would have found this one out !!!
Oh wow, nice one!
So we probably don't need to know 7 anymore, but:
Spoiler
OVEREXERTED?
Bravissimo !!!!
That must have been the missing one
Nice one Laura! And great thinking with the 12 letter place names, I am a loser.
IF our other guesses are right, 8 would need to start with a D and end with a Y.
Spoiler
DESTROY?
And if so, might this be the solution?
Spoiler
(https://i.ibb.co/VHsyQFX/crossword.png) (https://i.ibb.co/VHsyQFX/crossword.png)
Quote from: Kastchey on Sat 20/06/2020 10:12:17
I think 1 down is a different kind of pasta.
Spoiler
CREEPY
OH FUCK YOU MANDLE! I knew it!!! :shocked:
Well done Kastchey for getting that. And good work I am a loser. Destroy fits The clue much better than Justice.
Updating the thread soonish. Until then please do not post. Thread is closed for a bit.
EDIT: Thread is updated and open again.
CASE #64Justice KillerWeek ThreeFollowing the lead provided by Officer Iam Aloser, the next murder victim of Justice Killer is indeed discovered. He was found dead in his own Richmond Hill house.
The victim was a judge who had, at one time many years ago, been publicly accused of sexual assault against a court security guard.
He was found tied to a chair and beaten to death with his own gavel.
While forensic evidence is still under analysis and other leads are being followed, with no positive results so far, the NYPD receives another letter from the killer:
Quote
Hello,
Pity you couldn't make it in time to save the judge. I even gave you noobs a decent chance at a head-start this time.
You could have saved him within the first two days after I sent my last letter. But, "sadly", failed.
There aren't that many locations on the map that consist of 12 letters. I expected a better challenge, and had even planned ahead in the event that you met it.
But, no... "sigh".
Unfortunately, the current solution to my crossword puzzle in the newspaper, hidden in the "Yesterday's Solution" section as I expected, is not completely correct.
You got close, but are wrong with two answers.
I am quite pleased, however, that you appreciate me as "Ingenious". That I am! But I'm also, much more, a shadowed and lurking threat.
I shall continue on my killing spree of the unjust regardless. Although I shall take a bit of a rest to let you get even more donut crumbs on my crossword.
And I'll admit that my gavel-swinging hand is a bit tired.
The next kill will go ahead, after my nap, though, whether the puzzle is solved or not.
But good luck in figuring out who the victim was or why they were chosen if you have to look at all the murders in the entire city.
The clock is ticking.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
This is the current state of the crossword puzzle that Officer Kastchey developed in the police database:
(https://i.imgur.com/2oWzUap.jpg)
From what i read in the recent letter,
INGENIOUS must be wrong.
I believe that it must be
Spoiler
INSIDIOUS
This would mean that OVEREXERTED
would not fit, but it surely must be
a word beginning with OVER or OUT
A pity that
Spoiler
OVERINDULGED
doesn’t fit, but i think this is the
right direction
GAME STRUCTURE:
Breaking the fourth wall here just a bit to tell you players that, yes, there was a chance to save the judge before his murder if anyone had come up with the location "Richmond Hill" as a place to investigate before a certain amount of time had passed.
As "I am a loser" figured out, there were a very limited amount of possible locations with 12 letters that could have been the next target. If only 50% of the puzzle was done it probably would have been an easy matter of deduction to figure out which that it might have been. This was not figured out in time this time around, but I'm not making fun of the players here. Just pointing out strategies that might be useful later on.
The police chief will send out units if the reason seems even semi-plausible.
This is why the police chief shouted at you all. Hehehe! (and even included the word "creepy" in his rant in a moment that I was hoping was going to be the murder mystery trope where the detective says "Wait? What did you just say?" after hearing an unconnected comment from another character that caused a leap of logic. Hmmm, maybe later).
The time had passed by a very long time when the location was suggested though, so Justice Killer went ahead with the kill.
I did have a separate time-line in mind already in the event that the judge was saved, but not in a cheap "Oh, you got there in time but he died anyway." kind of way. The story would have branched in an impactful way. You would have gotten a step ahead of Justice Killer. There may be further chances to get ahead of the killer's schedule in the future similar to this, so best to look out for them.
This post is not to admonish you for being lazy or anything. I'm sure everyone expected this game to run on an infinite time-loop where you got to take your time to safely figure out each puzzle before the game moved on to the next scene.
But that is not the case. The game runs on a real-time schedule but that schedule is a bit fluid to take into account different time-zones and schedules of the players.
For example: In the judge kill I gave an extra 24 hours or so longer than I had planned to allow a buffer for the kinds of time-zone/schedule issues mentioned above.
The good news in all this is that you can solve the Justice Killer's clues faster than he had planned and potentially save his targeted victims.
The bad news is that you are currently a little behind.
So, hurry up, but at your own pace.
Hehehe...
Wow Mandle,
This is taking great dimensions
I didn’t get the the “creepy†clue
since i never heard of creepypasta
until now, but you get to learn something
new every day.....
You have really set up something special !!
EDIT:
And : This game has deserved more participants !
Quote from: I am a loser on Sun 21/06/2020 08:15:03
Wow Mandle,
This is taking great dimensions
I didn’t get the the “creepy†clue
since i never heard of creepypasta
until now, but you get to learn something
new every day.....
You have really set up something special !!
Cheers! Yeah, not every player might be able to get every reference to every clue. That's why I set the game up as a police department trying to solve the crimes together.
It's a team effort. The team must put everyone's knowledge together to try to catch the killer.
And the real risk is always looming that the killer could get away with everything and not even be caught in the end.
Hopefully not, though.
While this isn't exactly a Black Story anymore, I agree it's entertaining in its own right. Especially for those of us with another native language than English, crossword puzzles and the likes of it are very hard, so I appreciate the team setup.
In my earlier case, "This serial killer had a pattern", my plan was to update the case with more victims if and when the players got stuck as well, but it turned out they
solved it before that became necessary.
So, going inside the fourth wall again:
This time the letter has to contain the clues. It could be the first letter of every line that we need for something, or perhaps the words in quotation marks: "sadly", "sigh", "yesterday's solution" and "ingenious".
The phrase "my gavel-swinging hand is a bit tired" may point in the direction mentioned earlier in the thread that the killer may be a retired judge. Or not.
We also have to look at the victimology. The killer is not restricted to lawyers, so perhaps he(?)'s taking out someone from each branch of the judicial system that have failed in his or her opinion.
Quote from: heltenjon on Sun 21/06/2020 10:24:02
Especially for those of us with another native language than English, crossword puzzles and the likes of it are very hard, so I appreciate the team setup.
Yup, you could be the light of brilliance that shines upon a different kind of clue.
Dear colleagues,
our boss put me in detention due to the fact
that we didn't solve the crossword in time.
I have updated 9 across with what I think
might now be correct.
I refer to the Justice Killer's recent letter
(Unfortunately, he didn't leave his phone number,
else I would have called him instead of bothering you) :
Quote
I am quite pleased, however, that you appreciate me as "Ingenious".
That I am! But I'm also, much more, a shadowed and lurking threat.
So here's the updated crossword with 7 down still missing:
(https://i.imgur.com/yfXp9xA.png?1)
7 down could be
Spoiler
"Opinionated"
It's the only adjective I can think of that will fit, given the other solutions.
Quote from: JackPutter on Sun 21/06/2020 14:57:37
7 down could be Spoiler
"Opinionated"
It's the only adjective I can think of that will fit, given the other solutions.
Another word that could fit in 7:
Spoiler
OUTRIVALLED
<fourth wall break>
My problem with this is that personally I think a puzzle should have only one solution, otherwise part of solving it is just random guesswork. If the combination
Spoiler
INGENUOUS / OVEREXERTED
fits both the clues
and the letters/gaps, then it's a valid solution. We only know it's not because the killer told us explicitely "well yeah, but it's not
the solution I was thinking of", which in my opinion is unfair. We can work with logic but we can't read minds, so I think that if we come up with these types of valid-but-not-the-real solutions, the killer should be fair and not count that against our remaining time.
</fourth wall break>
I agree with you, Laura
Both words make sense in the context
However, why should the killer be fair ? :-)
Quote from: I am a loser on Sun 21/06/2020 15:22:48
However, why should the killer be fair ? :-)
This!
You are not just dealing with a game that should have logical solutions all the time that are not flawed in any way. You are dealing with Justice Killer and whatever their concept of fair-play is.
Now I am totally baffled :-(
Edit: So opinionated would be my closest guess
Quote from: Mandle on Sun 21/06/2020 15:36:02
Quote from: I am a loser on Sun 21/06/2020 15:22:48
However, why should the killer be fair ? :-)
This!
Because these killers BELIEVE themselves to be fair and just, and that their motivations are noble; otherwise their sense of self-righteousness would fall apart. In his warped brain he really thinks he's giving us a fair chance because he sees this as a battle of wits, and to suggest that the only way he can win is by cheating should hurt his pride and hopefully cause him to level the playing field out of a twisted sense of honor.
So yeah, I would suggest writing back to him and calling him a cheater, and seeing how he reacts :-D
Victims:
Who - Where - Why - How:
lawyer - Bushwick apartment - accused of bribing witnesses into providing false testimony - stabbed multiple times, with his own Oath Of Attorney pinned to his chest, with the knife, by the final thrust through his heart.
judge - Richmond Hill house - accused of sexual assault against a court security guard - found tied to a chair and beaten to death with his own gavel
Possible next victim?: Policeman accused of corruption?
CASE #64Justice KillerWeek ThreeThe final crossword puzzle solution provided by Officer Jack Putter is published the next morning in the newspaper's "Yesterday's Solutions" of the crossword section (to the continued complaint letters from crossword fans demanding that there must have been some kind of editorial mistake for the last few days):
(https://i.imgur.com/V6O1jN9.png)
The next day a new letter arrives at the NYPD from the killer:
Quote
Hello,
BINGO!!!
I have seen my crossword puzzle solved in the newspaper, and we came to understand a lot more about each other as well, I'm sure, during the process.
My next victim is not dead yet, but will be soon.
Here is your next hint in the form of a poem:
"Online, she bullied,
Those that are buried.
She was a troll,
Which is why her toll,
Will be paid,
Beneath where she stayed,
Where the birds fly over,
Betwixt their nest and the guv'nor."
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
Here is the map of New York City the police received in the first letter for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Sun 21/06/2020 15:45:25
So yeah, I would suggest writing back to him and calling him a cheater, and seeing how he reacts :-D
Are you suggesting to go to the police chief and ask that the newspapers call Justice Killer out as a cheater on his crossword puzzle?
That's really the only way to "write back to him" but you can approach the police chief with that request if you wish.
As usual, the rules are that open discussion is freely allowed.
Only one attempt to solve the riddle is allowed per player per update.
Please precede your attempt with "POTENTIAL SOLUTION:" in bold as shown here.
Also don't forget to include your reasoning along with your attempted solution.
The police chief will ignore random guesses or attempts without enough back-up evidence.
Quote from: Mandle on Sun 21/06/2020 16:04:39
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Sun 21/06/2020 15:45:25
So yeah, I would suggest writing back to him and calling him a cheater, and seeing how he reacts :-D
Are you suggesting to go to the police chief and ask that the newspapers call Justice Killer out as a cheater on his crossword puzzle?
That's really the only way to "write back to him" but you can approach the police chief with that request if you wish.
Yeah, that was exactly my suggestion :-D But seeing as he's already replied, I'll just hold on to that thought for now...
QuoteOnline, she bullied,
Those that are buried.
Just throwing some quick thoughts out there to my colleagues... Maybe she drove people with depression or other issues to suicide by bullying them online?
QuoteShe was a troll,
Which is why her toll,
Will be paid,
Beneath where she stayed,
Trolls live under bridges... Maybe she's keeping the victim, alive for now, under a bridge.
QuoteWhere the birds fly over,
Betwixt their nest and the guv'nor.
"The guv'nor" might be Governors Island. "Birds" might be poetic license for planes (in which case the "nest" would be one of NYC's airports), or literal birds. Statue of Liberty?
I came to a lot of the same conclusions as Detective Hunt!
Spoiler
It seems like our next victim is an internet troll who bullied people into suicide. In fairy tales, trolls often make their homes under bridges. This, plus the mention of the victim paying a "toll" makes me think that our victim may be found underneath a bridge. She may be restrained or imprisoned somehow, as we are led to believe that she is still alive but will soon die. Are any of the bridges on that map toll bridges?
Including "where the birds fly over" might point us towards a bridge in particular. Taking it literally, isn't there a bird sanctuary somewhere in this area? I thought I heard that there was where the birds that took down Sully's plane were likely from. A quick bit of googling tells me that there is a Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary not far from the George Washington Bridge. Could George Washington be "the guv'nor" that the killer makes reference to? It couldn't hurt to ask the chief to send a search party to check out underneath that bridge.
(Also, this is my "first day on the force" so I'm not sure to what extent Google is allowed, or whether places that aren't shown on that particular map are part of the game.)
Wow Laura and JackPutter !
Laura, the idea with the airport makes sense.
@JackPutter:Googleing is allowed, but i doubt that information
apart from what the map shows will lead to the solution.
Edited:
QuoteA quick bit of googling tells me that there is a Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary not far from the George Washington Bridge
I am sure that the solution is found only from information shown on the map.
Otherwise, it would be too hard to figure out and i find it ok like this
Quote from: JackPutter on Sun 21/06/2020 16:31:13
(Also, this is my "first day on the force" so I'm not sure to what extent Google is allowed, or whether places that aren't shown on that particular map are part of the game.)
Google is totally allowed. During the last crossword there was a special rule to not use crossword-solver sites but if any special rules as such are in place I will mention them.
As for places that aren't shown on the map: Only Justice Killer knows what they are doing.
Quote from: JackPutter on Sun 21/06/2020 16:31:13
A quick bit of googling tells me that there is a Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary not far from the George Washington Bridge. Could George Washington be "the guv'nor" that the killer makes reference to? It couldn't hurt to ask the chief to send a search party to check out underneath that bridge.
After speaking with the police chief, officers are sent out to the scene. The only things the investigating officers found under the George Washington Bridge were a rather sticky-looking dildo and a rat that ran away.
(JackPutter is now cleared for another police chief request for investigation.)
Bouncing off Detective Hunt's idea that the "nest" of the "birds" might be an airport, I whipped up this map connecting Governor's Island to the two airports in the area.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/Hom4oCfh.jpg)
The two named bridges that these lines intersect are the Brooklyn Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge.
The more I think about it though, I can't help thinking that we're skipping over the line "Beneath where she stayed" in the poem... A bridge isn't a place where someone traditionally "stays" so I'm starting to become less confident about that. That said, I could be overthinking.
Good idea !
I somehow wonder if „betwixt“
contains a hint......
Why not between ?
Just for a prosaic reason ?
Quote from: JackPutter on Sun 21/06/2020 17:28:16
Bouncing off Detective Hunt's idea that the "nest" of the "birds" might be an airport, I whipped up this map connecting Governor's Island to the two airports in the area.
The two named bridges that these lines intersect are the Brooklyn Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge.
Yeah, that was my thought too.
Chief Mandle, can we send a dispatch to Brooklyn Bridge? If there's nothing/nobody there, at least we can discard this line of thinking.
Can someone else ask for a patrol to Williamsburg Bridge?
Quote
The more I think about it though, I can't help thinking that we're skipping over the line "Beneath where she stayed" in the poem... A bridge isn't a place where someone traditionally "stays" so I'm starting to become less confident about that. That said, I could be overthinking.
Agree, I feel like there's one little detail we're missing here too but I'm still holding on to the bridge idea for now. The troll reference seems too on the nose to ignore it.
Chief Mandle, can we send a dispatch to Williamsburg Bridge?
I agree with the Bridge theory, plus Williamsburg bridge is one that still has trail tracks and "once held four
trolley tracks"... maybe troll=trolley is a kind of "poetic justice"? Also the word "bet
wixt" might be a clue to this bridge that starts with
Wi. Maybe make sure all the trolley/rail tracks are clear (both above and under?)
Oh, and can we ask that they keep a keen eye for disturbances in the ground while checking under the bridges (in case the killer has buried the victim, like the victim buried those she trolled?)
PS:
Spoiler
I just noticed that if you go down/right the avenue/road from Williamsburg you come to Bushwick... maybe this is the clue included in "betwixt"?
Just a couple of thoughts to throw into the mix.
What if “toll†has something to do with bells?
A Hospital is a place where people presumably “stayâ€..
Potential SolutionSpoiler
Bellevue Hospital, Manhattan
Here's another theory: What if the airport is LaGuardia and the guv'nor in question is Grant's Tomb? They would have to fly over Ryker's Island, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. The prison system on Ryker's may be the target, perhaps a corrupt correctional officer or warden.
All the suggested places are checked by units but nothing and nobody out-of-the-ordinary crops up.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Ok, let us summarize:
Nothing found at:
Brooklyn bridge
Williamsburg Bridge
Bellevue Hospital
@heltenjon:
Ryker's island is not marked on the map
I am 99,99% sure that only places marked on
the map are potential crime sites
Just a few thoughts from my side:
From what i read in the first 6 lines in the poem is that the next victim will be a woman who forced people
maybe even to commit suicide (via social platforms) and that the killer will make her pay for it.
I have the feeling that the actual location is hidden in the last 2 lines only.
Quote
Where the birds fly over,
Betwixt their nest and the guv'nor
Quote
"The guv'nor" might be Governors Island. "Birds" might be poetic license for planes (in which case the "nest" would be one of NYC's airports), or literal birds. Statue of Liberty?
As Laura pointed out, the birds from the poem could as well be airplanes
If the Killer is writing about real birds , Be
twixt contains twigs (twix),
a material most bird's nests are made of (maybe I am totally off the track with this,
but better than nothing)
Guv'nor could also refer to an authority (either a person or an organisation)
And the location we are looking for lies between (betwixt) the nest and the Guv'nor
I'm taking a bit of a punt with this one...
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:Spoiler
There's a place on the map called "Throggs Neck" which jumped out at me. I looked up "Throgg" and it turns out that's the name of the "King of the Trolls" in Warhammer. There's a chance that this could be where our victim lived, or "stayed" as mentioned in the poem, or maybe the killer has just "buried" her there as he considers HER to be the "king of the trolls" because of the awful things she's done.
That said, it's not really "betwixt" either airport and any location I would consider relevant to a "guv'nor" unfortunately... Though drawing a straight line from the JFK airport symbol through Throggs Neck and continuing it on, it connects to Albert Einstein College Hospital. Do we think our killer would consider Einstein to be the "guv'nor" of anything? If we continue the line even further and look just to the west, we see the name "Van Cortland" which refers to "Van Cortland Park" but it's curious that only the name alone appears on the map. It's one of the only person-names I can see on the map that isn't followed by "Park or "Hospital" or whatever. Apparently the Van Cortland family was an influential political dynasty from the seventeenth-century Dutch origins of New York through its period as an English colony. Could Van Cortland be our "guv'nor" in some way?
Throggs Neck isn't really near any of the named bridges either... perhaps the bridge conclusion was too hasty? A red herring? I'd like to send a search party to look at the Throggs Neck area, just in case our killer turns out to be a Warhammer fan.
Quote from: JackPutter on Mon 22/06/2020 11:55:53
perhaps the bridge conclusion was too hasty? A red herring?
Yeah could be, I'm totally stumped right now. The one thing I'm still pretty confident about is that our victim is probably buried alive somewhere and she'll die if we don't get there in time, but otherwise I have no idea where to take it from here :-\
Definitely worth a try !
One could relate the warhammer to the judge‘s gavel,
but this is rather vague....
I must admit that I am totally clueless for now..
I guess we still got a little time to save the person
from getting killed.
I already aimed at Van Cortland in my reply to
the first letter, but to no avail :-)
Let's see what our unit says when it returns from Throggs Neck
Quote from: I am a loser on Mon 22/06/2020 09:33:20
I am 99,99% sure that only places marked on
the map are potential crime sites
Only places that can be seen on the map are potential sites, but they don't necessarily have to be named.
No googling of outside-the-game info about New York City should be required though.
Oh, and nothing was discovered by the unit that went to Throggs Neck.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Also including the map here again for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
Okay, Van Cortlandt can be the guv'nor, right? If we draw a line from LaGuardia to Van Cortlandt, we cross over Kingsbridge, which does not seem to be a bridge, but
with poetic licence it's close enough. I have no idea if the rest of the clues match up, though.
It seems wrong that the killer should target an internet troll if he's going after the bad eggs in the judicial system.
Captain, may I please search the Kingsbridge area?
I don't think he's chasseing the "bad eggs in the judicial system". He's after people that have committed "crimes" and got away with it, mostly because the crime can't be legally proven.
I'm currently out of ideas about theories. :-\
I think heltenjon is right!
JackPutter already mentioned the missing "park" behind Van Cortlandt
All conditions met :
Van Cortlandt, who was governor of NY, a guv'nor
Kingsbridge lies on a line betwixt LaGuardia airport and Van Cortlandt,
LaGuardia is the bird's nest ( Great guess, Laura )and the (troll/toll) bridge
is found in the name.
I would not have found out this one in a million years !
@Cassiebsg: I agree with you, the Justice Killer is probably
a disillusioned judge, who has been swinging his gavel in vain
for a long time ....
@heltenjon: Make it a Potential Solution!!!
Quote from: heltenjon on Mon 22/06/2020 18:16:35
Okay, Van Cortlandt can be the guv'nor, right? If we draw a line from LaGuardia to Van Cortlandt, we cross over Kingsbridge, which does not seem to be a bridge, but
with poetic licence it's close enough. I have no idea if the rest of the clues match up, though.
It seems wrong that the killer should target an internet troll if he's going after the bad eggs in the judicial system.
Captain, may I please search the Kingsbridge area?
The police chief also agrees that this is a brilliant and exciting lead!!!
Several squad cars head out to Kingsbridge, lights flashing and sirens wailing!
Everyone is surprised when it turns out to be a dead-end.
(And, yeah, it's best if you put your solution with a bolded "
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:" in front. I won't ignore requests for area checks if they don't have it, but I may miss them.)
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Google Sensei tells me that there was no NY governor called Van Cortlandt, but the first lieutenant governor did have that name, and a couple of his ancestors were mayors.
I also wonder if we shouldn’t be focusing so hard on bridges.
(Sorry I typed the above before Mandle’s update but neglected to press send).
Back to throwing out thoughts. To bully "those that are buried" may also mean to speak ill of the dead. I don't know if any of the cemeteries in NY is famous enough to qualify in this regard, so the only other options I can think of that are marked on the map, would be Grant's tomb or the 9/11 sites. The last one had a significant death toll, but that may be reading too much into the hints.
Guv'nor may mean any man in a position of power. However, I think the Governor's island is our best bet at the moment. The actual governor of NY doesn't reside in the area marked on the map. It could have been some famous statue of a "guv'nor", but none such is marked on the map.
Officer Stupot points to the word "stay". One stays in hospitals or hotels...any other uses?
Do we have any other potential meanings of "bird's nest" than the Statue of Liberty and the airports? Do any of the sites on the map contain bird names?
I still feel like the troll and toll points to a bridge of some sort, so it feels wrong to suggest a potential solution that doesn't involve it. But based on the above, I'd
like to ask the chief for permission to check out the area of Kings County Medical Center, as it is a place to stay located between JFK airport and Governor's island. (I'll be so admonished for chasing these wild geese.)
Breaking the fourth wall again: Mandle, are all the clues we need in the poem? Do we need to find additional hints in the letter about our attempt to solve the crossword, or may we safely ignore it?
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 23/06/2020 03:26:59
I still feel like the troll and toll points to a bridge of some sort, so it feels wrong to suggest a potential solution that doesn't involve it. But based on the above, I'd
like to ask the chief for permission to check out the area of Kings County Medical Center, as it is a place to stay located between JFK airport and Governor's island.
Breaking the fourth wall again: Mandle, are all the clues we need in the poem? Do we need to find additional hints in the letter about our attempt to solve the crossword, or may we safely ignore it?
Nothing shows up at Kings County Medical Center after the search by officers.
(I will break the fourth wall to clarify game rules, but not to offer hints. I feel that would detract too much from the feeling of satisfaction when a clue is solved.)
Oooooffff......
I have to digest this first, i would have
placed any bet on heltenjon's guess.
Potential solutionOfficers, ‘toll’ refers to a church or cathedral? The only such place visible on the map is The Church Cathedral of saint John the Divine. The “nest†could be the bell tower. Plus some people might be buried there. I doubt it has much of a graveyard but sometimes these religious buildings usually have a crypt, if not some dead saints under the flagstones.
Also, who is “The Guv’ner†but the big man upstairs. Birds could refer to angels, who fly up to the big house in the sky.
The police chief says "Well, it's as good a bet as any at this point." and units head out to the church. They report back empty-handed.
The police chief orders everyone into his office.
You all expect his usual fire-and-brimstone tirade, but are shocked to see him slumped behind his desk looking older and more defeated than you have ever seen him.
He says, in a tired tone, "We're getting nowhere. Pour back over all the thoughts you've had on this one so far, right back from the moment we got the last letter from this piece of shit. You are all the best minds we have on this but even you might have missed something."
The compliment scares you.
As you leave, you look back over your shoulder and see the chief with two fingers on his wrist, taking his own pulse with a creased brow, and that scares you even worse.
The only lead I can see that we haven't tried out, is officer Laura Hunt's thoughts about the Statue of Liberty. Potential solution again, then. Let's check out the waters between Governor's Island and The Statue of Liberty.
I got an idea as well, but i am well aware that i'm walking on thin ice with this one:
Potential solution:
Could troll be related to the troll queen?
Queens wear crowns and if you look on the map, you will find Crown Heights
on the way between JFK airport and Governors Island.
Birds/Planes fly in heights.....
So captain, instead of sitting in the office, could we send out a unit to Crown Heights ?
@heltenjon: I don't understand the link to the Statue of Liberty ....
I am a loser - The link to the statue is that it may be the bird's nest. (A theory from Laura Hunt early on.) The troll link is weak - perhaps a troll net in the sea?
I'm aware that I cannot propose any new solutions right now, but I wonder...do we have an IT-departement or a cyber unit of some kind? Another way of investigating this in the real world would be to try to find internet trolls who match the description within the area and cross-reference with missing persons. I don't know if this would
be doable in our timeframe, though. Garcia on Criminal Minds does it in five minutes, but I suspect she's one of a kind.
I also read the words from the police chief as an in-game suggestion to concentrate on the latest letter and not go back to the one we got when we had some errors in the
crossword solution. Just as well - this is difficult enough as it is.
I am totally clueless
I agree with you that we should refer
to the last letter, not the one before
Maybe the clue is not hidden in the poem
but in the text above it, maybe even in BINGO
in capital letters .....
Questions over questions, problem is that
we‘re running out of time and of fuel for our cars :-))
Just bring the letter and map to the current page.
Quote
Hello,
BINGO!!!
I have seen my crossword puzzle solved in the newspaper, and we came to understand a lot more about each other as well, I'm sure, during the process.
My next victim is not dead yet, but will be soon.
Here is your next hint in the form of a poem:
"Online, she bullied,
Those that are buried.
She was a troll,
Which is why her toll,
Will be paid,
Beneath where she stayed,
Where the birds fly over,
Betwixt their nest and the guv'nor."
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
Here is the map of New York City the police received in the first letter for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
Nothing turned up in Crown Heights or in the waters between Governors Island and the Statue Of Liberty.
(All other departments, such as cyber-crime etc. are working on the case as well but no information so far that is usable.)
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Also including the map here again for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
(Cheers to Stupot for including the map again just before I did)
Just another thought :
Could it be that the map has changed in some way ?
Maybe a new location on it ?
Quote from: I am a loser on Tue 23/06/2020 11:29:27
Just another thought :
Could it be that the map has changed in some way ?
Maybe a new location on it ?
The map you are seeing is the original one the police received from Justice Killer in the first-ever letter. It has not changed.
This idea was staring me in the face, I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner... It's probably not right but maybe we can cross it off the list!
King's Plaza Shopping Centre is on the map. If we take "guv'nor" to mean someone who is in charge, no one is more of a "guv'nor" than a king, right? The only thing between JFK airport and King's Plaza Shopping Centre is the loose collection of islands with a road going through the middle called Broad Channel. The rules have been defined as the victim's location must be ON the map, but not necessarily a NAMED place on the map. That means it could be on one of those unnamed islands, since they are certainly visible on the map!
Which island though? I can't see anything that points to a particular island... I've tried looking at the structure of the poem for clues. There are 8 lines. The amount of words in each line goes 3-4-4-5-3-4-4-6. Convert that to letters and it's C-D-D-E-C-D-D-F. The rhyming scheme goes AABBCCDD, essentially just rhyming couplets. I don't see any particular pattern that is of any relevance. This is as far as I've gotten with this theory.
Interesing approach, JackPutter
But i don‘t see any usable pattern here
I was also thinking that i could get a clue
from the initial letters of the poem, but
to no avail
Yet: Troll is contained in Trolley, these
carts you put your shopping goods in
My god, this is a difficult one....
Why not make Broad Channel a potential solution ?
I'm afraid that Broad Channel might be too vast of an area to cover quickly enough to save our victim...
POTENTIAL SOLUTION: Chief, is there any chance we could fly a helicopter patrol around the islands adjacent to Broad Channel to scout for anything suspicious?
Please include Broad Channel when
they‘re already there :-))
This might be a shot in the dark, but I decided to google if by any chance NY has a bird sanctuary... and it HAS! 8-0 So maybe the birds on the poem are real birds?
The Riverside Park Bird Sanctuary is located just slightly bellow Grants Tomb and the Riverside Church (seems to be named in the map as Cathedral of St. John the Divine, though)
Also "where she stayed" might just be referring to her home address. After all, the previous victims were found at their own homes.
Maybe the clues point to a specific address (her home or "murder" site) at the intersection of 4 different locations (or 3 if it's an triangulation)?
Been thinking about that as well, but
the map doesn‘t contain a hint about a bird‘s sanctuary
and it is clear that googling is not required
I believe that the more victims we discover,
the more a pattern on the map will be visible,
but first we will have to solve this one since
we have only 2 crime scenes !
I could as well imagine that the „bush“ in Bushwick,
a crime site we already found, might be related
to President Bush, a guv‘nor indeed, is part of the
current puzzle, but i don‘t dare to make it a potential solution
A governor could also relate to the speed of a Diesel engine....
From our captain‘s last post, however, i read
that the primary clue is found somewhere else,
maybe not even in the poem itself...
BINGO might as well mean GO BIN, so search every dust bin ?
I believe that for a non-native speaker , this one is impossible to solve
It’ s really hard, pheeew
A trio of police helicopters and a few patrol boats head out and scour the Broad Channel area, including the canal itself, the islands, and around and under the north bridge to Howard Beach and the south bridge to Rockaway Park, for most of the available daylight hours, but nothing is found.
The search of the area is quite high-profile and is covered by several news channels, none of which seem yet aware that they have filmed part of the hunt for a serial killer.
The next day a new letter arrives from Justice Killer:
QuoteHello,
... but no cigar.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
If we were close, then we may try Mill Basin (yeah, yeah: potential solution) with exactly the same reasoning.
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 24/06/2020 03:43:05
If we were close, then we may try Mill Basin (yeah, yeah: potential solution) with exactly the same reasoning.
The police chief sighs, and says it will be checked out, and then he asks again if anyone has looked back over earlier theories like he requested, starting back from right at the start of this phase of the case, to see if anything was overlooked, instead of coming up with new theories that go nowhere.
You are pleased to see a glimmer of anger in his eyes as he says this. Maybe the chief isn't down-and-out after all?
He growls "First instincts are more often right than not." and eats another Tums.
An hour or so later the units report back from Mill Basin that nothing was found.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Also including the map here again for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
Let's look back over the early theories like the chief asked. He said our "first instincts" are almost always right, so here's a breakdown of the very first theory, mostly work by Detective Hunt:
Our victim was a "troll" and trolls traditionally live under bridges. The mention of "guv'nor" pointed us towards Governors Island. The mention of a "nest" had us thinking that one of the airports was relevant and that the "birds" included in the poem were airplanes. (The Statue of Liberty was also brought up at this point, though it is located so close to Governors Island that it wouldn't really affect the paths of any "birds" flying to and from an airport. Is the Statue of Liberty the bit we overlooked?)
To that effect, we searched the George Washington Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge, especially considering the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges since they are directly on the path between Governors Island and LaGuardia Airport. These searches returned nothing that would help us.
What are we missing? The killer said we got no cigar when we searched the islands around Broad Channel, but that could mean a lot of things. Were we geographically near to the location? Was the concept of it being on an island the bit that we got nearly right? Is he pointing us towards a place with "Close" in the name?
Edit:
Could it be that the captain is refering to one of the first posts in this case?
I thought I had the solution , because the initial letters of the parks were all contained
in the letter matrix, except Van Cortlandt
If you look at the poem, you will see that the letters JFK and CMQZ don‘t appear therein.
JFK could be the airport, but I don‘t see a clue in CMQZ.
Just a theory ......
Edit: Overlooked the F , so it‘s obsolete. Thought I had it.This is driving me nuts ....
One more Edit:
Quote
The police chief sighs, and says it will be checked out, and then he asks again if anyone has looked back over earlier theories like he requested,
starting back from right at the start of this phase of the case, to see if anything was overlooked, instead of coming up with new theories that go nowhere.
You are pleased to see a glimmer of anger in his eyes as he says this. Maybe the chief isn't down-and-out after all?
He growls "First instincts are more often right than not." and eats another Tums.
From how I understand, the clue is hidden in the
first posts of the
first caseOr does it refer to the last letter containing the poem and a theory that was proposed immediately after ?
I am a loser - Looking closely at the poem, the following letters are the only ones that DON'T appear: C J K M Q Z. Nice thought, but I don't know how relevant that will be.
I am a loser. The captain says to go back to “this phase†of the case. To me that means going back to the poem and everything posted after it. I guess that means you guys were on the right track before I came along and started talking about bells.
Which probably means that my thoughts now are completely wrong, but I'll share anyway. ;) The phrases "BINGO!" and "Close, but no cigar" made me
think of carnivals/amusement parks. And Coney Island is famous for that, right? They have even hosted plane shows, which might have been the birds flying over. But none of this has anything to do with a guv'nor, and none of it is touched upon in the first theories. I post this on the off chance that it may help someone to suddenly see the light and connect the dots. :-D
Quote
starting back from right at the start of this phase of the case
To me this means that Laura‘s post (first post after the letter was published)
must contain the clue. We exhausted all bridges, what‘s left is the statue
I went back and looked at the map Jack Putter put up. The lines from the airfields to Governor's Island crosses a few more bridges than we have searched. This is the Manhattan bridge and the bridges nearby JFK (which may or may not be searched already when we searched the bay area). BUT more interestingly, the one I thought was a bridge right next to Governor's Island is a tunnel. A tolled tunnel. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, mostly called the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, connects Red Hook (marked on the map) to Battery Park on Manhattan (not marked on the map).
So it's between an airfield (nest) and Governor's Island (guv'nor), one pays toll and it's beneath the surface. A tunnel is sort of an underwater bridge. (That last one may be a stretch.)
Potential solution again, then...Chief, may we search the Red Hook area and the tunnel connected to it?
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 24/06/2020 14:08:18
Potential solution again, then...Chief, may we search the Red Hook area and the tunnel connected to it?
Nothing is found in Red Hook except a very ancient cemented-over underground entrance with the graffiti "THOMAS MALONE WAS RIGHT!!!" sprayed on it. This has no connection to this case though and must refer to something that happened a very long time ago.
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 24/06/2020 14:08:18
I went back and looked at the map Jack Putter put up. The lines from the airfields to Governor's Island crosses a few more bridges than we have searched. This is the Manhattan bridge and the bridges nearby JFK (which may or may not be searched already when we searched the bay area).
The only bridges nearby JFK Airport that have been searched so far are the two that lead on and off the large island in Broad Channel north into Howard Beach and south into Rockaway Park.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Also including the map here again for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
Copyright: JackPutter
There is a rather short bridge connecting East New York with Howard beach (black circle)
The only other bridge i can detect is the one near Brooklyn Bridge
Using Laura's guess that the nest is an airport and the guv'nor refers to Governors Island
I suggest that we search the bridge marked with the black circle ( East New York to Howard Beach)
(https://i.imgur.com/iNfc5TU.jpg)
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 24/06/2020 14:08:18
I went back and looked at the map Jack Putter put up. The lines from the airfields to Governor's Island crosses a few more bridges than we have searched. This is the Manhattan bridge and the bridges nearby JFK (which may or may not be searched already when we searched the bay area). BUT more interestingly, the one I thought was a bridge right next to Governor's Island is a tunnel. A tolled tunnel. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, mostly called the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, connects Red Hook (marked on the map) to Battery Park on Manhattan (not marked on the map).
So it's between an airfield (nest) and Governor's Island (guv'nor), one pays toll and it's beneath the surface. A tunnel is sort of an underwater bridge. (That last one may be a stretch.)
Potential solution again, then...Chief, may we search the Red Hook area and the tunnel connected to it?
For a moment I thought you really had nailed it here :~(
Me too, Laura
But I think that it was you who got the solution right away
(Airport and Governors Island)
Quote from: Mandle on Wed 24/06/2020 14:58:02
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 24/06/2020 14:08:18
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 24/06/2020 14:08:18
I went back and looked at the map Jack Putter put up. The lines from the airfields to Governor's Island crosses a few more bridges than we have searched. This is the Manhattan bridge and the bridges nearby JFK (which may or may not be searched already when we searched the bay area).
The only bridges nearby JFK Airport that have been searched so far are the two that lead on and off the large island in Broad Channel north into Howard Beach and south into Rockaway Park.
Yes, that was the bridges I was thinking of.
If I am a loser's search doesn't pay off, there's always the Manhattan Bridge, which is the one between Brooklyn Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge. (I found it hard not to type "betwixt"!) I think someone else ought to call in the search parties...I think I'm jinxed. 8-)
CASE #64Justice KillerWeek FourFollowing the lead provided by Officer Iam Aloser, units are sent out to the small bridge that connects East New York with Howard Beach.
Under the bridge is a large patch of recently disturbed soil.
After some frantic digging a largish box-like object in the shape of the top half of a circa 2005 flip-phone, painted bright pink with several prominent and garish sparkles on it, is unearthed.
The box is opened. Inside is the corpse of a woman. At least, her corpse from the waist up.
Further inspection reveals that the corpse's spine, from the base of her skull down to the cut-off point at her waist, has been removed and replaced with a heavy iron chain, which continues sideways into the dirt of the grave.
The chain is excavated and eventually leads into the river under the bridge and then goes underwater.
Police diver teams are called in to follow the chain to its other end.
The news media swarms the site and is filming the entire grisly scene.
The divers have a long swim of roughly 2kms south-east, following the chain, before they find, at its end, the bottom half of the "flip-phone" resting on the bottom of the bay.
After this box, bright pink and sparkly as well, is dredged up and opened, the lower half of the victim is discovered inside.
She is identified as a law consultant.
During her law-school years she was involved in a campus scandal.
She was accused of online-bullying which resulted in the suicide of three of her classmates, but it seems that her rich family's lawyers managed to help her avoid the courts with large cash settlements to her victims' families.
Her residence is searched by forensics but there is no sign of a struggle. It is assumed that she was abducted elsewhere.
The news media is quick to give Justice Killer their own nickname after they realize New York City has a new serial-killer on its hands: "Flip-Phone".
The next day a new letter arrives at the NYPD from the killer:
Quote
Hello,
Took you a while to find my latest site.
Or, rather, both of them. LOL!
A bit disappointed by the unimaginative nickname the press has given me but oh well.
Let's speed things up a bit shall we?
I'm doubling up AND going back to basics!
S O W N B Y G
R Q X W D E F
W M T B C Z L
W C B A P B G
H D W F L Q W
K E R T W P B
G F P S R W P |
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
Here is the map of New York City the police received in the first letter for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
Potential solution:
Chief, we must catch up with the killer.
I suggest sending a unit to ROSEDALE, since
this is the only place on the map containing
the vowels E,E,O,A of the letter matrix except
EAST NEW YORK (at least as far as I could see,
and time is of the essence)
OH FOR F@~%$! Mandle must have had a heart attack seeing how we nailed the clues from the very start but then spent all of our time hitting all the bridges in NYC except for the One.
I wonder how we could have saved her if she was sawed in two, though. I guess he kept her alive in that box for some time and then finished the job.
The letters I, J, U, V are missing, but it doesn't look like we can do anything with this? It's all I've got right now.
EDIT: Actually, I see a pattern but again, I don't know right now if it's significant. In the middle of the letter matrix there's an A. To its left, B, C. Then down, D, E, F, then G to the left. But if we go up from the central A, we get the same pattern: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. I doubt it's just a coincidence, but I have no idea what it might mean.
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Wed 24/06/2020 17:30:44
OH FOR F@~%$! Mandle must have had a heart attack seeing how we nailed the clues from the very start but then spent all of our time hitting all the bridges in NYC except for the One.
I wonder how we could have saved her if she was sawed in two, though. I guess he kept her alive in that box for some time and then finished the job.
The letters I, J, U, V are missing, but it doesn't look like we can do anything with this? It's all I've got right now.
EDIT: Actually, I see a pattern but again, I don't know right now if it's significant. In the middle of the letter matrix there's an A. To its left, B, C. Then down, D, E, F, then G to the left. But if we go up from the central A, we get the same pattern: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. I doubt it's just a coincidence, but I have no idea what it might mean.
HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE.
Chief Mandle, let's send a unit right now to comb Alphabet City.
Brilliant, Officer Hunt !!
Basics=Alphabet
Great spot Detective Hunt! The letters in the sequence you described go in a bottom-left to top-right diagonal connecting the two corners. The killer did say they were going to be "doubling up" so potentially we may find TWO victims, one in the south-west and one in the north-east corners of some location?
Make sure the officers search every corner of Alphabet City. In case that doesn't turn up anything useful, maybe we should check out Conference House Point (extreme south-west of the map) and maybe Pelham Bay (closest thing to a north-east point) too?
“Double-up†means “W“. There are 8 of them in the box, more than any other letter. I guess that means we’re looking for an 8-letter place name (or perhaps 16, if it’s double). I haven’t found the trick to working out the answer but it’s got to be to do with the W’s.
I’m drawn to the killer’s emphasis of “ANDâ€. This tells me that “back to basics†is part of the puzzle in and of itself. Is there a connection between the W’s and the strings of ABC that Laura mentioned?
Surprisingly, nothing is discovered in Alphabet City, despite a thorough sweep.
Rosedale, Pelham Bay, and Conference House Point units also come up empty-handed.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
GAME RULES UPDATE: During Week Four each player may send out units to two locations simultaneously per Potential Solution.
OK, my first thought was that the vowels E,E,A and O ( not more, not less) had to be found in the locations we are looking for
But naturally, as my nickname reads, I was wrong...
Assuming that we are looking for the names of two locations and these names MUST contain the letters found in the matrix,
there are A LOT of places to be excluded a priori due to the fact that they contain the vowels I and U as well as the letters J and V.
Places like Forest Park and Glendale immediately jump into my eyes as well as Throggs Neck, while Woodhaven would be invalid due to
the double O. However, I feel too embarrassed and intimidated from our previous failure and therefore would like to discuss it before
we blow our fuel budget again.....
You’re probably right that the place name is made up of letters from the grid, but we should be open to that not being the case.
OK, Based upon my theory I have made a list of eligible locations sorted by boroughs:
(Correct me please in case I missed one out)
BRONX:
Throggs Neck
MANHATTAN:
-
QUEENS:
Rosedale
Maspeth
Glendale
Forest Park
Glen Oaks
STATEN ISLAND:
St.George
BROOKLYN:
Park Slope
East New York
Chief, could we send units to St. George and Throggs Neck? These two locations
seem to be the most suitable, since they are positioned from Southwest to
Northeast and they both contain the letter G like the postition of the Gs in the matrix
Just an observation, but the middle letter along the top, bottom and left hand edges of the grid happen to match their respective directions North, South and West. The only problem is that there is a G where I would’ve expected an E. Coincidence or clue?
S O W N B Y G
R Q X W D E F
W M T B C Z L
W C B A P B G
H D W F L Q W
K E R T W P B
G F P S R W P |
Potential solutionIn fact, Glen Oaks is in about that same location in the map, begins with G, has 8 letters and is in Ian Aloser’s list. I think that’s enough to warrant sending a unit out East.
Very good, Stupot, I didn't notice that.
The way I see it maybe wrong ( and most likely will be),
but I at least want to exclude this theory.
Quote from: Stupot on Thu 25/06/2020 12:56:18
Just an observation, but the middle letter along the top, bottom and left hand edges of the grid happen to match their respective directions North, South and West. The only problem is that there is a G where I would’ve expected an E. Coincidence or clue?
S O W N B Y G
R Q X W D E F
W M T B C Z L
W C B A P B G
H D W F L Q W
K E R T W P B
G F P S R W P |
Potential solution
In fact, Glen Oaks is in about that same location in the map, begins with G, has 8 letters and is in Ian Aloser’s list. I think that’s enough to warrant sending a unit out East.
I was already thinking that the letter matrix could represent a specific area, with our victims at the NE and SW points like JackPutter suggested, but this just about confirms it, good job!
Maybe the G represents not the place where we'll find something (since by now I'm convinced we need to find two locations), but the "anchor" for this reference, and once we find this "G", we'll find the other two to its north and its southwest (since these are the only Gs in the matrix).
So while Glen Oaks gets checked, I'm going to grab a map and pursue this line of reasoning, see where it gets me...
Quote
has 8 letters and is in Ian Aloser’s list
Thanks Laura for the suggestion of modifying my silly nickname :-)
Can I actually change it ?
EDIT: Done :-)
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Thu 25/06/2020 14:01:33
Quote
has 8 letters and is in Ian Aloser’s list
Thanks Laura for the suggestion of modifying my silly nickname :-)
Can I actually change it ?
EDIT: Done :-)
That was Stupot tho ;)
Potential solution. So he's doubling up and going back to baysics (sic!)? Given G for Glen Oaks may anchor the scenes to the east, I suggest we send a squad to Bayside and another one to Bay Terrace.
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Thu 25/06/2020 18:13:11
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Thu 25/06/2020 14:01:33
Quote
has 8 letters and is in Ian Aloser’s list
Thanks Laura for the suggestion of modifying my silly nickname :-)
Can I actually change it ?
EDIT: Done :-)
That was Stupot tho ;)
I would swear to god Mandle already did this but I can’t find the post.
Nice idea about the ‘bay’ sics, Helton.
Has anyone else got any thoughts about the W’s.It
Quote from: Stupot on Thu 25/06/2020 22:19:24
I would swear to god Mandle already did this but I can’t find the post.
I changed the name to "Officer Ia
m Aloser" in the updates where he solved the clue to keep it more realistic-sounding.
St. George, Throggs Neck, Glen Oaks, Bayside, and Bay Terrace units all call in with nothing to report.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Also including the map here again for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
Sorry I’m getting hung up on these W’s. Can we send some divers out to the area of ocean shown in the red circle?
(https://i.imgur.com/TaubVGZ_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium)
Quote from: Stupot on Fri 26/06/2020 07:11:50
Sorry I’m getting hung up on these W’s. Can we send some divers out to the area of ocean shown in the red circle?
(https://i.imgur.com/TaubVGZ_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium)
4TH WALL BREAKYou must think I'm a right evil bastard indeed, that wants to get lynched by the AGS community.
Well, you're right, but not in this case.
Also, that is way outside of the jurisdiction of NYPD patrol boats.
OFF TOPIC: Thanks Mandle for making my nick look a bit more positive :-)
ON TOPIC: I had to look up the meaning of "to double up" and found that
there are different meanings to this verb , also depending on American/British English
(Collins Dictionary). I am not sure if we find two victims in two locations or in one location
or if there will be two victims at once at all this time. The fact that we are allowed to search two locations
simultaneously may be because we dallied too long finding the previous victim and our boss
wants to "speed things up a little bit"....
A new letter arrives at the NYPD from the killer:
Quote
Hello,
Yup, back to basics.
My old stomping-ground.
Or should I say "stabbing-ground"?! Hehehe...
So many memories.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
Stabbing grounds surely means Bushwick, the first crime scene
I have updated the map with the crime scenes (blue circles)
What I noticed is that the places where the victims were found are not too far away,
while the first two ones were the victim's homes. A kind of pattern might develop there...
Just to make sure: Could we send a unit to
Bushwick ?
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/LzSmEE5.jpg)
Nice one, Ian.
I'm thinking that if Richmond Hill represents the eastern "G" in the letter matrix, then the other Gs would be more or less around Brownsville (SW) and Pomonok (NE), so...
Potential solution: can we send units to Brownsville and Pomonok?
Units are sent out to Bushwick.
A few residents, on edge and vigilant after the stabbing there three weeks ago, said they did notice a strange, hooded fellow lurking around today, but that he soon left the area, so they thought it not important enough to report.
The police chief looks at the map Officer Ian Aloser put together on his own and says:
"This looks promising, but the guys down in Logistics could probably do a better job if asked the right way."
Later in the day, the units that went out to Brownsville and Pomonok turn up nothing of interest.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Also including the map here again for ease of reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YbM6e1h.jpg)
OK, here is my (vague) theory about the matrix:
Obviously, the N,E,S,W must be of importance.
If each one of the murders so far represent a direction,
we would have 3 of 4. Putting the locations into the map, we suddenly notice
that the east direction points to the north ( see newly updated map hereunder)
Therefore, the place(s) we are looking for should lie on the vertical blue line.
So many memoriesEDIT.Maybe the killer once worked at the Albert Einstein College Hospital, that would explain
how he could take apart the third victim
What I believe however, that the new east direction showing north now is the key...
Just don't find anything with "G" there...
POTENTIAL SOLUTION :Chief , could we send a unit to Albert Einstein College Hospital and to Woodhaven ?
Just to make sure....Chief, could we please send units to
Glendale and
Forest Park ?
Their letters appear in the letter matrix
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/GsQAFbO.jpg)
Ian Aloser - I don't follow your train of thoght that east is now north. Can you please elaborate? (If not successful, that is, then Mandle will do it for us.) :-D
I'll probably regret not sending squads to every Bay-area on the map, but...if Bushwick is back to Basic, that one may be the A in the matrix. Glendale could mark the G to the east. So...what if the alphabet paths points to areas to the northeast and southwest of Bushwick?
Because the killer mentions "memories", I'd like to (potential solution) send squads to the Brooklyn Museum and the Queens Museum.
Quote
OK, here is my (vague) theory about the matrix:
Obviously, the N,E,S,W must be of importance.
If each one of the murders so far represent a direction,
we would have 3 of 4. Putting the locations into the map, we suddenly notice
that the east direction points to the north ( see newly updated map hereunder)
Therefore, the place(s) we are looking for should lie on the vertical blue line.
That would rotate the letter matrix counterclockwise so that N,S and W are aligned with the 3 circles.
I believe that Glensdale is a hot candidate
And I am still not sure that we have to look for two places, we might as well find TWO victims in ONE place...
EDIT:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/BA1ryQY.jpg)
I'm sending the guys in Logistics a large amount of their favourite donuts and asking them to make a map of all the relevant sites. Please make sure to include the double site from last time, if that is what we've missed.
I have a feeling that the sites will make some kind of pattern in the end.
heltenjon, don‘t understand what you mean with double sites .
The ones we guessed wrong so far ?
Yes, a pattern is what it is all about here, i believe
The last victim was cut in half, and the killer mocked us:
QuoteHello,
Took you a while to find my latest site.
Or, rather, both of them. LOL!
Then, the reaction to your map:
QuoteThe police chief looks at the map Officer Ian Aloser put together on his own and says:
"This looks promising, but the guys down in Logistics could probably do a better job if asked the right way."
I may be reading too much into it, but I think there is a hint there. And the only thing I can think of, is the site where the other half of the last victim's body was found. We cannot easily place it on the map ourselves without a place name, but logically, we (the PD) ought to know it. And maybe we can see another pattern then, with four points.
Does the path made in the grid by the alphabet strings correspond to any roads on the map?
That major road going from the last site (the bridge near Howard’s Beach) down to Marine Park, seems to map quite nicely.
(https://i.imgur.com/fWCLPPa_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium)
Dear colleagues,
I received an updated map containing our wrong guesses marked with a red "X".
I addition, I drew a line from the new SW to the new NE, vaguely passing the
assumed spot "A" at the intersection of the blue lines in
Woodhaven.
That would make the
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (
so many memories ?) and
ROCKAWAY COMMUNITY PARKtwo hot candidates....
Could someone ask to send a unit to either place ?
EDIT: Updated the updated map
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/NnYdY0I.jpg)
Maybe the letter matrix is like one of those Boggle games. Would running it through a solver program be allowed or would that constitute cheating?
I think it would be called cheating.
However, i doubt that a solver would spit out the
names of locations, since , from my understanding,
it compares the hits with the contents of a dictionary ,
which will most unlikely contain the names of locations.
We already found that a number of places fully contain
the letters in the matrix ......
Looks like this time a graphical solution is required .
mkennedy - Using anagram solvers and the likes of it would be cheating, but if someone wants to check for letter replacement codes, like A=B, B=C and so on, I don't
think it could be considered cheating to do so digitally. The point being that the player would do the thinking and the app only would speed the process up. Like using a tile counter in Scrabble/Wordfeud or a calculator in Yahtzee.
Nice maps, Ian Aloser! I've already sent my two squads this turn, but it looks promising. Have you tried with the normal compass directions? EDIT: Is it me, or would Kings County Hospital Center and Queens Hospital Center be placed exactly on a normal NW-SE-line? Coincidence?
Stupot, good spotting on the road! I've entertained similar thoughts, but only managed to see possibilities on the grid of Manhattan (Alphabet city).
Quote
Is it me, or would Kings County Hospital Center and Queens Hospital Center
be placed exactly on a normal NW-SE-line? Coincidence?
Yeah, could be . For now, i stick to my theory of the rotated directions.
Let‘s wait for the outcome of our latest search, otherwise we would encourage chaos :-)
It‘s getting a bit confusing already, but i think we are getting very close
EDIT: heltenjon, I updated the updated map with the green line !!
Makes your theory look plausible ! We should be there soon, just a little bit of driving...
Sorry, very long work-day in RL. I'll have to look over everything tomorrow and do an update then. Goodnight.
What/Where is RL? Sleep tight !!
RL=real life ;)
Oooooh, me stupid
Quote from: heltenjon on Fri 26/06/2020 21:13:25
I'm sending the guys in Logistics a large amount of their favourite donuts and asking them to make a map of all the relevant sites. Please make sure to include the double site from last time, if that is what we've missed.
I have a feeling that the sites will make some kind of pattern in the end.
This map comes back, from Logistics downstairs in the basement, inside an empty donuts' box with "THANKS!" scrawled on it in goblin-like writing, showing all the currently-known victims' exact locations of discovery, including the girl chopped in half, top-half at the bridge and bottom-half in the bay a bit to the south-east of there:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/RajdgWm.jpg)
Nothing is discovered by units sent out to:
* The Brooklyn Museum and the Queens Museum.
* Glendale and Forest Park.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
(And, yes, in-game time was paused over the weekend while I was finding time to update the game.)
The updated map didn't give me any new insights, but then I'm more of a Pun Department Detective. I'll request (potential solution) sending squad cars to MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (so many memories ?) and ROCKAWAY COMMUNITY PARK to check out detective Ian Aloser's theory.
The fact that we got the map in the first place suggests that this was something we were supposed to do.
Units find nothing worth reporting back on at Museum Of The Moving Image or Rockaway Community Park.
Here is the city map for ease of reference, which also contains the exact crime-scene locations to date as provided by the "goblins" down in Logistics:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/RajdgWm.jpg)
received from Justice Killer for Week Four:
Spoiler
Quote
Hello,
Took you a while to find my latest site.
Or, rather, both of them. LOL!
A bit disappointed by the unimaginative nickname the press has given me but oh well.
Let's speed things up a bit shall we?
I'm doubling up AND going back to basics!
S O W N B Y G
R Q X W D E F
W M T B C Z L
W C B A P B G
H D W F L Q W
K E R T W P B
G F P S R W P |
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
that Justice Killer sent later:
Spoiler
A new letter arrives at the NYPD from the killer:
Quote
Hello,
Yup, back to basics.
My old stomping-ground.
Or should I say "stabbing-ground"?! Hehehe...
So many memories.
Yours Sincerely,
Justice Killer.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
Chief, despite the markers on the maps are in a slightly different position now,
I still would like to follow heltenjon's proposal to search Kings County Hospital Center
and Queens Hospital Center.
Basics , Basicks ?
Nothing of note is detected in a sweep of the Kings County Hospital Center and Queens Hospital Center areas.
(I have updated the top post on this page to include the updated map, the original letter, and the follow-up letter, for ease of reference.)
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
Working from the assumption that it was the killer witnesses observed at Bushwick, I suspect he has travelled northeast and/or southwest from there, like the alphabetic directions in the code. I suggest (potential solution) that we search locations in those directions, starting with those close by. If we send squads to Ridgewood and Bedford-Stuyvesant, we may either find the killer or perhaps breadcrumbs showing us that he went that way.
Every time I think I "see" something the rest of the clues don't match.
Assuming A is the Bushwick location I followed the A-G path assuming that each letter is a bifurcation on the road. That lead me to Brooklyn Museum. Only problem is that I can't seem to do the same upwards. :-\
Then I thought that maybe the W mark the victims locations, and the lower right seems to align fairly good with the 3 sites there, with the Bushwick w either being the far middle one or the one 1 down 2 right from it... But then there's all those Ws on the top part of the map... does that mean this clue includes more potential sites (future victims?) other than the site(s) we're currently after?
Unless he's got 2 victims both cut in half at those WW locations? Middle left and far up left... uhm, maybe this theory does have some foot after all? What if the G-A-G path represents the river?
Okay, I'll risk sending a patrol to the (Potential Solution) to that area were there's a bridge (under the Times Square text) and the one longer up above the text (East Harlem).
CASE #64Justice KillerWeek FiveFollowing the lead provided by Officer Helten Jon, units are sent out to both Ridgewood and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Zeroing-in on a complaint about a constant knocking-sound coming from a neighbor's apartment in Ridgewood, the unit there breaks down the door of the offending residence to discover Justice Killer's victim strung up to the ceiling fan by the neck. The body sways around limply in a circle and, on every rotation, one of its feet strikes the wall the neighbor shares with the victim's apartment.
The victim turns out to be an employee of the state prison system, in charge of overseeing prisoner paroles, and had been accused in the past several times of demanding sexual favors from prisoners eligible for parole in return for their release, and denying parole if they were refused said favors.
The victim was hanged from the ceiling fan with a standard-issue prison bedsheet woven into a rope.
Units heading out to Bedford-Stuyvesant receive incoming intel from the station-house that a potential victim has been located there by the I.T. Department.
In that district there resides a woman who used to work as a police station's cleaning staff. She had been under suspicion, quite a few times, of stealing items from high-profile cases from the Evidence Room and potentially selling them off to collectors of such memorabilia. Eventually, an item of evidence from a sensational case against an infamous mobster went missing before the trial was over. The woman in question was fired but the mobster walked free.
The police rush to the victim's residence and smash open the door, only to surprise an elderly woman into falling off her sofa and spilling her not-the-first-of-the-night martini all over her cat.
The old biddy is taken into protective custody. Her cat is given a bath and one of the attending officers adopts him.
The next day a new letter arrives at the NYPD from the killer:
Quote
Hello,
So, you finally got the drop on me?!
Well, it took you long enough.
I was casing that old bitch's place and I saw you scare the living crap out of her.
I guess she can count her lucky stars that there was at least one of you noobs that could find the hole in their donut without a flashlight and a map.
Meh, she's old, she'll be dead soon enough anyway.
However, you HAVE left me in a rather uncharitable mood for now.
I had been quite looking forward to scalping her and selling it as a wig online as an item from THIS famous case at some point in the future!
So, yeah, you've got me a little pissed off here.
I got two more to go before I'm done and disappear forever so good luck catching me!
NO MORE CLUES FOR YOU!!!
Yours Sincerely and GOODBYE,
Justice Killer.
Here is the city map for ease of reference, which also contains the exact crime-scene locations to date as provided by the "goblins" down in Logistics, updated to include the last two locations, including the rescued lady's residence:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/qK8HViE.jpg)
GAME RULES: The police chief, who has a lot more color back in his face and vigor back into his step after the force finally saved a potential victim, orders that, as Justice Killer has declared two more victims, two units can be sent out simultaneously as long as a good enough reason is provided.
Congrats Officer Helten Jon !
But I still have no idea how could have solved this BEFORE the hint with the "stabbing ground" came up.
EDIT: From how understand it, Bushwick is the "A" in the letter matrix
So was the W thing a red herring?
All will be explained once the case is over.
The G in the east was Glendale, and A was the original spot (Bushwick). No idea if the ws meant anything, though.
What now then? Does the sites marked make a pattern? A star constallation, perhaps? Or maybe someone can do some more magic connecting of dots?
Two more victims left......
I think that the words in capital letters may contain clues
as to where to find the (potential )crime scenes
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Sun 28/06/2020 16:02:31
Two more victims left......
I think that the words in capital letters may contain clues
as to where to find the (potential )crime scenes
Looks like it... Just taking a quick guess (
potential solution) can we send a unit to Wood
HAVEn?
Nothing found at Woodhaven.
(OFFICIAL UPDATE)
As the three locations i a row remind me of Orion's belt, I'd like to send squad cars to a couple of sites just to make sure the killer is not drawing Orion on the map. This doesn't quite add up, as there are more stars in Orion than sites. If the chief doesn't think it's too far fetched, may we send squad cars to (potential solution) Long Island City Astoria and to the 9/11 Museum? (Marking Bellatrix and Betelgeuse.)
The idea with the star constellation is nice, I don't have the slightest
clue at the moment and I don't want to search places at random....
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONI think I've worked out the locations of the next victims... Our killer calls him(or her)self the "Justice Killer" who wants to even the score on people who escaped punishment. The "Scales of Justice" are a traditional symbol of punishments being meted out fairly. The constellation Libra is also often symbolised using a scales. This is what Libra looks like:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/lVstrddh.jpg)
I took this image and overlaid it onto our map of previous sites (please excuse the awful photoshopping) and there's definitely some similarity.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/HGsi170h.jpg)
Because of this, I think we need to send units to stake out the MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE and the QUEENS MUSEUM as I believe they are the next sites. No idea what the killer has planned there, but hopefully we can catch him (or her) in the act.
WOW !!!
Jack Putter, donuts are on me.
Let's not celebrate too early, we don't know if I'm right!
Also, the icons for the New York Hall of Science and the Queens Museum are RIGHT NEXT to each other on the map. Because the stars on that diagram don't align perfectly with our previous sites, I can't really tell which one is more "accurate" and it's a 50/50 shot whether I picked the right one...
Quote from: JackPutter on Sun 28/06/2020 16:41:09
I took this image and overlaid it onto our map of previous sites (please excuse the awful photoshopping) and there's definitely some similarity.
Because of this, I think we need to send units to stake out the MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE and the QUEENS MUSEUM as I believe they are the next sites. No idea what the killer has planned there, but hopefully we can catch him (or her) in the act.
OMG
8-0 That is brilliant!
If these aren't the exact places, then maybe we could ask the ner IT experts to trace the constellation for us. I'm sure they can do a better job, since it's worth pursuing this path to it's fullest. ;)
My my. Great work. This has to be it.
Stupot,
How many Ws in the riddle and how many stars in the constellation ?
This is a worthy "Finale Grande", absolutely great !
Updating later tonight.
CASE #64
Justice Killer
Still Week Five
The police chief looks over the map put together by Officer Jack Putter, leaps up and slams his fist down right in the middle of it, spilling his open bottle of Tums all over the floor!
(https://i.imgur.com/EU2Te64.jpg)
"GOD-DAMN! THAT'S SOME POLICE-WORK IF EVER I'VE SEEN IT!!!",
he yells, more animated and healthy-looking than he has seemed for weeks.
He starts pointing every which-way and barking out orders to the point where he almost seems to have three or four hands at any one time.
Units head out, sirens flashing and lights screaming, to both the Queens Museum and the Museum Of The Moving Image.
During the Queens Museum sweep a time-bomb is discovered inside the base of a new sculpture scheduled to be unveiled in a few days by the Governor who, in their past, had fallen under accusation of receiving campaign money in return for rigging certain court trials involving organized-crime figures.
It is safely isolated and defused by the Bomb Squad. It was set to go off at the exact moment of the sculpture's unveiling.
As the other unit enters the Museum Of The Moving Image, the leader, Officer Jack Putter, notices that a showing of the movie "Twelve Angry Men" is scheduled for today in one of the museum's viewing rooms. The guest-list are all figures connected with the court system.
Jack signals to the team to approach the viewing room stealthily.
The door to the viewing room's projection booth shows signs of having been broken open with a crowbar.
Jack slowly pushes the door open an extra inch and peers through the gap.
He sees a hooded figure mounting a film-reel boldly marked "TWELVE ANGRY MEN / INGLORIOUS BASTERDS: GIANT FACE SCENE SPLICE" onto the projector.
Jack pushes the door open a little more and sneaks through into the projection booth.
It is now that he notices the large pile of old film reels piled up between himself and the hooded figure in a kind of barrier between them.
Officer Jack Putter pulls his service pistol from its holster and yells "POLICE! DOWN ON THE FLOOR! SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!".
The hooded figure complies, dropping to their knees, and then going prone, face-down on the floor.
The figure's hands come up. In one of them is a lit Zippo lighter. The hand throws the lighter onto the barrier of old film reels which instantly explodes into a fury of flames and shooting balls of white-hot fire.
Jack tells the team behind him to fall back, pull the museum's fire alarm, and start an evacuation. He tries to find some way to the prone figure but there is no path around the conflagration.
He hears only the sound of cackling laughter, and the words "GUILTY AS CHARGED", from behind the fire before the screaming begins.
Two hours later, the fire has been brought under control. Massive damage was caused to the viewing room and its projection booth but no lives were lost.
Except, that is, for the life of the hooded figure, whose body has been reduced to mere ash and bones by the intensity of the fire.
The attempts to identify the body of Justice Killer are still underway.
Officer Jack Putter is invited by the FBI to enter their Special Agent training program. It is up to him to decide if he will do so, or remain with the NYPD.
What say you, Jack Putter?
This was a tough case to crack, I'm extremely flattered by the FBI's offer but really I only connected the last link in the chain. A lot of the major breakthroughs in this investigation were made by my extremely talented colleagues, and I would never have been in that projection booth at the right time if it wasn't for their hard work. In my eyes, we ALL earned that Special Agent training invitation together. I think I'll have to respectfully decline the offer to leave and join another agency, here at the NYPD we work well as a unit and I'd hate to be responsible for breaking that up.
Besides, on the very same day my invitation letter from the FBI arrived, a strange package landed on my desk, the contents of which are VERY concerning and might need looking into right away...
(Breaking the fourth wall here just to say thanks to Mandle for constructing such a detailed, intriguing, and compelling game for us all to play! There was a lot to sink our teeth into and I had a blast looking for patterns, finding hidden meanings, and piecing together the clues of a killer who, at times, always seemed one step ahead of us. It took a lot of hard work and creativity to keep it interesting and fair over so many weeks, and your efforts did not go unnoticed Mandle!
I have an idea for a similar investigation game, and if folks still have an appetite for this kind of thing then I would love to try my hand at running one.)
Quote from: JackPutter on Tue 30/06/2020 08:49:55
This was a tough case to crack, I'm extremely flattered by the FBI's offer but really I only connected the last link in the chain. A lot of the major breakthroughs in this investigation were made by my extremely talented colleagues, and I would never have been in that projection booth at the right time if it wasn't for their hard work. In my eyes, we ALL earned that Special Agent training invitation together. I think I'll have to respectfully decline the offer to leave and join another agency, here at the NYPD we work well as a unit and I'd hate to be responsible for breaking that up.
Yay group hug!
(https://i.imgur.com/AYXpIEc.gif)
Quote from: JackPutter on Tue 30/06/2020 08:49:55(Breaking the fourth wall here just to say thanks to Mandle for constructing such a detailed, intriguing, and compelling game for us all to play! There was a lot to sink our teeth into and I had a blast looking for patterns, finding hidden meanings, and piecing together the clues of a killer who, at times, always seemed one step ahead of us. It took a lot of hard work and creativity to keep it interesting and fair over so many weeks, and your efforts did not go unnoticed Mandle!
Agree! I have one small criticism, and it's that I found it frustrating at times that the puzzles were half logic half guesswork (like when I cracked the bridge-troll/nest-airport/guv'nor-Governor Island clue immediately but then we got stuck checking every single bridge one by one until we found the right one) but in a way it also fit with the Crazed Killer theme, and at least we got to send as many units as we wanted. So yeah, nitpicks aside, this was fun! Great job, Mandle ;-D
Quote from: JackPutter on Tue 30/06/2020 08:49:55I have an idea for a similar investigation game, and if folks still have an appetite for this kind of thing then I would love to try my hand at running one.)
Please do!
CASE #64
Justice Killer
Epilogue
Officer Jack Putter remained with the NYPD and was promoted to Detective First Class. Everyone rallies around him in support of his loyalty to the squad!
Officer Ian Aloser was promoted to Detective Second Class for his outstanding work on the case, and was partnered with Jack Putter.
Officer Laura Hunt was promoted to Detective Third Class for her excellent work on the case.
These, and all other Officers were awarded medals of honor for their input into solving this horrible series of crimes.
The Police Chief eventually went to a doctor and was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer, most likely caused by stress. He underwent treatment and is now back on the job, no longer needing his massive bottle of Tums heartburn tablets.
THE END
Quote from: JackPutter on Tue 30/06/2020 08:49:55
I have an idea for a similar investigation game, and if folks still have an appetite for this kind of thing then I would love to try my hand at running one.
Sign me up!!!
(And if anyone has any niggling questions about anything in the Justice Killer case, please PM me. I have already answered Stupot's questions privately. Best if we don't jumble the thread with too many others I feel. But feel free to PM me about anything you want answered for closure.)
Under Stupot's suggestion we might want to split this kind of game off into a different thread from The Black Stories one though.
I kind of hijacked the thread for my game but that might not have been the right thing to do.
I'm going to ask Snarky to split this kind of game off from the Black Stories and make it it's own thing, maybe titled "CTI: Crime Team Investigation"
This could be anything from this kind of map-based police investigation to an even more personal "Nancy Drew" or even "Scooby Doo" kind of case setup.
EDIT: So yeah, I have sent Snarky a PM asking for this to be done so that both genres of games can continue without getting in the way of each other for fans of either or both.
@Mandle:Thank you for this brilliant and challenging plot. You put a lot of effort and passion into it
and you did it in a highly professional manner, it felt like playing a thrilling adventure game!
@ All colleagues: Thank you for participating and for solving this case. It was a great pleasure getting
inspired by the various theories, i had a great time trying to figure out the clues with you !
@ JackPutter: Congrats ! You did a great job with the star constellation and the overlay !
Quote
I have an idea for a similar investigation game, and if folks still have an appetite for this kind of thing then I would love to try my hand at running one.)
Yes, please !!!
Thanks to all for the good words on this game.
It was indeed a project of passion for me during these times of staying mostly at home a lot and I am pleased that everyone had a good time in their own personal situations.
I saw JackPutter's overlay of the Libra constellation onto the New York map just before heading off to bed and I must say, I went to bed with a smile on my face and had an excellent night's sleep without interruption from worrying dreams for the first time in quite a long time.
I can't wait to go up against him in his own game!
Great work everyone. And Thanks Mandle for this exciting case. Very cool. I said this privately but I reckon it would make a fantastic detective novel, even if some of it is a bit tropey. People love this kind of stuff because of the tropes.
I'm glad you had fun from your side too, Mandle! I think you should be very proud of the web of clues you managed to weave. I'd certainly enjoy reading a detective novel that played out this way, usually detective stories are about one lone detective's quest for the truth, so it was a nice spin to see the case solved by a true team effort.
I agree that this thread was somewhat hijacked in a way and is no longer about the original "Black Stories" game. I'm happy to create a new thread just for my case, or perhaps an admin could create a dedicated crime-stopping puzzle thread like Mandle suggested? I'm cool with either.
Quote from: JackPutter on Tue 30/06/2020 11:21:27
perhaps an admin could create a dedicated crime-stopping puzzle thread like Mandle suggested? I'm cool with either.
I have messaged Snarky to request he splits this case off from the moment it begins into a separate thread. Maybe let's see what happens with that?
THE KS CASECHAPTER ONEA small but mysterious package has arrived at NYPD HQ, addressed directly towards the newly-established CTI team in shaky handwriting. The contents of the package are a confusing mix of disturbing items.
- A hand-written note, scrawled on a ripped sheet of notebook paper
- A torn scrap of light taffeta fabric, stained red with what appears to be blood
- A map of a small townland at the very edges of the NYPD's jurisdiction
- Four quarters, taped together
Though the scrawled letters are hard to make out, eventually it's established that the note reads as follows:
QuoteHEY NYPD
U THINK U R SO SMART
U COT FLIP FONE HA HA
HE WAS SLOPPY IM NOT SLOPPY
HE WAS NOT A REAL BAD GUY
ON TV THE POLISE ALWAYS WIN BUT
IN REAL LIFE THE BAD GUYS WIN LOOK AT WALL ST
I AM THE REAL DEAL AND I WILL PROVE IT
IM SMARTER THAN ALFRED EINSTEIN AND TOUGHER THAN FORT KNOX AND DWAYNE JOHNSON COMBINED
IVE GOT BIG PLANS FOR A SPECIAL SOMEONE
YOU WILL NEVER FIND OUT WHERE I AM
I DONT RITE SO GOOD BUT I AM SMART
I BET FLIP FONE WROTE NOTES BUT I CAN DO 1 BETTER
IF U WANT 2 KNOW WHOOS BLOOD THAT IS U NEED 2 SOLVE MY CODE
"..." "35 - 11 14 10 18" "1315 - 21 1114 1110 1118" "11131115 - 1211 3114 3110 3118"
WAT DO U SAY? CAN I COUNT ON U?
SIGNED
KS
This is the map contained in the envelope:
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
The forensics team members immediately take all of the items away for examination, but after performing a thorough investigation no DNA, fingerprints, strands of hair, or any other kind of identifying material is found.
The chief calls a meeting out in the bullpen, patting his brow dry with a handkerchief. "Okay folks, you know the drill. Look for clues anywhere you can, don't just focus on their code-solving bull. They are bound to have slipped up in some other way. I know we've only just finished dealing with our last killer nutcase and everyone is worn out, but suck it up and get to work. We don't know whether this lunatic has killed someone or is holding someone captive, but until we know more we are to assume this person is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Start digging, and let me know when you have any leads."
The chief heads back into his office, but turns around at the last second to address you all once more. "Oh, one other thing..." he adds, stuffing his hankie into his breast pocket. "The area on the map... It's in our jurisdiction but it's not exactly downtown NYC. It's usually a pretty crime-free area, with just a couple of police units covering the whole townland. I've met them all, I even visited the station last fall. They're good cops, every one of them, but they're still only a handful of guys. If they're about to be hit by a crime spree... Lord knows how those cops can handle it. So for their sake, make goddamn sure you're working on more than a hunch when I pick up the phone to Sergeant Pangborn and tell him to send out the troops."
With that, the chief retires to his office, leaving the rest up to you.
GAME RULES AND SETUPSpoiler
The general setup of the game is much the same as the Justice Killer case, as Mandle did a great job coming up with a fair system for everyone. The criminal will send messages, and within those messages will be clues about their crimes. It is up to you to put the pieces together, and request the chief to take action. There is a quasi-real-time clock in action, so if it takes too long to solve a clue then the case will develop differently than if you figure things out straight away. If you get the chief to make the right moves in time, you might be able to save some lives. When you think you have solved a clue, please put "POTENTIAL SOLUTION" in bold before your post so I don't miss it.
There are a couple of important details that are specific to this case, which I will go through now.
Firstly, this criminal has many crimes lined up, but a big finale planned. To stop the finale, you need to do one of two things. You either need to figure out who the final target is and get them into protective custody, or you can track the criminal to their home town and arrest them. However, if you arrest the criminal without identifying who the final target is, the criminal may have had time to put their final plan in motion and you won't be able to save the target. On the other hand, if you manage to get the target to safety without identifying where the criminal is, then they might be able to escape.
Secondly, no use of Google or any knowledge of the outside world will be required of you to solve the criminal's riddles. Everything you need to solve each individual crime will be contained in the messages sent to the police department. However, to get to the bottom of the overarching mystery, there is a very small amount of outside knowledge necessary. I promise that it is all extremely easy to find by using even vague Google searches, and there will be enough clues placed throughout the adventure for you to work out what to search, if you happen to not have the knowledge already. In short, if you just want to solve puzzles without any research, then you will be able to have a crack at the crime riddles. If you are interested in a little bit of extra research, then maybe the big-picture mystery is for you!
Thirdly, not every message from the criminal will point directly to a place on the map. For example, solving the code in the first message doesn't correspond with any location, but it WILL directly tell you what your next move should be.
Fourthly, to add an extra element of tension, the little town that the crimes are about to take place in has a very small staff of local officers. There are FIVE and ONLY FIVE members of the town's force.
- Sergeant Pangborn
- Officer White
- Officer Collins
- Officer Leland
- Officer Ullman
Be very careful that you don't go after any obvious red herrings, as they might be traps laid by the maniac... Needless to say, if you fall for too many traps, there will be no police left, and the criminal will have free rein until new officers can be put in place. If you want, you can request a specific officer to search an area, or request a specific number of officers, and this may have an effect on the outcome. (This is just an optional extra aspect people can take part in if they like. If you don't specify an amount of officers or a particular officer to send then I'll choose something I think is appropriate.)
If you have any questions about the game's rules or setup, feel free to ask them and I will answer in a spoiler section like this. Happy hunting!
Anything special about the quarters? Any marks, inscriptions, etc? Are they taped together in a line, or one on top of the other?
The quarters appear to be run-of-the-mill coins, they don't seem to have been tampered with and they are not misprints of any kind. They are taped one on top of the other, and it's very easy to separate them. The only slightly curious detail about them is that they all seem to have been minted in 1947, but other than that they are perfectly ordinary.
So this is what I have for now:
Quote"..." "35 - 11 14 10 18" "1315 - 21 1114 1110 1118" "11131115 - 1211 3114 3110 3118"
Vertically:
... (missing first step)
35 - 11 14 10 18
1315 - 21 1114 1110 1118
11131115 - 1211 3114 3110 3118
The right side of these "equations" or whatever they are all have patterns:
11 / 21 / 1211 - each one adds to 2 - 3 - 4, so the missing first number in the sequence would be
1.
14 / 1114 / 3114 - they add up to 5 - 7 - 9, so the first number would be
3.
10 / 1110 / 3110 - add up to 1 - 3 - 5, so the first missing number would be... 0? Can this thing have negative numbers?
18 / 1118 / 3118 - add up to 9 - 11 - 13, so the first number is
7.
So the right side of the first missing step in the sequence is
1 3 0 7?
As to the left side...
35 / 1315 / 11131115 - add up to 8 - 10 - 16, so is the first number 5? Would that make 5 - 1307? Does that even give us anything to work with?No idea what to do about the left side tbh. That's all I've got for now.
Ok...bear with me while I not write about the code. This may just be Easter Eggs, because I doubt most people know Stephen King is born in 1947. The killer signs KS - King Stephen? The sargeant of the police force is named Pangborn, just like the police chief in Castle Rock in many stories. Now I don't know if the place names on the map are genuine or made up, but there are plenty of similarities to King's fiction, like Kerry (SK writes about Derry) and tweeners (SK writes about twinners). And Joe's Hill? SK's son is writing under the pen name Joe Hill.
I was going to crack a joke about how sargeant Pangborn had relatives in Castle Rock and would be the man to send to Joe's Hill if we needed to.
I guess these are coincidences or Easter eggs, as it's not the common knowledge Jack Putter talks about in the rules.
I'm with you, but absolutely clueless for the moment.
EDIT: At first I thought that the number riddle in the letter
was written with Caps Lock on , but then i read that it was handwritten ...
Laura, your idea with the series sounds promising, could the quarters
be coins for a public phone to be used for calling a phone number coming from the riddle ?
Or could the FOUR quarters be a hint to divide the map into four parts
and begin our search at the intersecting point ?
I am still traumatized from the previous case :-))
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 30/06/2020 19:53:07
I guess these are coincidences or Easter eggs, as it's not the common knowledge Jack Putter talks about in the rules.
And Shudder Lake looks like a place out of sadtopographies (https://www.instagram.com/sadtopographies/?hl=en) :-D
The 1118 is coloured black
and the rest in blue ......
Strange.....
EDIT: First red herring ?
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Tue 30/06/2020 20:03:47
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 30/06/2020 19:53:07
I guess these are coincidences or Easter eggs, as it's not the common knowledge Jack Putter talks about in the rules.
And Shudder Lake looks like a place out of sadtopographies (https://www.instagram.com/sadtopographies/?hl=en) :-D
And Shudder produces Creepshow, which is based on SK's work...
What's the term for an unintentional Easter egg? A Pentecostal egg? (laugh)
And Kerry = Carrie , one on SK's films?
Maybe this maniac is obsessed by Stephen King, so , to make a start,
we should send someone to Kerry to check for anything extraordinary....
I give it a start:
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
Could you send someone to Kerry ?
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Tue 30/06/2020 20:40:17
The 1118 is coloured black
and the rest in blue ......
Strange.....
...what? Where?
The idea that the coins might be for a phone call sounds pretty solid! This would mean that the first number should be 3 numbers, though... So we would have something like "xxx - 1307" maybe? We need someone smarter than me to tie all this together, I'm just a Third Class Detective :-D
EDIT: Can I check the phonebook for
555-1307?
The chief puts in a call to Sergeant Pangborn and explains the situation. In turn, Pangborn sends out officers White and Collins to check out the neighbourhood of Kerry. They ask the Sergeant what they should be on the lookout for, and Pangborn has to admit that there's not really much information to go on. The two officers take to the streets, keeping their eyes open and searching for anything unusual. Unfortunately they don't spot much that's out of place, and they're forced to call it a night after slowly driving down each street three times with their spotlights scanning the surroundings.
The New York City & State Yellow Pages contains no entry for 555-1307, though 555-1306 is listed as Count von Count's Halloween Costume Emporium. It doesn't seem particularly relevant.
Sorry, the blue numbers only appear on my smartphone...
Edit:Good job, Officer Laura !! Maybe just wrong area code or pre-dial?
Edit: Looks like this will be another great challenge....
Could we ask Sergeant Pangborn for the pre-dial of this area ?
The chief shuts his eyes and squeezes the ridge of his nose. "I'm not going to bother Sergeant Pangborn with trivial questions like that. Besides, I just called him earlier, obviously I needed to put in the pre-dial area code in order to get him on the phone! The area code for upstate New York is 518."
The chief sighs a little and leans on the doorframe of his office. "You might be on to something with this phone number business, but even if you are, there's a good chance this subject is spoofing their number somehow. I'll bet they could pick any phone number they want and route it where they want, so the area code probably doesn't matter."
Straightening his back, the chief barks one last order to the crew. "Get to the bottom of those numbers! I don't care if you have to read them aloud to your dog for it to click, I want to know what those missing figures are!" After a quick turn, the chief is gone, disappeared back into his office.
Aha!
"..." "35 - 11 14 10 18" "1315 - 21 1114 1110 1118" "11131115 - 1211 3114 3110 3118"
35 = one 3 one 5, 11=two 1, 14= one 1 one 4, 10= one 1 one 0, 18= one 1 one 8...and so on.
Going backwards, that's three 5 - one 1 one 4 one 0 one 8.
Potential solution
Let's dial 555-1408!
And room 1408 is a Stephen King story, too. Jack's doing it on purpose!
The chief smiles, snaps his fingers and points at detective heltenjon. "Sounds like a decent lead! Let's give the IT goblins, I mean, gurus some time to set up a trace and then we'll call this lunatic up."
(Full update coming once I get up in the morning.)
I was about to suggest 1408. Not due to cracking the code, but it was the first Stephen King number that came to mind.
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 30/06/2020 23:12:57
Aha!
"..." "35 - 11 14 10 18" "1315 - 21 1114 1110 1118" "11131115 - 1211 3114 3110 3118"
35 = one 3 one 5, 11=two 1, 14= one 1 one 4, 10= one 1 one 0, 18= one 1 one 8...and so on.
Going backwards, that's three 5 - one 1 one 4 one 0 one 8.
Potential solution
Let's dial 555-1408!
Brilliant! My number was
so close but the logic behind my reasoning was totally off. Nice lateral thinking! ;-D
THE KS CASECHAPTER TWOThe IT technicians finish installing a new phone with a tape recorder and tracing device at a special desk in the corner of the bullpen, and they start to proudly explain how they have spliced the lines so that once a call is going through that phone anyone can hear the conversation by simply picking up their own desk phone. The chief makes his way out of the office and they promptly shut up.
The chief picks up the receiver. "I want all ears in on this! We don't know how smart this person is yet. They might let something slip if they're pressed, so stay frosty." With that, the chief punches in the number 555-1408. You all pick up your phones to listen in.
After three rings, the call is answered, and a voice starts to speak. The person talking is using some kind of voice modulator, so it's impossible to detect an accent or even if the person is male or female.
QuoteHello detectives. I'm glad to hear from you, I was worried my little number game might be too tricky for you all to solve. You may have found it difficult, but at least I am fair... I even provided change so this call shouldn't cost you a penny!
I told you that you would find out whose blood I sent you if you could crack the code, and now you are one step closer. I hope you weren't expecting me to just tell you outright, where's the fun in that? But I will tell you WHERE you can find them. What state you find them in is entirely dependent on how quickly you unearth their location. I've hidden their location somewhere in plain sight, in fact I would imagine that millions of people have already laid eyes on it. Though you might find few who are willing to admit it. Exactly where have I published this location info? That's the game we're going to play, boys.
That's about all I have to say at the moment... Oh, I imagine you're wondering why I signed the letter, "KS." Well those are not my initials, of course. They stand for those who would destroy a God, those who kill the reigning leader, those who use opportunity to usurp the big man's seat. I will not stand by and allow them to do it any more.
So long.
After those last words, there is a mechanical clicking sound, and the voice begins repeating itself. It's evident that you are listening to a recording. The chief puts down the handset, retrieves his hankie and wipes his forehead. "Any luck with the trace?" he asks the IT specialists, who just shake their heads solemnly. The chief nods, not surprised by this. "At least we know one thing, they can talk better than they write."
The chief grabs a passing uniformed rookie by the elbow. "Kid, I want you to go down to the newsstand on the corner and pick up 10 copies of Playboy magazine." A snicker is heard coming from the direction of the IT department. "KNOCK IT OFF!" yaps the chief, "Even I can work out that's where this maniac posted the info." The rookie scoots out of the room with a bright, "Yes, Sir!"
The IT department is eventually ushered out of the room, despite their pleas of wanting to help scour the magazines for information. It's not long before the rookie returns, laden down with smutty magazines. The chief pats him on the back and sends him on his way. It doesn't take much flicking through the magazine to discover this unusual picture on one of the advertising pages:
(https://i.imgur.com/czjlxXhh.png)
Taking a deep breath, the chief addresses you. "Okay detectives, more letter mumbo-jumbo. Get cracking!"
Adding the map here for reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
Third row from the top, we can see ARMSTRONG written right-to-left, which is a location on the map (Armstrong Walk).
Looking to see if I can find something else before we send somebody there...
At this point, I'd like to check with Stephen King's secretary if he has any public appearances in this area coming up. It looks like our killer has a King obsession, and while
that may make it unlikely that King is the target (no more books if he kills him), it would be nice to rule out the possibility.
The killer may have chosen this district because of the names of the police officers. While Pangborn stands out as the unusual name, every officer has a name shared by a
Stephen King character. Alan Pangborn is the main character in The Dark Half and Needful Things and a supporting character in many other stories. Carrie White is the main character in Carrie. Cynthia Collins is a character from Under the Dome. Leland Gaunt is the other lead from Needful Things. Stuart Ullman is the General Manager of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, and the one to give Jack Torrance his caretaker job.
With the Stephen King characters in the hundreds, and most of the names being common names, this may not be so unplausible as it seems. However, I don't think we ought to send out officers to every location that reminds us of Stephen King. Then we will be sure to walk into traps. Let's see what the next lead may be.
OMG, I can't follow, you are all too fast
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 01/07/2020 09:26:37
At this point, I'd like to check with Stephen King's secretary if he has any public appearances in this area coming up. It looks like our killer has a King obsession, and while
that may make it unlikely that King is the target (no more books if he kills him), it would be nice to rule out the possibility.
The killer may have chosen this district because of the names of the police officers. While Pangborn stands out as the unusual name, every officer has a name shared by a
Stephen King character. Alan Pangborn is the main character in The Dark Half and Needful Things and a supporting character in many other stories. Carrie White is the main character in Carrie. Cynthia Collins is a character from Under the Dome. Leland Gaunt is the other lead from Needful Things. Stuart Ullman is the General Manager of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, and the one to give Jack Torrance his caretaker job.
With the Stephen King characters in the hundreds, and most of the names being common names, this may not be so unplausible as it seems. However, I don't think we ought to send out officers to every location that reminds us of Stephen King. Then we will be sure to walk into traps. Let's see what the next lead may be.
Honestly, I think that the Stephen King lead is simply a meta-wink from Jack, not from the killer, i.e., it has no in-game relevance and Jack simply used Stephen King references to populate it. He clearly said that we would need no outside knowledge to find the solutions to the puzzles, and basing a whole case on Stephen King references would definitely go against that, as we shouldn't all be expected to be fans of Mr. King to solve this. I believe that we should focus strictly on the clues we're given.
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Wed 01/07/2020 09:31:49
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 01/07/2020 09:26:37
At this point, I'd like to check with Stephen King's secretary if he has any public appearances in this area coming up. It looks like our killer has a King obsession, and while
that may make it unlikely that King is the target (no more books if he kills him), it would be nice to rule out the possibility.
The killer may have chosen this district because of the names of the police officers. While Pangborn stands out as the unusual name, every officer has a name shared by a
Stephen King character. Alan Pangborn is the main character in The Dark Half and Needful Things and a supporting character in many other stories. Carrie White is the main character in Carrie. Cynthia Collins is a character from Under the Dome. Leland Gaunt is the other lead from Needful Things. Stuart Ullman is the General Manager of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, and the one to give Jack Torrance his caretaker job.
With the Stephen King characters in the hundreds, and most of the names being common names, this may not be so unplausible as it seems. However, I don't think we ought to send out officers to every location that reminds us of Stephen King. Then we will be sure to walk into traps. Let's see what the next lead may be.
Honestly, I think that the Stephen King lead is simply a meta-wink from Jack, not from the killer, i.e., it has no in-game relevance and Jack simply used Stephen King references to populate it. He clearly said that we would need no outside knowledge to find the solutions to the puzzles, and basing a whole case on Stephen King references would definitely go against that, as we shouldn't all be expected to be fans of Mr. King to solve this. I believe that we should focus strictly on the clues we're given.
I agree. We should focus on the clues and send units accordingly. However, I think that KS must mean King Slayer. It fits the clues, if it's about Stephen King or not.
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Wed 01/07/2020 09:22:36
Third row from the top, we can see ARMSTRONG written right-to-left, which is a location on the map (Armstrong Walk).
Looking to see if I can find something else before we send somebody there...
I can't find anything else and these old eyes are getting tired, so (
potential solution) can we send somebody to
Armstrong Walk? Have them talk to the residents, ask about any weird happenings lately or suspicious people loitering around, and keep their eyes open for any places where a person could be hidden: disturbed patches of soil, abandoned buildings, um, large wooden chests mysteriously appearing in the middle of nowhere, etc.
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 01/07/2020 09:35:14
I agree. We should focus on the clues and send units accordingly. However, I think that KS must mean King Slayer. It fits the clues, if it's about Stephen King or not.
omg, what if the killer believes himself to be Stephen King's evil twin or something and this is The Dark Half all over again? :-D
Stephen King's secretary is surprised to receive a call from the NYPD, as Mr King has received thousands of death threats throughout his career and the police have barely responded. She is able to inform you that the author has no public appearances scheduled for at least six months, and even then he will be starting his next book tour on the west coast and slowly working eastwards. She doesn't expect him to visit New York City, much less this small area upstate, for at least nine months.
(Out of character here for a moment just to confirm that no knowledge of Stephen King's work will be necessary to solve the puzzles, much like no real-world knowledge of the legal system was necessary in the Justice Killer case. Think of it as a theme to give the game a bit more character. I will do everything I can to make sure that every riddle has enough clues to be challenging but fair. You're on the right path by focusing strictly on the clues given.
That being said, if Stephen King references keep popping up in what the criminal says or does, surely it's not a coincidence? Maybe a glimpse at the kind of person behind the crimes?)
[Official Update coming soon]
The array of letters show a lot of word combinations
( of course, after all there are 100 letters)
I will highlight them in colors as soon as i have
access to my notebook
I believe it contains a whole sentence containing
the clue of what to do next
Gillian White took off her hat and scratched her head for a moment. It felt like she had been out on the streets for a year, crawling down residential roads, stopping passersby and asking if they had noticed anything usual in the area. So far there had been no solid leads.
"Another wild goose chase," mumbled Joel Collins, sitting in the driver's seat next to her, "Probably just some prankster pulling the leg of the NYPD, but WE'RE the ones getting the fallout."
Gillian put her hat back on and resumed scanning the treeline with her spotlight. "Come on Joel," she cooed, "This is all part of the job. We don't get paid to laze around at the station cramming donuts into our mouths." Collins snickered, conceding.
"Stop the car!" Gillian cried, and Collins stepped on the brakes. Her spotlight had picked up something bright beyond the brush. She grabbed ahold of the radio pinned to her lapel and pressed the 'transmit' button. "Sergeant, this is Car 56. We've got something out of place in a patch of waste ground just south of Armstrong's Walk. We're going to investigate."
"Copy that, Officer White. Stay alert," came the response. The two officers stepped out of their car and made their way towards the object, still obscured by the bushes, illuminated by the patrol car's searchlight. Gillian pushed past the overgrowth and gasped when she saw what was in the clearing.
A cross made of white planks was embedded in a large patch of overturned earth. Gillian and Collins approached the strange monument, and as they got closer it was evident that there were some letters written on the horizontal plank in red paint. "For Sale..." Gillian read aloud, "What the hell is for sale here?"
Gillian's ears pricked as a quiet noise resonated through the clearing. She looked at Collins - he had heard it too. She stepped closer to the cross, and the noise got louder. It was a kind of a soft, muffled thudding sound. Collins's eyes suddenly went wide. "Jesus Christ, somebody's buried here! They're banging and trying to get out!"
Collins instantly dropped to his knees and started tossing the loose dirt and rocks aside with his bare hands. Gillian was about to get down beside him, but she heard another noise, this time out beyond the trees. She quickly grabbed her flashlight and pointed it in the direction she thought she heard the sound. A shape flashed between the trees and disappeared. Was it a person? Just an animal? A trick of the light maybe? This whole scenario was unsettling her more and more.
As Collins uncovered more and more dirt, the thudding sound became more and more clear. Gillian started to listen more closely... The thumping sounded a little to regular, too rhythmic to be the frantic pounding of someone buried alive. She also couldn't hear any screaming, crying, moans or sobs. Was that a faint whirring or humming noise underlying it all?
Before she knew it, Collins had uncovered something - a box of some kind. "Come on Gillian, help me get the lid off!" He reached for the edge of the box and wrapped his fingers around it.
"Joel, no!" Gillian leapt forwards and managed to tackle Collins just a moment after he lifted the lid of the box. Suddenly she was spinning, twirling, tumbling. Then a hard landing on the ground, sliding, her face scratched by the uneven surface. Her ears were ringing and she couldn't tell what way was up. She could smell burning. A bomb! Collins!
Forcing her eyes open, she saw flames, smoke, and debris. There was no sign of the cross, only a shallow crater and the splintered remains of a wooden container. Staggering to her feet, Gillian surveyed the area. There was a lump about ten feet from the crater - Joel! She stumbled over to him, falling to the ground next to his crumpled form, laid on its side. "Joel! Joel! Come on, buddy!" She gently shook his shoulder.
"Jesus Christ..." came the mumbled response. "What the hell was that?" Collins tried to prop himself up, only to end up grimacing and flopping back down. "My shoulder is all messed up... I think I'm bleeding." Gillian took a look at his shoulder and gulped. There was a deep laceration, the skin and muscle torn apart by flying shrapnel. She placed her left hand on the wound and applied pressure, grabbing her radio with her other hand. "Sergeant, we have an officer down! We need an ambulance, ASAP!"
Before any reply could come, a scrap of paper fluttered down from the sky, burned on all edges. It landed on the ground beside the wounded officers, the message still legible. "Not quite. KS"
The chief walks into the bullpen, stoic. "I just got off the phone with Sergeant Pangborn. Armstrong Walk was a bust. Two officers checked it out, and came across a bomb. One of them is hurt pretty bad. I guess now we know just how dangerous this nutcase is."
Hanging his head, the chief sighs. "I'm not going to tear into you, it was a good lead, I don't blame you for sending out a squad to investigate. There's no way you could have known what was waiting for those officers. From now on, just be careful that you've gotten all the clues you can before putting lives on the line."
I can see the word BETWEEN in there, diagonally upwards.
EDIT: And ALDRIN to the right upwards.
Between Aldrin and Armstrong?
BTW, exceptional police work from the Chief! I'd never have gotten the Playboy clue.
HOLY FUCKING SHITBALLS
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/TeemingSlimyArgentineruddyduck-small.gif)
I am horrified that this is all my fault, and terrified of making another false move. I think I'm going to take a day off if the Chief doesn't object, and maybe go talk to our police counselor...
The chief slides a glass of whiskey across Detective Hunt's desk. "I would have made the same call, kid. It's not your fault. We didn't know this lunatic was willing to blow up cops. Take a day, hell, take a week if you need to! Talk to whoever you want to talk to, you're a great detective and the team needs you firing on all cylinders."
Quote from: JackPutter on Wed 01/07/2020 11:36:30
The chief slides a glass of whiskey across Detective Hunt's desk. "I would have made the same call, kid. It's not your fault. We didn't know this lunatic was willing to blow up cops. Take a day, hell, take a week if you need to! Talk to whoever you want to talk to, you're a great detective and the team needs you firing on all cylinders."
Thanks, chief. It looks like my colleagues have this under control, and I'm sure I'll be good as new by the time the next clue comes in.
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 01/07/2020 11:19:44
I can see the word BETWEEN in there, diagonally upwards.
EDIT: And ALDRIN to the right upwards.
Between Aldrin and Armstrong?
Very good Officer Helten Jon !
That makes my approach obsolete, I think.
There are just too many words in the array, but the ones you found are all made from adjacent letters
in reverse order. Give it a try !!
Are you sure you won't search for DONT GO TO ? 8-0
Okay, we have to try. Potential solution Chief, may we search the area between Armstrong Walk and Aldrin Walk?
I see no other place in the array
EDIT: The bomb went off south of Armstrong's Walk
Armstrong's Walk also contains NORT with a letter H in the line above.
But I think this is not it.
The fact that the previous clue was obtained by going backwards makes
me believe that KS is focused on setting up his riddles this way
THE KS CASECHAPTER THREECraig Leland approached the strange cross slowly, keeping his eyes and ears open. "This looks just like the cross Gillian described," said his partner, Troy Ullman. Leland nodded. "This one has extra though, there's a bunch of flowers propped up against the base of the cross... and is that something scrawled across the 'For Sale' letters?"
The two men stepped closer, being extremely cautious not to disturb the earth. There was a message scribbled across the face of the sign in black marker. "CARRIE WHITE BURNS IN HELL." Ullman shook his head.
"I don't hear anything... is this a decoy?" suggested Leland. Ullman shrugged. "Beats me, but I sure as hell ain't going to be the one to find out." Ullman turned and started making his way back to the patrol car. Leland lingered for a moment. Something told him that this was different, this wasn't the same as the place where Collins had nearly had his arm blown off. Eventually he sighed, and figured Ullman was right. Even if this was a little different, it wasn't worth having his body blown to pieces finding out.
Leland turned to leave and... what was that? He snapped his head back towards the cross and the disturbed earth. Movement... the bouquet of flowers had fallen over. The wind? No, the air was still. He took another cautious step towards the cross. Something had knocked over those flowers, he was sure of it. He pulled out his flashlight and pointed it at the base of the cross, right where the flowers had been. There was a tiny speck of something pale...
Taking extreme care not to make any sudden moves, Leland got down on one knee and, keeping the flashlight trained on the ground, began to brush away the topmost layer of soil with his fingers.
The blast of a car's horn cut through the night. Leland looked back over his shoulder to see Ullman standing at the open door of their patrol car. "Come on, Craig! Let's call it in and get out of here!" Leland gritted his teeth. "Just a second!" he responded.
He looked back at the patch of earth he had just cleared. The pale patch was a little longer now, about the length of a finger... Good God, it WAS a finger! "TROY! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Leland yelled as he dropped his flashlight and began to toss handfuls of dirt aside. He uncovered more fingers, a thumb, a whole hand. He started to feel queasy as he noticed that the person's skin was covered in blood. Ullman joined him, and together they started to dig like crazy.
Working along the arm, they got as far as the head and began to reveal the face of a teenage girl. They uncovered her eye, Leland's heart sank when he saw it was closed... However only a moment passed before the eye shot open! They had arrived in time!The chief calls an all-hands meeting, and stands at the top of the room with a smile on his face. "Well folks, it wasn't without difficulties, but we managed to save the victim before she died of suffocation. The pathway between Armstrong Walk and Aldrin Walk was the correct spot. I also hear that Officer Collins will make a full recovery, but he's consigned to desk duty for the next couple of days. Hats off to you all!"
"We've managed to identify the victim, her name is Rachel Edison. 16 years old, her father is a mechanic and her mother is a chartered accountant. Goes to the local High School. Nothing unusual in her background, apart from the fact she starred in a series of toy advertisements when she was a young kid. She went missing about a week ago when she was out shopping for a prom dress. It seems our would-be killer snatched her out of the changing room and slipped her out the back door. She doesn't remember much after being knocked out in the store, that's not great for our investigation but probably for the best in terms of her mental health."
"Curiously enough, even though we found her covered in blood, there wasn't a scratch on her body. She hadn't been harmed in any way, aside from being buried alive. I talked to the folks in forensics again. The blood on that piece of prom dress we were sent didn't turn up any DNA results because it wasn't even human blood. I thought it was fishy that we didn't get any results from that test. Our criminal must have covered the poor girl in some kind of animal blood before burying her."
"Sergeant Pangborn also went to Aldrin Walk and found another decoy cross. He's cordoned off the area and the bomb squad is en-route as we speak."
The chief takes a breath, but before he can continue further the phone in the corner rings. "What the... That's a brand new phone line, no-one could possibly have that number... Unless it's someone calling back a number that called them, and no prizes for guessing who's the only person that phone has ever called! Everyone, get to your phones!"
There's a scramble in the office as everyone grabs their receivers. The chief picks up the phone. There's no voice on the end. "Hello...?" tries the chief.
QuoteHello, chief. Congratulations, you located the first dirty birdie. I seem to have underestimated you. Well, not entirely. How is your injured officer? I was hoping to have done more damage than a busted shoulder, but I'm happy with how it worked out in the *achoo* end.
No elementary school word searches for you this time. If you want to figure out who's next on my list, you'll need to listen VERY carefully to my riddle.
So you viewers
With such easy criteria
Accepting any lower
Version of masters
You may have enjoyed
The standard formula
You don't have the potential
To accept magnificence
That's my riddle. Don't think you've bested me because you saved one girl. I will have the last laugh.
With that the phone line goes dead. The chief hangs up, "That wasn't a recording. They weren't prepared to be found out so quickly." He points at you all, no need to say what he wants you to do, and goes back into his office.
Including the map for reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
I suspect from the clumsy cadence of the poem that it was constructed to hide a necessary combination of letters within in somewhere that needed to be at particular positions.
I had the same idea.
Maybe one letter per line.
That would make 8 letters.
SARSDALE from top to bottom is one of the candidates....
Though it would make it an elementary school word search,
but maybe KS wants to distract us....
EDIT: All letters from SARSDALE are found at the end each line,
but it could also be PINEWOOD (one letter per line)
Other eligible 8 letter places are:
WESTMORE
JOE'S HILL
YORK'S WAY (No "K" IN THE POEM)
EDIT:
Let's not search Sarsdale yet, i think it is TOO obvious
I believe that only one letter per line is allowed....
I believe it's PINEWOOD, I checked it and it meets all criteria
Didn't check the others, though.
Edit: Stop , hold it , i will look for a pattern
that looks like a cross !
Edit:Could not find a pattern
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
Could we search PINEWOOD ?
I found Sarsdale too but felt there must be more to it - I'm wondering if the 28 words in the poem relate to the house number in Sarsdale being 28 (but obviously I have no way of knowing if there even is a 28 Sarsdale!).
Chief, I was wondering if any of the officers up north have some special skills we should know of. If we're going to send them into boobytrapped locations, it would be nice to know if someone was good at spotting such dangers. Have the sargeant mentioned anything to you?
Squad, I guess this goes without saying, but the last assault mimicked the plot from Stephen King's Carrie. I fear this is our perp's signature mark. If I'm right, he'll try to kill people in similar ways as in the novels. Or movies. I don't know which of those rivers sails his boat. We may find people injected with rabies or drained of blood...this is horrible!
I have no clue regarding the code, me too believing Sarsdale looks too convenient. If we end up sending someone there, we ought to know which officer has the best skill set for the situation.
I'd like to know what toys Rachel Edison was doing commercials for. Perhaps this was how she drew the attention of our perp? Can someone check out if there's more to that story?
Heltenjon,
this is a good idea to find out about possible special skills of the staff.
After the first near deadly attempt we need to be even more careful.
Meanwhile, i doubt that my theory with PINEWOOD is correct, could as well
be Joe's Hill and Westmore, assuming that only one letter per line of the "poem" is allowed.
I made this picture below, and it shows that all three 8 letter locations meet the assumed criteria.
PINEWOOD,
JOE'S HILL and
WESTMOREMaybe it is helpful in another way. Apart from that I am totally clueless..
EDIT: York's Way also contains 8 letters, the "K" is not found in the "poem", but it contains a "K" followed by an "S"
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/lnVkrwC.jpg)
Filled with confidence after successfully rescuing the buried girl, Officer Leland and Officer Ullman spend hours carefully searching the Pinewood area for anything suspicious. Eventually they return to the station, their hopes dashed, and report that they couldn't find signs of anything untoward.
The chief spends a long time in his office making various phone calls. After hanging up on his last call, he composes himself for a moment, before heading out to speak to you all.
"You asked for it, so here it is - a breakdown of what Pangborn thinks of his officers. Officer White is the only woman on the force and she definitely keeps it on the straight-and-narrow, she's never had any complaints or stepped out of line further than forgetting to refill the coffee pot once. Officer Collins, currently injured, is known as the joker of the group, but his sense of humour has understandably dried up recently and he's a bit skittish about heading back out on the streets. Can't say I blame him. Officer Leland graduated top of his class in the police academy last year, he's sharp but lacks some real-world knowledge that only time can teach him. That's why he's partnered with Officer Ullman. Ullman's been on the force damn near as long as I have, and he's lived in that town his whole life. If he ever needed to find another job, I bet he'd be the fastest damn taxi driver you could ask for. All of the officers have attended the same courses in crime scene examination and weapons discipline. I'd personally trust them all to conduct themselves equally well on the job.
"Officers White and Collins usually work as a team, ditto officers Leland and Ullman. This isn't by coincidence, so I'd recommend not splitting up those teams if you can, as you'll get the best results by keeping them together. Sending a lone officer into a dangerous situation isn't advisable, but if you're just canvassing an area for information you might get away with sending one, though you'd better stress the importance of calling for backup if anything suspicious arises.
"As for Pangborn himself... Well I've known him personally for years, and you won't find a finer example of an officer. In fact he's actually turned down promotions to other departments more than once, I even offered him a spot on this task force. He's got young kids though, and isn't willing to uproot them just for a job. If you send him into any situation, you can bet he'll be the smartest guy in the room, and having him there will definitely bolster the other officers' chances of success. Of course, the opposite is also true... God forbid anything happens to him, but if he were to be taken out of action... that would be a huge hit to the morale of the unit.
"Heltenjon, I got in touch with the agent who represented Rachel Edison back when she was acting in commercials. Looks like she featured in advertisements for two lines of toys. One was a knock-off My Little Pony pink unicorns thing, and the other was the Tamagotchi revival that happened a decade or so ago. Seems simple, but you wouldn't BELIEVE how hard I had to work to understand that much. Guy mumbled like crazy. When I asked him was Rachel Edison one of his clients, it sounded like he said, 'Raquel Eddysoon, yesh she wis one of mine favouricks.' Goddamn drunk."
<fourth wall break> JackPutter, I have to say you're going above and beyond the call of duty here. Love all these little details, atmosphere and flavour that you're throwing in :) </fwb>
So, guys, shall we try Sarsdale? It's the only solid clue we have right now, so I guess we'll have to do something with it...
Yes Laura, Sarsdale is the only clue we have, but I am afraid that it's a trap.
So we would have to think about who will be sent to that location.
The poem makes absolutely no sense to me, I tried to find a pattern of letters ,
but to no avail.
Looks like my 8 letter theory doesn't yield any progress, York's Way may be a clue
due to "K" and "S" and because the "K" is not found in the poem, but this is pure guesswork.
Let us choose a team to search SARSDALE then, I see no alternative....
Can we get bomb sniffing dogs or a bomb squad or something? We have no guarantee that if it's a trap it'll be a bomb again, but we would be foolish not to be prepared for that at least.
The chief's ears perk up at Detective Hunt's suggestion. "There's no bomb detection dogs regularly stationed in the area, but the bomb squad has only just set off after defusing the decoy cross bomb in Aldrin Walk. I know for a fact that they have a K-9 officer as part of the team. I can get that truck turned around if you're sure you're going to look at Sarsdale."
Quote from: JackPutter on Thu 02/07/2020 10:16:18
The chief's ears perk up at Detective Hunt's suggestion. "There's no bomb detection dogs regularly stationed in the area, but the bomb squad has only just set off after defusing the decoy cross bomb in Aldrin Walk. I know for a fact that they have a K-9 officer as part of the team. I can get that truck turned around if you're sure you're going to look at Sarsdale."
I'm not going to make that call on my own, but I vote yes. What say you, guys?
(We have a dog! Yay! *looks for snacks in her drawer*)
Let's do it !
We have to make progress somehow.
EDIT: POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
Could we send officers Leland and Ullman, along with the K-9
out to SARSDALE ? Tell them to do their search VERY carefully.
There may not be a threat in the shape of explosives, but knowing
that KS is eager to harm us, they should be aware of possible other dangers,e.g.
like poison.
Agreed. Let's search Sarsdale carefully.
Meanwhile, I'm wondering. Rachel seems to have advertised for derivative products, and I think the poem points in that direction, too. Possible point for victimology could be that the perp is targeting people he connects with something he feels is not "the real deal". Unfortunately, this could mean everything from someone selling Pepsi instead of Coca-Cola to directors of sequel movies. It's not helpful at this point.
Very good, Officer Helten Jon. While our unit is on its way, it is a good idea to
spend some thoughts on the personality of the perp.
I remember THIS from his/her phonecall :
Quote
Hello, chief. Congratulations, you located the first dirty birdie. I seem to have underestimated you. Well, not entirely. How is your injured officer? I was hoping to have done more damage than a busted shoulder, but I'm happy with how it worked out in the *achoo* end
The perp might suffer fom ACHOO-Syndrome (Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outbursts of Sneezing), caused by sudden exposure to extreme brightness, e.g. sunlight or looking into a torch.
We should consider consulting doctor's offices and/or relevant companies, who might have rejected job candidates
suffering from this syndrome. These could be airline companies (Achoo is very dangerous for pilots) or other safety relevant branches.
Chief, would this be possible ?EDIT: What I also noticed: The first letter was packed with typos ( I loved the Alfred Einstein :-) ), while the second one didn't contain a single one. Could two presons be involved?
Leland turned the corner, pulling the patrol car onto yet another unremarkable residential street. Ullman was next to him, turned around in the passenger seat, addressing the K-9 officer who was sitting in the rear of the car with a panting German Shepherd beside him. "Hey, there's something I've always wanted to ask you K-9 guys," said Ullman. "If you and the dog are investigating a crime scene and the dog needs to... you know... relieve himself... do you have to leave to prevent the, um, 'leavings' from contaminating the scene?"
The K-9 officer raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to reply, but was cut short when Leland nudged Ullman, saying, "Hey Troy, look over on the left." Leland had spotted one of the two-story detached houses which appeared to be exactly like the ones which surrounded it, only it looked like the front door of this one was ajar. Ullman considered it. "Probably nothing," he grunted, "But let's check it out."
Leland stopped the patrol car at the end of the house's driveway and stepped out. Now that they were closer to the door, they could see that the door frame had scratches and marks all around where the lock connected. Leland heard Ullman grab his radio. "Sarge, we've got a possible B and E here. 237 East Sarsdale." Leland dropped a hand to his side and unclasped the clip on his holster. "Roger that, Ullman. Proceed with extreme caution," came the response from their radios.
Ullman stepped forward, carefully pushing the door open with one hand and keeping his other on the pistol grip of his revolver. "Hello...? Police officers, is anybody here?"
Silence was the only answer.
Leland let the K-9 officer and the dog go through next. He wanted to make sure someone was watching their backs. Stepping through the threshold himself, he didn't see anything amiss in the hallway. There were pictures lining the walls. A happy couple on their wedding day. Baby pictures of an infant in a blue onesie. A young boy wearing a backpack much too big for him, smiling and holding someone's hand.
Entering each room slowly, the three men followed the same routine. Ullman opened the door and called out to identify themselves. Next, the K-9 officer and the dog entered, the dog sniffling and snuffling his way through the room. Lastly Leland, keeping one eye on the room that they were just leaving. For a half-hour they kept up this strange kind of dance until every room downstairs had been thoroughly examined. "The only way is up..." murmured Ullman as he re-entered the hall and looked up the stairs.
The three men started up the staircase, which had a 90 degree turn halfway up. Ullman rounded the corner and froze. Leland couldn't see what had spooked him, but he knew Ullman didn't scare easily. Leland watched as Ullman pulled his revolver out of his holster and steadied it in front of himself. As Leland retrieved his own weapon, Ullman climbed the last of the stairs, moving more quickly now. Leland gulped as he followed his partner up the stairs. He'd never had to fire his weapon on duty before, and he hoped to God he didn't have to use it now.
Leland arrived on the landing and saw what had made Ullman so twitchy. There was a trail of blood streaking the off-white carpet. It looked to Leland like someone had been dragged from one of the bedrooms into the bathroom. Ullman took up a position next to the bathroom door, his back to the wall. He gestured with his head for Leland to join him. Leaving the K-9 officer and the dog at the top of the staircase, Leland strode over to Ullman's side and tried to steady the hand holding his gun. "Three... Two... One..." whispered Ullman.
The two men rounded the corner, guns at the ready. Initially the bathroom appeared empty, there was no-one standing there. Leland's eyes followed the blood trail across the tiled floor, and saw streaks of crimson leading up the side of the bath. He took a deep breath and stepped across the room, frightened but determined.
A naked man, bound and gagged. Holy hell, and he was alive! Leland's eyes were fixed on the man's panicked face, as the man desperately struggled against his restraints. The bottom of the tub was covered in an inch of blood, seemingly from a nasty wound on the man's head. "Christ alive!" exclaimed Leland, holstering his gun and waving Ullman over. Ullman immediately started working on untying the ropes restraining the man's arms and legs. Leland reached down and yanked the gag out of the man's mouth.
"MY WIFE! MY SON! THEY TOOK MY FAMILY!"
The chief scratches his head. "I'm going to be grey all over by the time this is through." He straightens his back and uses his business voice. "Okay everyone. Here's the scoop, the man found in Sarsdale is Garret Hawthorne. He lives there with his wife Deborah and son Tommy. He's a quiet man, keeps to himself. Seems he's the stay-at-home parent, he made a lot of money from a popular crime novel he wrote about 15 years ago and he's been living off the returns ever since. Seems like he was out for a late-night walk last night and came home to find his door forced open and his wife and kid missing. Before he could call the cops, he was struck on the head. Soon after he was found, the poor guy passed out from blood loss or concussion or something and he's recovering in the hospital now. Sergeant Pangborn doesn't want to question him until he's back to his senses, and I respect the Sergeant's wishes.
"Well we're damn sure that Sarsdale had something to do with the crime, and at least now we know WHO we're looking for. Pangborn's team have been given descriptions of Deborah and Tommy and will be on the lookout for them. We haven't heard from this KS person, so I'm going to assume that this was part of their plan and that we'll find out the location of the woman and child based on the criminal's last message. Keep poring over it, I'm sure we're missing something. Think outside the box, people!
"Oh, and about the ACHOO-syndrome suggestion... I called the hospital administrator in the district. They have no records of anyone in the indicated area who suffers from that affliction, so I guess that angle goes nowhere. Great job picking up on the sneeze though! You never know, those details might be close to the answer we're looking for."
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Thu 02/07/2020 12:34:31
The perp might suffer fom ACHOO-Syndrome (Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outbursts of Sneezing), caused by sudden exposure to extreme brightness, e.g. sunlight or looking into a torch.
I thought you were joking, but this is actually a thing! The more you know!
I assumed that the sneeze was due to the suspect having caught a cold from spending too much time outside setting up booby traps and stalking our agents (Agent White heard a noise in the trees that could have been "a person or an animal" right before the explosive device went off). Maybe he's not from around here so he's camping out in the woods while he carries out his crimes?
This is not directly related to the last puzzle, but I would like to send somebody to check out the area of
Shudder Lake / Weepy Grove with our new K-9 buddy (we still have her, right? Right?). Don't get into trouble, just look out for signs of anybody camping or staying there, a tent, a fire, anything like that.
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Thu 02/07/2020 12:34:31EDIT: What I also noticed: The first letter was packed with typos ( I loved the Alfred Einstein :-) ), while the second one didn't contain a single one. Could two presons be involved?
The second one isn't an actual letter, it's a transcription of a phone conversation ;)
Thanks and sorry, my mistake.
Good idea Laura with the search in these areas ! I wonder how the perp could kidnap two persons,
maybe he/she/they drugged them while Garret Hawthorne was taking a walk, it must have happened
in a relatively small time frame. This makes me believe that there might be more than one person involved.
Still have no idea what hint the poem contains ....
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Thu 02/07/2020 15:18:48
Good idea Laura with the search in these areas ! I wonder how the perp could kidnap two persons,
maybe he/she/they drugged them while Garret Hawthorne was taking a walk, it must have happened
in a relatively small time frame. This makes me believe that there might be more than one person involved.
It's not hard to get a parent to comply with anything if you point a gun at their child. I'm pretty sure we're dealing with just one guy here.
The K-9 officer spends some time looking around the woods of Weepy Grove and around the shores of Shudder Lake. While it's obvious that these areas are popular spots for camping, the officer finds only long-extinguished campfires and the occasional scattered litter. Unfortunately the German Shepherd isn't a tracking dog, he's only trained to detect gelignite, nitroglycerin, gunpowder, and other bomb-making materials. The search returns nothing of any relevance.
Just as the K-9 officer returns to the station, a bomb threat is reported in a high school deep in the heart of New York City. All the bomb squad officers, K-9 included, leap into action and hit the road. Sergeant Pangbon's unit are once again the only cops in town.
PHONE TRANSCRIPT FOR REFERENCESpoiler
QuoteHello, chief. Congratulations, you located the first dirty birdie. I seem to have underestimated you. Well, not entirely. How is your injured officer? I was hoping to have done more damage than a busted shoulder, but I'm happy with how it worked out in the *achoo* end.
No elementary school word searches for you this time. If you want to figure out who's next on my list, you'll need to listen VERY carefully to my riddle.
So you viewers
With such easy criteria
Accepting any lower
Version of masters
You may have enjoyed
The standard formula
You don't have the potential
To accept magnificence
That's my riddle. Don't think you've bested me because you saved one girl. I will have the last laugh.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
I have absolutely nothing. He said to listen very carefully to the riddle, which makes me think the solution could have something to do with the cadence, or the sounds of the words themselves, but nothing clicks so far...
Same with me. I am currently reflecting on ( Alfred :-)))Einstein‘s and
Isaac Newton‘s theories. Einstein appeared in KS‘ first note and there
is a place named Newton Haven, where Haven could mean Heaven
in KS‘ eyes. I admit that this a very, very , very vague theory....
Also , formula in the poem brought me to this thought ....
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Thu 02/07/2020 17:45:22
Same with me. I am currently reflecting on ( Alfred :-)))Einstein‘s and
Isaac Newton‘s theories. Einstein appeared in KS‘ first note and there
is a place named Newton Haven, where Haven could mean Heaven
in KS‘ eyes. I admit that this a very, very , very vague theory....
Also , formula in the poem brought me to this thought ....
It could make sense, the chief did tell us to think outside of the box. Maybe the "box" we're trapped in is the poem and the answer to it is somewhere else, like the first message. Hm...
He says he's smarter than Einstein, and the poem says that we "accept any lower versions of masters", like Einstein and Newton I guess? He's smarter than them all but we don't have the "potential to accept [his] magnificence"?
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
I know it sounds crazy, but we have to grab every straw to save the lives of
the mother and her son. While nothing else comes up, I'd suggest we send
Officers White and Collins to look around in Newton Haven, but please be VERY careful
The perp says "So you viewers". A movie? Tv series?
Chief, I'd like to check out if this area or some of the locations have been sites for movie or tv productions. I'd also like to know more about the Hawthornes, if there is anything. Perhaps the crime novel the husband wrote has rubbed the perp the wrong way somehow? Can we find out what kind of novel it was?
With Officer Collins still too injured to go back on patrol, Sergeant Pangborn hops in the cruiser next to Officer White, and they head out to Newton Haven. While they find a lot of helpful locals who do their best to assist in the search for the missing woman and child, unfortunately nothing of any note is found.
Once the Sergeant returns to the station, the chief calls him up to ask if the town has ever been the shooting location for a film or TV show. Pangborn replies that no, despite the local beauty spots as far as he's aware no Hollywood production has set up shop there yet.
Upon further research, it seems that Garret Hawthorne's book, "The Killers Manual," is something of a favourite among the NYPD top brass. It turns out that Hawthorne did a lot of research with police officers, and wrote one of the most accurate depictions of a murder investigation that's ever been published. It's still highly regarded by critics and police departments today. Hawthorne wrote another two books in a similar style, unfortunately the general public seemed to grow weary of the endless details Hawthorne insisted on including and the methodical plodding storylines, and he never had a bestseller again. Luckily for him, "The Killer's Manual" was enough of a hit that he's still receiving royalties to this day.
Ok, seems like we made little progress so far. It may be a good idea to read through the
"Killer's Manual und maybe through Garret Hawthorne's two other books while we don't know
if the "poem" contains another clue apart from SARSDALE, which was too obvious. I wonder
why the prep didn't kill both mother and child as well as Garret Hawthorne himself, although
it could easily have been done. Looks like he/she likes to set up the crimes in a special manner,
like he/she did with the child we found. Maybe reading through the books leads to a clue.
Concerning the "poem" : I simply cannot find any other hint there, neither in the semantics nor
in any pattern from the letters.
I noticed that the villain answered "Hello, Chief". I don't think the chief spoke in the first conversation (with the pre-recorded message). Is the chief a public figure, or did the perp recognize his voice from somewhere? In this investigation, the only oneof notice the chief has spoken to is Rachel's agent. However, this may only be a figure of speech, or perhaps it would be something one could learn from reading the Killers Manual. What do you think?
I'm also wondering about the sneeze. Could be that the perp (what is the correct term? Unsub? Suspect?) is allergic to something.
As for the setup of mother and child - if he uses Stephen King plots, this could be the plot from Cujo or The Shining and probably more where mother and child are in peril.
I am absolutely clueless for the moment. Your observation with "Hello Chief" sounds
interesting, so does the theory with the allergy. I looked at the places on the map to
find a clue about possible plants that cause allergies, but to no avail.
Let us wait until we get information concerning the contents of the book(s).
Maybe SARSDALE was the only hint in the poem. I don't expect much from Garret Hawthorne,
looks like he might not have seen much before he was hit on his head.....
"The Killer's Manual" is about a wealthy investment banker who dies in an apparent suicide, but his children are convinced that there is foul play involved. A team of detectives look into the death, and discover that the suicide was staged by the man's business partners to prevent him from exposing their fraudulent methods. Nothing that happens in the plot of the book seems in any way related to the crimes currently taking place, though the accuracy of the detectives' methods could have been valuable information for the criminal. Hawthorne's other two books seem similarly unrelated to the events happening upstate.
As head of the NYPD, the chief has given many press conferences in his time, so his appearance and voice aren't a secret. He did answer the phone before the criminal last spoke, so it's likely that the suspect simply recognised his voice. After all, this criminal has been sending messages directly to the task force - it would make sense that they had researched who was in charge of the operation.
Quote from: JackPutter
After all, this criminal has been sending messages directly to the task force - it would make sense that they had researched who was in charge of the operation.
I wonder how KS got the information about Collins' shoulder injury. You normally wouldn't give that detailed information to the press, would you? Maybe KS has access to our radio traffic or someone from our own personnel gave out information.
Quote
How is your injured officer? I was hoping to have done more damage than a busted shoulder
The chief strides out into the bullpen. "It's been 24 hours since we found Garret Hawthorne, and we're still no closer to tracking down his wife and kid. Come ON, people! Innocent lives are on the line. We know that this criminal wanted to send us to Sarsdale, was there anything in particular about where you found that clue in the poem? Did this maniac make any other nods, nudges, or winks outside of the poem? Garret Hawthorne is going to regain consciousness any time now, and I want to be able to tell him that his family is safe."
I was about to leave this for detective Mandle and the others on the night shift, but what did you say, Chief? Where we found the code in the letter...at the endings...could it be a clue leading us to Ender's Copse? Or is that another false lead, leading to a cop's end? *shudder*
Never been so clueless..
First birdie, so there must be a second birdie
*ACHOO* ? Cannot find a thing, neither in the "poem" nor outside of it....
I'm afraid that Garret Hawthorne will be a widower soon ...
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
Following heltenjon's guess i'd suggest we send Officers Leland and Ullman
to ENDER'S COPSE
EDIT:
There may be a lot of traps over there, it's a copse, so be extremely careful !
Thanks Officer Mkennedy
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Fri 03/07/2020 15:54:06
Never been so clueless..
First birdie, so there must be a second birdie
*ACHOO* ? Cannot find a thing, neither in the "poem" nor outside of it....
I'm afraid that Garret Hawthorne will be a widower soon ...
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
Following heltenjon's guess i'd suggest we send Officers Leland and Ullman
to ENDER'S COPSE
You should probably make sure they are extra cautious though, just in case it's a trap.
See if the first kidnap victim has anything in common with the family of the second kidnapping.
THE KS CASECHAPTER FOURThe wind shook the trees and cooled the skin on Ullman's face. He and Leland had been out all day, searching the small hamlet of Ender's Grove. They'd been down every street, lane, and alley. They'd knocked on every door. They'd spoken to every passerby and resident. All that, and they had zip to show for it. The only place left to look was the old Lakeview Hotel building, and Ullman certainly wasn't looking forward to going in there.
Lakeview Hotel had been set up in the boom after World War Two. It advertised beautiful views of the area, with the restaurant on the top floor offering a vantage point where visitors could see all the way across Shudder Lake to the mountains beyond. However, the family that owned the hotel weren't cut out for management. After word of the appalling working conditions spread through the area, the owners of Lakeview Hotel found themselves unable to find any staff to work there. Slowly the building fell into disrepair, and the visitors stopped coming. By the sixties, the hotel had shut its doors, and over fifty years later the daunting six-storey building stood empty.
Ullman and Leland stood outside the front door of the hotel. Turning to his partner, Leland was about to ask him something, when suddenly a noise caught both of their attention. They threw their heads upwards and were shocked to see a hand sticking out of one of the sixth floor windows. Ullman thought he heard a woman cry out. "Help! Help, they're coming!"
"Good God..." Ullman exclaimed, before making a dash towards the door. Leland was hot on his heels. Together the two of them kicked in the padlocked double doors and burst into the lobby. Sunlight streamed in through the bay windows, illuminating the thousands of dust particles that hung in the air. The men quickly and carefully made their way towards the reception desk, and checked out a map of the building located behind the spot where once a smiling girl in a uniform may have sat. "Sixth floor... opposite end to the restaurant... Looks like that was near the staff quarters," said Ullman, heading towards the stairs without delay.
The stairs presented all kinds of hazards... Cobwebs so thick you could grab handfuls and toss them aside, so much dust in the air that the light coming through the narrow windows was reduced to mere slits, and stairs so rotten that they would crumble into rubble if a foot so much as brushed past. Still, these men were on a mission, and they made it to the top floor of the building with only a couple of trips and slips.
Entering the sixth floor hallway, Ullman called out, "Police officers! Who's there?!?" Almost immediately a panicked response came echoing down the corridor. "Help us! At the end of the hall! Please, they're going to kill us!" Ullman pulled out his weapon and started to make his way towards the sound. "We're on our way, ma'am! Help is coming!" Ullman looked back over his shoulder and saw Leland not more than a step behind him, Leland's weapon also drawn and his jaw set with determination. Ullman smiled. The kid was coming along just fine.
The officers reached the end of the hall and saw a door to their left adorned with a sign saying, "STAFF QUARTERS." The door was open a crack, so Ullman pushed it with his free hand while keeping his gun raised. Beyond the door was a small living area, with a couch, coffee table, unmade bed, and various other furniture. Stepping into the room, Ullman realised it was laid out in an L-shape, so he rounded the corner slowly.
On the far wall was a door, presumably leading to a bathroom. The door had been covered in some sort of lettering, written in red lipstick or possibly blood. Ullman couldn't tell in this light what had been used to scrawl on the door, and besides, he was more fixated on the long-handled fire-axe that had been embedded deep into the door's panels. There were three or four large gashes in the wood - it looked like whoever had been wielding the axe had taken a few swings at the door before leaving it stuck there.
"We're in the bathroom! Hurry!" Ullman didn't delay, he ran over to the door and grabbed the handle. It wouldn't turn. "Ma'am, my name is Officer Ullman, I need you to unlock the door." He pulled and pushed on the handle but it didn't move. "Are they gone?" came the woman's voice, quieter now, the panic giving way to fear. Ullman adopted what he hoped was a comforting tone. "Yes ma'am, we haven't seen anyone."
There was a moment of silence before a 'click' cleared the air. The handle turned in Ullman's hand, and he pushed through into the bathroom. There he found Deborah and Tommy Hawthorne, both bound and sitting on the tiles of the bathroom floor. While Tommy was gagged, Deborah had managed to work the material out of her mouth, and it hung limply around her neck. Both of them were bruised, pale, and wearing bloodstained clothing.
Ullman immediately dropped to his knees and began to untie the material constricting Tommy's mouth. "Hey little guy. Tommy, Right? My name is Officer Ullman, I'm going to help you." He managed to free the child's mouth, and began working on the binds on the kid's hands. "Muh-Mister I'm scared..." cried the boy, tears pouring from his eyes. "It's okay Tommy, you're safe with us now," Ullman said, and did his best to give Tommy a genuine smile.
Ullman could hear Deborah in the corner muttering, "Thank you, thank you." He looked over towards her and saw Leland untying the ropes that bound Deborah's legs together. The rookie had already freed her hands, he was making fast work. Suddenly Ulmman's stomach dropped out. They hadn't had time to do a complete search of the hotel, the kidnapper could still be inside somewhere. This was an awful small room for both of them to be in, and with both of their backs to the door...
Red-hot, burning pain shot through Ullman's left leg, and he screamed. The pain was crippling, and he collapsed to the floor. Three loud explosions rang out - BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! - and the noise left his head spinning. Then Leland was crouching over him, Leland's gun still smoking in his hand. "Oh CHRIST! OH GOD! JESUS!" Leland's eyes were huge, focused on Ullman's leg. Ullman gritted his teeth and turned his shoulders so he could see the part of his body that was in so much excruciating pain.
The long-handled fire-axe was no longer embedded in the door. It hand been sunk deep into the muscle of his calf. Ullman passed out.The chief storms out of his office and kicks the nearest desk, sending its papers flying to the four winds. "GODDAMN this asshole! Every time we think we have a win, this maniac smacks us right back down!" He glares around the room. "You KNEW you were looking for two missing persons. I can't believe I let you send out only two officers. Now Ullman's in intensive care, he'll be lucky if he ever walks again. Thank GOD Leland was so quick on the draw, otherwise the suspect could have done even more damage. Since Collins still has his arm in a sling, he's stuck driving his desk for another couple of days. Sergeant Pangborn, Officer White, and Officer Leland are the only ones out keeping the streets safe. That's just goddamn PEACHY."
The chief winces a little and rubs his stomach. "This is giving me indigestion... At least there's SOME upside. Deborah and Tommy Hawthorne are shaken and a little beat-up, but otherwise safe. From Deborah's account of things, the lunatic was bashing down the bathroom door right as Leland and Ullman pulled up outside. It seems you figured out the Ender's Grove clue just in time to save their lives.
"Tommy's an average kid, I'm sure in a couple of years and a few therapy sessions he'll be back running around the playground like nothing ever happened. Deborah's looking forward to seeing her husband again, and getting back to work. She's a makeup artist at the local news station, sometimes moonlights at fashion events or photoshoots too. Garret's the one who looks after Tommy mostly, while Deborah is at the TV studio. It doesn't seem like there's any connection at the moment between Rachel Edison and the Hawthorne family, apart from the fact that Rachel previously attended the same elementary school that Tommy is currently enrolled in, but there's only two elementary schools in the district so that's not much of a link.
"We've also got another clue from the criminal. This codex was written in lipstick on the bathroom door of the staff quarters up in Lakeview Hotel, if you can make sense of it then we might be able to work out what our next move should be."
(https://i.imgur.com/PxCMXCnl.png)
Spoiler
I originally posted a version with some typos, seen here:
(https://i.imgur.com/1WP0krBl.png)
The chief turns back towards his office, only to pull his now-classic 'one more thing' move. "Oh, and I don't know if this is relevant, but I just had the strangest call from Rachel Edison's agent. He wanted to apologise for his conduct on the phone the other day, one of his clients had just won a Spirit Award and they had been celebrating a little too hard. Anyway, he confirmed that he actually said, 'Rachel Edison IS one of my favourites.' Turns out she re-signed with his agency about six months ago.
"Alright, enough jibber-jabber. Get cracking on that codex!"
Oh no, it was my fault. I really should have considered sending out more officers.
I hope i will be helpful in deciphering the letter array, how could I not get the clue
with Ender's Copse .......
Heltenjon, you saved their lives !
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Sat 04/07/2020 10:30:55
Oh no, it was my fault. I really should have considered sending out more officers.
They were also really careless, though. Not clearing the area and freeing both victims at the same time instead of having one of them do it while the other covered the door... That can't be on us.
The first thing that jumps out at me from the new clue is that there are no "A"s there. But I need to head out to do some real-life errands, so I have nothing else for now. Maybe someone can see what other letters are missing? (from a quick glance, it looks like there's no H or Z either)
*runs back into forum*
The text is encoded with ROT-1. The first line spells "The masters work...". Someone else decypher the whole text please, I really need to head out now!
That is brilliant, Officer Laura Hunt.
I got this, if I did it correctly:
UIFNBTUFSTXPSL
NVTUOPUCFUPVDI
FEIFJTUIJNBTUFS
BOEQSPUFDUIJNX
JMMTQBSDIJNUIF
UFBSTIFTIBMMOP
SGFFMUIFTPSSPX
THEMASTERSWORK
MUSTNOTBETOUCH
EDHEISTHIMASTER
ANDPROTECTHIMW
ILLSPARCHIMTHE
TEARSHESHALLNO
RFEELTHESORROW
Sorry folks, I realise now that I made a typo or two when putting that together. Here is the corrected version I believe:
(https://i.imgur.com/PxCMXCnl.png)
I'll edit my last post to reflect that too. Apologies!
MAP FOR REFERENCE:Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
OK, here it comes:
UIFNBTUFSTXPSL
NVTUOPUCFUPVDI
FEIFJTUIFNBTUFS
BOEJQSPUFDUIJN
JXJMMTQBSFIJNUI
FUFBSTIFTIBMMOP
UGFFMUIFTPSSPX
THEMASTERSWORK
MUSTNOTBETOUCH
EDHEISTHEMASTER
ANDIPROTECTHIM
IWILLSPAREHIMTH
ETEARSHESHALLNO
TFEELTHESORROW
Must think about that ....
Very good, Ian and Laura!
"The master" must be Stephen King. This crime scene was set up like the hotel in The Shining, with the famous scene from the movie where Jack Nicholson busts through the door with an axe.
Perhaps Deborah has been applying make-up for Rachel? If she has been involved in only one of the commercial campaigns, I smell a connection...
Admittedly, I didn't think of the option to send more officers. OTOH, if we had did that and encountered a bomb, the consequences had been even worse. Can we send something to the injured officers? I have a discount at the donut shop.
The reference to tears may point in the direction of Weepy Grove. Or that may be too obvious.
Did officer Leland get a look at the suspect?
Unfortunately the suspect was moving too quickly for Officer Leland to pick out many identifying details. The suspect was dressed all in black, baggy clothes, and their face was covered. Leland thought they might have seemed a little shorter than average, but that's all the information he's confident about giving.
Upon being asked, Deborah doesn't recall if she ever worked on the same project as Rachel. Rachel says she hasn't officially been cast in anything since she re-joined her agency, but she seems a little nervous and appears to be choosing her words carefully.
The chief avails of helternjon's discount and sends a week's supply of donuts to the station upstate, along with flowers to Officer Ullman who is recovering in hospital.
Yes, I agree, it must me Weepy Grove.
Officer Helten Jon, would you make it a potential solution,
it seems that a have a bad hand for that :-(
EDIT: Chief, could we get a tracking dog? KS must have left
some traces on the axe. We should (POTENTIAL SOLUTION)
send a unit to Weepy Grove, i leave it up to you to decide who
the most suitable persons are for this job :-)
"Three loud explosions rang out - BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!"
Not connected to the case, but this reminds me of a line from "The Mothman Prophesies" book: "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Four shots ripped into my groin and I was off on the greatest adventure of my life!", which turns out to be originally from "Sleep Til Noon" by Max Shulman.
I don't remember if it was Max or not but I remember some writer of pulp fiction novels once saying that they were paid a penny a word so the more "Bang! Bang! Bang!"s they could get away with, the better.
I can't help but think that the arrangement of letters in a 14x7 grid seems way too convoluted to produce just a simple clue pointing towards a location linked with tears.
I did notice that the first letter in every row makes an anagram for "TEATIME" but that's probably a coincidence, unless someone can see a location linked with drinking tea?
The Lakeview Hotel scene is an obvious reference to The Overlook Hotel in the Shining so perhaps some section of the red-lettered message is supposed to be read backwards and/or in a mirror like REDRUM?
EDIT: Perhaps the 14x7 grid is actually two 7x7 grids placed side to side?
The TEATIME is a great alternative in case
nothing is found in Weepy grove.
You have good eyes, Mandle !!
So, when is teatime? (Not to speak of the long dark teatime of the soul.)
THE KS CASE
CHAPTER FIVE
Officer Collins bit his nails and checked the clock for the hundredth time. Where WERE they? He spun around in his chair and checked his phone. No new messages. Sergeant Pangborn had started searching through the woods of Weepy Grove hours ago. After this lunatic had put another cop in the hospital, Pangborn had insisted on all available units joining him on the search. That meant that Officer White and Officer Leland were accompanying the Sergeant, while Collins held down the fort back at the station.
Collins tried to flex the fingers on his busted arm, and winced as the tendrils of pain climbed from his wrist up to his shoulder. He gently rubbed his elbow - it seemed to help. The mobility was returning to his injured limb, but it still hurt any time he tried to move it. He was damn near useless without his prominent hand, he could barely hold a pencil, let alone a firearm. He checked the clock again. Goddamn it.
Suddenly, a crackle from the corner. Collins pushed with his feet and rolled his chair over to the radio unit. He already had his hand on the receiver when the Sergeant's voice started coming through. "Collins, are you there?!?"
Collins squeezed the button with his uninjured hand. "Sarge! I hear you, loud and clear! What's the situation!" There was a pause for just a moment, but to Collins the time passed at a snail's pace. Finally came the words he was desperate to hear. "We found the victim! They're alive! They're safe!" Collins leapt to his feet and pumped his fist in the air. "Copy that Sir! Well done! Be careful getting out of there, you don't know what kind of traps might be waiting for you."
"Already in the prowler, Collins. We've got the poor kid wrapped in a blanket and we're headed back to base."
CRASH! The window next to Collins shattered, throwing shards of glass across the room. Collins instinctively dropped to the floor as he was peppered with the razor-sharp glass, landing hard on his arm. He cried out and swore. Holding his breath, he waited for flames, or gunshots, or some other awful thing to come pouring through the window. Nothing came. Carefully he got to his knees and peered over the top of the desk. There was a gaping hole in the window, only a few resilient shards clinging to the windowframe. It was then that he noticed the thing on his desk. A brick... not just a brick, a brick with a note tied to it.
"Did you hear that Collins? We're on our way to you!" Collins gulped before responding. "Uh, roger that, Sarge. There's a bit of a surprise waiting for you, and I'm afraid it's not a good one."
The chief comes back from the canteen, a styrofoam cup of black coffee in his hand. "Hot DOG, you guys are good! Just HOURS after saving the Hawthornes, you track down the criminal's next target. Boy, I needed that. Commendations for you all!" The chief is gesticulating so much that it's a mystery how his coffee cup isn't completely empty.
"Our would-be victim is Alex Pelton, high school junior, member of the drama club and glee club. He was last seen getting a drive-through meal last night after a drama club meeting, and he never made it home. Pangborn tells me they've just found his car abandoned somewhere along York's Way. The poor kid had been knocked out and strapped into an old Plymouth which was placed into a crusher in the junkyard at the edge of Weepy Grove. If the officers hadn't pulled him free by the time the junkyard staff arrived on Monday morning... well, I'm damn proud that we found him before then!
"It doesn't appear that Alex and Rachel know each other, though Alex did say that he recognised her from somewhere. Could have been school, could have been an audition they both went to. We could only get so much information from him before his parents arrived. They were a bit confrontational about the fact that we were questioning a minor without a parent present - they whisked him away pretty quickly. We might have a better chance to talk to him in a day or two.
"As for the maniac's next clue, I'm guessing it's this old-fashioned piece of arts-and-crafts that surprised Collins so badly:
(https://i.imgur.com/hF7M9wcl.jpg)
The chief takes a slurp from his cup and drops it in the thrash. "Priority number one is pinning down what this 'KS' stands for, even if this wacko says they're not 'KS' for some reason. This nutjob is all over the place. Regardless, there's no way we'll figure out the 'opposite' of 'KS' until we're in agreement on what it is."
QuoteThat's about all I have to say at the moment... Oh, I imagine you're wondering why I signed the letter, "KS." Well those are not my initials, of course. They stand for those who would destroy a God, those who kill the reigning leader, those who use opportunity to usurp the big man's seat. I will not stand by and allow them to do it any more.
I still think this points in the direction that "KS" means "King slayer(s)". But it doesn't sound like the chief agrees. :-\
KS. The S could stand for slave or servant , the Master was mentioned in the last message
I guess everyone knows that this murder method was mimicking Stephen King as well?
I have a slight suspicion that the prep is trying to lure us to Torrent`s Crescent.
There are a number of birds showing a crescent marking ( a bird that chirps )
and Torrent could have something to do with Torrent Audio and torrent rain
(The audio that causes rain ).
Don't know about the somersaults. though
EDIT: Found something in the web about "Tweener Somersault"
There's Tweener's Way on the map, Maybe between Tweener's Way and
Torrent's Crescent ?
@Heltenjon: Which Stephen King film was the last crime related to ?
I know we don't need much Google, but decided to google "KS" anyway...
QuoteWhat is a KS?
Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a cancer that develops from the cells that line lymph or blood vessels.
Can it be that he sees his victims as "cancer" that needs to be eradicated? Just the way how he refers to "KS" in the note. (wtf)
Or maybe it's just what you guys have assumed in the first place, and it's got to do with Stephen King. (roll)
As for the clues, I feel like he's forming a sentence/location out of those 3 sentences, each providing a "sound" or "word" (though not necessarily 3 words, as some maybe put together to assemble a longer word).
But then again, I've been pretty clueless during all this cases, so maybe I should just stick to make sure you guys have the coffee just right and something to eat and fuel those gray cells. :)
PS - Does anyone know if there's a Gymnasium or athlete facility in town? Maybe that's what the "somersault" stands for?
And I think that "audio that causes rain" is also known as
white noise. Static could be a word to describe it as well.
Birds chirp makes me think of a park or something... but again, from lightly Googling:
Quote
A chirp is the short, high sound a bird makes. The chirps of the robins at your bird feeder through the open window might drive your cat crazy. Birds chirp â€" you could also say they tweet, twitter, cheep, and warble â€" and some insects chirp too.
just posting this, in case it gives some inspiration...
I'll go back into making some coffee for you, now...
I thought maybe someone else would connect the standard Stephen King lines this time around, but sure: The latest crime scene was from Christine. (The one about the haunted car.) I think it's got to be clear that the killer has a Stephen King hangup. This must be part of the overall mystery that Jack talks about in the rules.
It would be great to hear everyone's thoughts on the last message, not just us eager ones in the European time zone...in this game every thought may be the thing that gives a team member an idea.
Quote from: heltenjon on Sat 04/07/2020 18:24:28
QuoteThat's about all I have to say at the moment... Oh, I imagine you're wondering why I signed the letter, "KS." Well those are not my initials, of course. They stand for those who would destroy a God, those who kill the reigning leader, those who use opportunity to usurp the big man's seat. I will not stand by and allow them to do it any more.
I still think this points in the direction that "KS" means "King slayer(s)". But it doesn't sound like the chief agrees. :-\
If it's not King Slayer(s), then it has to be something like King Supplanter(s) or, probably more likely,
King Substitute(s).
I'm confused now, however, as to who he is or believes himself to be.
He clearly reveres some Master (let's say Stephen King) and he hates those who he sees as inferior imitators.
But if he says he's the "opposite" of KS (i.e., of those imitators) and he also says in his first message that he is the "real deal", does this mean that he's Stephen King (or whoever this "Master" is) himself? 8-0
(I said it before, but I'm more and more convinced that this is going to end up being some kind of "The Dark Half" setup.)
I still don't understand what the victims had to do with all this, though. They're not horror/mystery writers, or movie directors, or imitators of anybody in any way, so why would he target them? Are they all Dean R. Koontz fans or what? :-D
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Sat 04/07/2020 21:46:58
Are they all Dean R. Koontz fans or what? :-D
Goddamn, that made me laugh! Maybe the victims are all members of the Clive Barker fan club! :-D
Just to speak out of character for a minute, it's super interesting to hear everyone's theories and thought processes. I've been trying to pay careful attention and write each subsequent message in a way that will gently steer you in the right direction. I actually made a couple of missteps which needed to be corrected as the game went on, I'll be happy to post a full explanation once the case is over. You're all also so gosh-darned intelligent! Making the puzzles "difficult enough" is becoming a challenge, though I can picture the current puzzle taking some time to figure out entirely. I'll have the chief give a helpful nudge every 24 hours or so.
EDIT: Just realised this went onto a new page so here is the latest riddle again for easy reference:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/hF7M9wc.jpg)
While I doubt it's a good lead, I'll post it just to make good on that everyone should post their thoughts: "The audio that causes rain" made me think of The Rainmakers, a band Stephen King is a fan of and quotes in two novels, according to Wikipedia.
Has anyone ruled out any hidden messages in the letters in similar colours? I think we only need to solve the last three lines, but I don't put it beyond Jack to have hidden some more clues in there. The writing is exceptionally good!
I gave it a try, but got nothing. doesn't mean there's nothing to find in there though. I was just looking for possible location names... but only checked those that matched with exact number of letters in the colored note and the locations names.
Another silly association:
The audio that causes rain - torrent
Someone who somersaults - tumblr
A bird that chirps - twitter
:-[
I noticed that "FOR REAL" was in capital letters. Perhaps we have to look beyond the map and find a location in the real world?
Have forensics do some analysis of the brick in case it holds any clues, maybe find out if anybody bought the same type of brick recently. Also ask the hospitals if any patients are being treated for cold or allergy symptoms.
Uhm... this is the second time the note is posted and no map for reference... maybe this means we're not looking for a map location but for a persons name?
Another thing that crossed my mind is that, so far, he hasn't killed anyone... was it just luck and good detective work or is his plan to injure/kill the town cops and the "victims" aren't meant to be killed but just used as decoy? He had the means and opportunity to kill them all before we even knew who the targets were after all.
I think we should warn the cops in town to be extremely careful, and threat every "search and rescue" operation as that they, them self, are the intended targets.
Upon looking into the brick, it's found that a local construction company recently bulk-bought thousands of similar bricks as part of a new development in Pinewood. It would probably have been easy enough for the suspect to sneak off with a single brick and not have it noticed. No fingerprints, DNA, or other identifying material is found on the brick or the note which was attached to it.
The chief calls the hospital administrator to see who is being treated for cold or allergy symptoms, and the administrator says that it would be a list in the hundreds thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak. The chief decides that this wouldn't be an efficient way to track down the criminal, assuming the suspect even checked into the hospital in the first place, but appreciates the suggestion as every avenue needs to be explored.
I tried to think if the oddball wording in the second line means anything, but it seems it's just another easter egg:
Spoiler
cockadoodie
1. A nonsense adverb that is added to the word "brat" by the psychotic fan who keeps the writer hostage in Stephen King's novel "Misery."
"You cockadoodie brat! Don't you ever try to escape again or I'll..."
Spoiler
(or is it? Perhaps the killer is female and identifies with Annie? That probably wouldn't be necessary knowledge to solve the riddles, so it would not go against 'no googling required' rule)
Edit: Ok, a would-be killer for now as far as we are concerned..
Good eyes, Kastchey! This is a book I've read in translation, so I didn't pick up on it - in fact I thought it was "cockadoodle". There are plenty of descriptions that points in the direction of the suspect being female, or at least not rules that out. Jack uses "their" instead of his/her, and we know Leland thought the perp was below average height. If Leland assumed it was a male, this may fit.
Ok, we have come to a point where we have a LOT of information already, maybe too much
to get a picture of what to do next. Just to remind us of what our target ist, here's the quote from JackPutter
concerning the game's rules:
Quote
There are a couple of important details that are specific to this case, which I will go through now.
Firstly, this criminal has many crimes lined up, but a big finale planned. To stop the finale, you need to do one of two things. You either need to figure out who the final target is and get them into protective custody, or you can track the criminal to their home town and arrest them. However, if you arrest the criminal without identifying who the final target is, the criminal may have had time to put their final plan in motion and you won't be able to save the target. On the other hand, if you manage to get the target to safety without identifying where the criminal is, then they might be able to escape.
We have two notes/letters from the prep, the first note written with a lot of typos, the second one not containing any typo at all.
Maybe the prep has a "Split Personality", that would justify a request at the eligible hospitals or to search the police records.Or there are two persons involved.
The last three lines of the recent letter point to at least one location, to me Torrent (Audio puzzle) leads to Torrent Crescent.
So instead of waiting for something to happen, we should seize the initiative and search (
POTENTIAL SOLUTION)
Torrent's Crescent. Of course, we must be EXTREMELY careful. As Officer Cassiebsg pointed out, the prep's primary intention might be to hurt the police and used the former victims as decoys. I cannot make a better suggestion at the moment, but we have to do something. What do you think?
EDIT:
Could we also send a request at the eligible hospitals or to search the police records for persons with a "Split Personality".
Maybe something can be found here.....
Officers White and Leland scour Torrent's Crescent up, down, and backwards, but find nothing out of place. They do encounter townsfolk who have been hearing murmurings about the recent crimes though, and it seems like the locals are beginning to fear for their safety a little.
The chief calls the hospital administrator for the district again, and is informed that no-one with dissociative identity disorder or any other kind of "split personality" disorder has received treatment in the area.
Quote from: heltenjon on Sat 04/07/2020 23:46:24
The audio that causes rain - torrent
Someone who somersaults - tumblr
A bird that chirps - twitter
This must be the correct solution I feel.
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONHave the I.T. goblins start to scour the internet and social media platforms for someone with the username of "KS".
"The audio that causes rain"...isn't there something called Cloud Audio? Or Soundcloud?
The only other thing I can think of is thunder, but while that signals rain, it doesn't really make it.
The IT department throw their hands up in disbelief at the idea of trying to track someone down with only the letters "KS" to go by.
"I like the way you think though, Detective Mandle," says the chief, scratching his chin. "This criminal has used telephone messages, handwritten letters, cut-and-paste ransom notes, lipstick scrawled on a door... they could have posted their next clue on their Facebook page for all we know!"
I got a feeling that there's something hidden in the green letters
of the last message, maybe a username
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Sat 04/07/2020 21:46:58
Quote from: heltenjon on Sat 04/07/2020 18:24:28
QuoteThat's about all I have to say at the moment... Oh, I imagine you're wondering why I signed the letter, "KS." Well those are not my initials, of course. They stand for those who would destroy a God, those who kill the reigning leader, those who use opportunity to usurp the big man's seat. I will not stand by and allow them to do it any more.
I still think this points in the direction that "KS" means "King slayer(s)". But it doesn't sound like the chief agrees. :-\
If it's not King Slayer(s), then it has to be something like King Supplanter(s) or, probably more likely, King Substitute(s).
Potential solutionHow about we let the IT-guys search for the usernames we have suggested here: King Slayer, King Supplanter(s) or King Substitute(s)?
I'll provide the donuts if they provide the processing power. *belch* Sorry, I accidentally ate a leaf of lettuce this morning. 8-0
The chief instructs the IT crowd to start scouring the internet for accounts that have usernames similar to those suggested. They moan, but put their heads down and get to work.
"In the meantime" says the chief, "Why don't you folks try working out what the OPPOSITE of KS is. Hell, you all know how to use a keyboard and mouse, if all your other leads are dry, get searching yourself."
I've tried kingprotector on twitter, tumblr and soundcloud, as well as kingmaker, kingservant, kingmaster and everything of the sort I've been able to come up with, but nothing so far. Not being totally sure what KS means makes it kind of hard to find its opposite...
I tried Stephanie Queen in all ROT-X decoders, yet to no avail :-)))
Is there simply someone posting on social media using a fake "Stephen King" account? I doubt it's that simple but...
King's guard? I'm not into these sites, so I'll leave the searching for you guys while I handle donuts and drink this excellent Danish coffee.
Meanwhile, we still don't know the connection between the victims. Perhaps Deborah's agent is the missing link? Could we see if Alex has gone to any auditions Deborah has gone to? Or if they're both represented by the same agent?
The chief adopts a comforting tone for once, which has the uncanny effect of being even MORE unsettling than when he is screaming. "I'm very proud of all of your work so far. You've been scouring the internet up, down, and backwards. It hasn't paid off yet, but I can TASTE how close we must be.
"Heltenjon, I think you may be confusing Deborah Hawthorne and Rachel Edison. We've been looking into connections between Rachel and Alex, Officer White showed Rachel Alex's photo and Rachel said that his face seemed familiar and that she had definitely seen him somewhere, however she was unwilling to say where. I don't want to go so far as to say Rachel is holding back information, but she hasn't exactly been a fountain of intel either. Officer Leland called to Alex's home, but his parents refused to allow him to be questioned. They don't seem particularly trustworthy of the police. Rachel's agent doesn't represent Alex, though he has seen Alex perform on stage in a couple of community theatre projects and did approach Alex to try and represent him. Alex apparently said he'd have to ask his parents and the agent never heard from him again."
NOTE FOR REFERENCE:Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/hF7M9wcl.jpg)
Sorry, Chief! I'm losing sleep over this case. I'm even eating lettuce again! I'll try to not mix up the names...we don't need any more codes coming from our own! *reaches for donut*
But to think more out loud...could these kids have some secret project? Online, perhaps? Remaking some Stephen King movie? Has the agent only actors as clients, or is he representing writers as well?
And what causes Alex' family to not trust the police? Do they have some history? Hmmmm...
Quote
The chief adopts a comforting tone for once, which has the uncanny effect of being even MORE unsettling than when he is screaming. "I'm very proud of all of your work so far. You've been scouring the internet up, down, and backwards. It hasn't paid off yet, but I can TASTE how close we must be.
There must be something behind the
TASTE , I just don't get it
"MORE TASTE"? Spice? Savour? Saviour? King's saviour? ???
The chief shakes his head. "Nah, you folks have me all turned around. Sometimes I think you twist what I say back-to-front on purpose."
I did notice that K and S are on exact opposite positions on the keyboard. The chief said something about keyboards earlier.
I don't have time right now but maybe someone can have a look if there is any code involving swapping letters to the same position on the opposite side of the keyboard could be applied anywhere?
For example: A=L... W=O... C=B... etc.
I have a german keyboard layout thus making it impossible for me.
Instead, I used an anagram decoder using the green and / or brown letters
in the note.
The result was rather frustrating, i set a limit of 500 words and i got 500.
for both the brown and the green letters.
Maybe someone can do it better than me....
Here's what i used for the search (I hope i didn't miss out any letters)
Green:
tiidgaosaufreeththaowhh
Brown:
ibenoopsirous
Pretty hopeless, just too many results....
P.S.: I don't consider this cheating, after all our chief encouraged us to use keyboard and mouse :-)
Quote from: Mandle on Mon 06/07/2020 13:42:43
I did notice that K and S are on exact opposite positions on the keyboard. The chief said something about keyboards earlier.
I don't have time right now but maybe someone can have a look if there is any code involving swapping letters to the same position on the opposite side of the keyboard could be applied anywhere?
For example: A=L... W=O... C=B... etc.
Something like that came to my mind too... The opposite letters to KS in the alphabet are PH, but that didn't give me anything so I dropped that line of thought.
I've been trying more usernames like impost(o/e)rkiller, supplanterkiller or kingmaker, but still nothing. I'm so lost.
There are loads of hits on "Savio(u)r King", naturally, but it looks religious and I don't really want to sift through it all. I guess that is not it. The opposite of KS could be SK in some way (Saskatchewan? Stanley Kubrick?) or it could be the opposite of what KS means without starting with those letters.
I noticed that Jack/The Chief used the phrase "up, down and backwards" for the second time now. This could be a clue or a coincidence.
Chief, do we have anything on Alex's parents? I wonder why they act so hostile to the authorities.
And on another thought here, I'd like to ask sargeant Pangborn if there's any personal connection between him or his squad and any of the victims. (This is to rule out whether the police are the final target.)
Thirdly, I'd like to know from that agent what projects he has coming up...if he has something lined up for Rachel, I'd like to know if it is important or not.
I'm getting desperate...
Just an idea: Rachel Edison was held by her tormentor for about a week.
I don't know how rural the area is, but from what our chief told us at an early stage
i understand that it is rather sparsely populated. We might ask in local foodstores if anything unusual has
been observed, e.g. someone suddenly buying more food supplies than they usually do.
I still have the suspicion that our perp or however we might call him/her has captured someone.
I have the movie "Misery" in my head, just a feeling ......
The chief rubs his temples, and pours himself a glass of whiskey from his stash. "Alright, we're all getting bogged down here with more details than we can handle. Let's take a breath for a moment and think about what we know. We know that this person thinks that they are more clever than they really are, since (a) we've rescued every potential murder victim and (b) they can't even come up with their own methods and have to copy them from the movies.
"My money is on 'KS' standing for 'King Slayer' because it's a stock phrase and they probably wouldn't have the originality to come up with 'King Supplanter' or anything more creative. So, before we get back to working out what the 'opposite' of that is, let's all pause. Go to the bathroom. Splash some cold water on your face. Look at yourself in the mirror and see what comes to you. I'm going to make some calls."
The chief spends a long time calling various different people of note, before addressing you all again. "I've got the scoop on Alex's parents. Turns out they're both lawyers, so they are resentful of the fact that the police tried to question their son alone. Seems like they have the kid on a pretty tight leash, they're terrified of him incriminating himself in some way.
"Pangborn claims there's no major connection between any of the officers and any of the victims. One of Ullman's kids is in the year below Alex at school, and White admitted that she owns a few of those pink unicorn toys from Rachel's commercials. That's a brave thing for a grown woman to admit that in a unit full of men...
"I called Rachel's agent, and I'll be damned if he isn't being as cagey as Rachel. Says that she's had 'a lot of interest' for a 'big role' but there's 'nothing official on paper' right now. I don't think he realises how dangerous the situation is, because when I pressed him for details he claimed that he was late for a meeting and had to run.
"The local stores haven't noticed anyone buying anything unusual, but they've promised to keep a watchful eye and call us if anything suspicious crops up. Sometimes a nosy busybody is exactly what we need."
Finishing his drink, the chief slowly scans the room. "You've all been doing great work. I hope it pays off soon."
(Writing out of character here for a moment just to say that if anyone had gotten the username right or "close enough" I'd have had the IT gremlins jump in with the next step. Unfortunately so far no one has gotten quite close enough for me to consider the puzzle "solved" but I hope you don't stop trying!)
Quote from: JackPutter on Mon 06/07/2020 21:05:37
(Writing out of character here for a moment just to say that if anyone had gotten the username right or "close enough" I'd have had the IT gremlins jump in with the next step. Unfortunately so far no one has gotten quite close enough for me to consider the puzzle "solved" but I hope you don't stop trying!)
Hmph, I should have listed here all the ones I tried, but there were just too many of them to remember. I'll do what I can now:
kingprotector, kingmaker, kingservant, kingmaster, loyalist, kingcrowner, kingsavio(u)r, imposto(e)rkiller, supplanterkiller.I think I might be focusing too much on the idea of "king" here, but maybe somebody else can steer the general train of thought in some other direction :-D
Why not queen ?
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Mon 06/07/2020 21:46:02
Why not queen ?
Hmmm because the way I see it, the suspect thinks of themselves as somehow protecting a king from his inferiors, as they literally said that "KS" are "those who use opportunity to usurp the big man's seat".
But yeah, maybe the opposite of "king slayer" is... omg, "killer queen"? It's Freddy Mercury's ghost! :-D
Seriously though, maybe something like... protector queen? What else can we come up with in that vein?
Maybe a name of a woman who killed a king
I‘m bad at history .....
POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Have the I.T. Goblins search for the username: REYALS GNIK on the platforms potentially mentioned in the killer's note:
Torrent
Soundcloud
Tumblr
Twitter
Quote from: Mandle on Mon 06/07/2020 22:40:49
POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Have the I.T. Goblins search for the username: REYALS GNIK on the platforms potentially mentioned in the killer's note:
Torrent
Soundcloud
Tumblr
Twitter
MANDLE OMG!! https://twitter.com/reyalsgnik
which leads to https://soundcloud.com/user-756517080/hello-nypd
(transcribing as we speak)
OMG that is so awesome! (But a certain Jack Putter might have gotten him on a watchlist. That's dedication!)
We need to somehow listen to that backwards, but I can't find how to download it at first glance. Anyone can do?
EDIT: Found it. The download option is available if you click "More..."
[Female synthesized voice]
Let's count the ways, one, two, three
I'm smarter than the NYPD
You've saved some lives, which is not bad
But I've put two of yours in hospital (sic)
Are you sad? You sneaky clever little pigs.
(you) won't catch me as I (incomprehensible?)
Will I start a fire next?
Or wrap a noose around someone's neck?
In the middle of this all
Will you rise to the challenge, or will you fall?
The Master's work must not be spoiled
I'm stopping those who would have it soiled.
He is the center of my world
Soon my finale will be unfurled.
Can I have the IT goblins try to decipher the bit I didn't get? Maybe they can clean up that part of the audio somehow.
Quote from: Mandle on Mon 06/07/2020 22:48:10
OMG that is so awesome! (But a certain Jack Putter might have gotten him on a watchlist. That's dedication!)
lmao our IPs are SO getting flagged :-D
I really didn't expect this to venture into ARG territory. Impressive, very impressive!
Ugh, sorry. My last post went to a new page. Copying this here again for ease of reference and sorry for the spam:
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Mon 06/07/2020 22:52:47
[Female synthesized voice]
Let's count the ways, one, two, three
I'm smarter than the NYPD
You've saved some lives, which is not bad
But I've put two of yours in hospital (sic)
Are you sad? You sneaky clever little pigs.
(you) won't catch me as I (incomprehensible?)
Will I start a fire next?
Or wrap a noose around someone's neck?
In the middle of this all
Will you rise to the challenge, or will you fall?
The Master's work must not be spoiled
I'm stopping those who would have it soiled.
He is the center of my world
Soon my finale will be unfurled.
Can I have the IT goblins try to decipher the bit I didn't get? Maybe they can clean up that part of the audio somehow.
There are fourteen lines in the poem.
If we are going back to the map, I could only find two locations that have fourteen letters so far:
Rumsfield Acres
Barrymore Place
The first letters of each line seem to be: L I Y B A W W O I W T I H S
Quote from: Mandle on Mon 06/07/2020 23:08:30
There are fourteen lines in the poem.
If we are going back to the map, I could only find two locations that have fourteen letters so far:
Rumsfield Acres
Barrymore Place
Drew Barrymore starred in Firestarter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestarter_(film))...
Will I start a fire next?We should
definitely send someone to Barrymore Place, but what if there are two victims once more? What Stephen King movie/book does the noose refer to?
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Mon 06/07/2020 23:09:21
What Stephen King movie/book does the noose refer to?
AMAZING! Gotta be Barrymore Place! (I think we might have found a loop-hole way around figuring out the code on that one. We'll probably arrive there to find a Firestarter themed scene.)
As for the noose... I can't think of a Stephen King book where a noose or hanging is a key point. There was a hanged man in The Talisman, but it was hardly a central point to the story.
I can't find any "Rumsfield" connection to Stephen King so I suspect there's only one location this time.
Chief, please send units out to Barrymore Place. Reason: The link between "Start a fire" and the actress' name from the movie "Firestarter"
The hanging I remember from SK's books must be from 'Salem's Lot, where
Spoiler
the house the vampire lives in is haunted because the previous owner hanged himself.
Great work, team! But there has to be something on tumblr, too...
IRL a Firestarter remake is in the works. I don't know if that's real in this continuity, but can we check out if it is? And maybe that agent is trying to land good parts for Rachel and the others? Chief, is that possible?
A remake could be something that upsets this fan. What else could it be? Someone's criticisim of SK's writing?
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 07/07/2020 00:00:00
The hanging I remember from SK's books must be from 'Salem's Lot, where Spoiler
the house the vampire lives in is haunted because the previous owner hanged himself.
True, but again, not really a central point of the story.
Spoiler
The housekeeper lady in Pet Sematary also hanged herself to avoid a slow death from cancer. The "Birdman" of Shawshank Prison also hanged himself after he got paroled. And there must be several others, but no story I know of revolves around such a hanging.
If you send somebody to Barrymore Place you may want to send two pairs of officers in case the suspect is planning to burn down the building with the officers inside. With two pairs while one pair is in building the other can keep watch on the outside, preferably hidden so the suspect doesn't know they are watching him. You may be able to get away with only 3 officers if the third stays hidden, but that would be rather risky.
The perp refers to the victims as birdies. Is that of any significance?
Quote from: mkennedy on Tue 07/07/2020 06:10:34
The perp refers to the victims as birdies. Is that of any significance?
"Dirty birdies" was a term that Annie Wilkes often used in Misery I believe.
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 07/07/2020 00:00:00
Great work, team! But there has to be something on tumblr, too...
There was nothing else on tumblr, just the same audio message.
Funnily enough, there's a https://www.facebook.com/reyals.gnik on Facebook, but nothing to do with our suspect.
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Tue 07/07/2020 07:53:36
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 07/07/2020 00:00:00
Great work, team! But there has to be something on tumblr, too...
There was nothing else on tumblr, just the same audio message.
Oh, i didn't realize you had found something there as well. I guess that part of the mystery is solved, then. (nod)
Quote
Funnily enough, there's a https://www.facebook.com/reyals.gnik on Facebook, but nothing to do with our suspect.
(laugh)
Collins slowly raised his arm and rolled his shoulder. He had decided to come to work today without his sling, and he was finding that, if he gritted his teeth, he could maneuver his arm in pretty much all the ways he used to be able to. "I'll talk to the Sarge when they come back," he thought to himself, "Maybe I can get out from behind this goddamn desk tomorrow." He finished the last drops of coffee from his styrofoam cup and tossed it towards the garbage can on the other side of the room. It bounced off the rim and landed in the bottom of the can. He'd gotten pretty good with his left hand over the past few days.
The doors of the station opened, and Officers White and Leland walked through. Collins stood up to welcome them. "You're back! And in one piece! How did it go?"
"We found nothing," said White, at the same time that Leland piped up, "We found something." Collins cocked his head to the side like a confused spaniel. "Seems like what we have here is a failure to communicate. Did you find something or didn't you?" White and Leland looked at each other for a moment, each clearly expecting the other one to speak. Eventually White rolled her eyes and headed to her desk. "YOU tell him," she called to Leland as she sat down.
Leland looked a bit more sheepish now. "Well, we were looking around Barrymore Place for anything suspicious. We hadn't found anything all day, until I spotted something in the clearing at the end of a cul-de-sac. We approached and saw that it was an old barbecue right in the centre of this open ground. Sarge ordered myself and White to keep an eye on the perimeter while he went to check it out. You know, in case it was a bomb or spring-loaded with knives or something. He cracked it open, then looked through the crack with his flashlight. I thought something was wrong with how quick he opened it after that. Well, turns out there was no bomb, no booby trap. All he found was... this."
Leland pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal a poster-size picture.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/Hif0rIBl.jpg)
Collins had to stifle a chuckle. "It's not funny, it's really not, but it's better than a damn bomb. Trust me, I know." He said with a sly grin. "So that was the only thing you got out of the whole tirip?
"Not the only thing," came a voice from the door. Collins and Leland looked over to see Sergeant Pangborn standing at the threshold, his hand on Alex Pelton's shoulder. "I just caught this young man loitereing outside the station. Turns out he just snuck away from his parents because he wants to share some information with us. I think we should hear him out."[/i]
The chief bellows across the room to get everyone's attention. "HEY EVERYONE. Barrymore Place was a no-go. At least this maniac is content with just humiliating us now, instead of trying to murder us all. However, thanks to a stroke of luck and a brave teen, there's been a bit of a break in the case.
"Some of you have suspected something like this for a while, but according to Alex Pelton there's a movie shoot coming to town later in the summer. The kid apparently landed a role in it, but this production is trying to keep a lid on the details. They want to keep surprises for the audience. So they said they wouldn't hire him unless he signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement. His lawyer parents didn't want him to lose the job, so they forced him to abide by the NDA's terms. He couldn't even tell his girlfriend. He finally broke and came to us because he figured that if this job is the reason he was kidnapped, tied up, and locked in a car that was about to be crushed... well screw THAT job.
"Unfortunately for us, Alex's parents handled all the paperwork, so he doesn't have access to his contract or any of the other material sent by the movie studio. He hasn't even got a script for it yet All he has to go on is his memories of the audition, which took place months ago. He doesn't think he was ever even told the name of the film. All he can remember for sure is that it was a horror movie, and that his audition scene involved his character and a priest who he thought maybe was one of the lead roles."
The chief scratches his chin. "It's not exactly detailed stuff, but it's the first real break we've had handed to us. Gotta give the kid credit for coming forward with what he knows.
"I don't think it's the Firestarter remake that's going to be filming in this area, from what I can tell they've announced two different directors in the past 12 months and the project isn't anywhere close to going into production. There's no way they'd be ready to shoot in a month or two."
Didn't Alex remember anything more about his audition scene?
The most prominent priest in SK's works has got to be Father Callahan from 'Salem's Lot and The Dark Tower Series. But there are priests in most small town setups.
Can we connect the other victims to this production in any way?
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 07/07/2020 09:29:36
The most prominent priest in SK's works has got to be Father Callahan from 'Salem's Lot and The Dark Tower Series.
There's also the priest from Silver Bullet.
Would it be helpful to know WHERE the audition took place ?
EDIT: And who the auditors were ?
While we wait for the tech guys to clear up the audio in the broadcast message, so that we may decipher the last lines, all while consuming all the donuts I just bought them, we have to work more on the victimology. It would seem that the upcoming remake is a likely target for our villain. We need to connect all the previous victims to this production. Perhaps Garret Hawthorne has been approached about writing a script? Or maybe Deborah Hawthorne has an opening for doing make up at the set? It is likely that Rachel has also been at an audition. We need to ask them more about the production and make them realize how important it is that they tell us what they know. They're helping noone by keeping quiet. Chief, may we approach the families again? And can you please ask the IT squad to hurry up...I have to ask for an advance soon just to pay for all the donuts.
Can it be that our perp is the one "making" the film?
Quote from: Cassiebsg on Tue 07/07/2020 21:19:10
Can it be that our perp is the one "making" the film?
OMG I'll bet that's exactly it!
Quote from: Mandle on Tue 07/07/2020 23:33:06
Quote from: Cassiebsg on Tue 07/07/2020 21:19:10
Can it be that our perp is the one "making" the film?
OMG I'll bet that's exactly it!
8-0 Brilliant!
The chief calls everyone together for a big catch-up meeting. "First things first, here's what the IT department as transcribed from the audio message:
QuoteLet's count the ways one two three.
I'm smarter than the NYPD.
You've saved some lives which is not bad,
But I've put two of yours in hospital, are you sad?
You sneaky clever little pigs,
Won't catch me as I zag and zig.
Will I start a fire next? Or wrap a noose around someone's neck?
In the middle of this all,
Will you rise to the challenge, or will you fall?
The master's work must not be spoiled,
I'm stopping those who would have it soiled.
He is the centre of my world,
Soon my finale will be unfurled.
"This could very well have a location hidden in it, so let's not lose sight of the fat that this criminal is probably still out there kidnapping people and setting up traps. Here's the map again for reference.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
"Next up, Sergeant Pangborn has sent over Alex Pelton's full statement:"
"It was a few months ago, the drama teacher at school said that a casting agency had been in touch to see if they had any promising young actors in the area, and she threw my name in the hat. I was told to go to the community centre in Charlesburg on a certain day. When I went there was a casting agent and someone from the movie studio... I think it was "Endeavour" or "Intrepid" studios or something like that. My parents did most of the talking with the studio guy while the casting person asked me questions. We read out the scene, with the casting agent playing some kind of priest character which seemed like one of the lead roles. I guess I was just being looked at for a small part, they probably cast most of the big parts from Hollywood. Anyway, we did the scene a couple of times, it was some kind of argument. Then they thanked me and we went home. Actually I think I might have passed that girl whose picture you showed me on my way out, she looked like she was going in. A couple of weeks ago my parents got a phone call to say I had been cast and that they'd send over a script closer to the shooting dates. That's about all I can remember, I'm sorry if it's not helpful. I don't think they even told me what the name of the film was, but the studio guy kept excitedly saying it was a 'brand new' story so it probably wasn't a remake. I was glad because I HATE remakes.""We got back in touch with the Hawthornes, turns out Deborah had been contacted about working in the makeup department for a feature film and she was very excited to work on her first movie. I'm guessing the studio gets some kind of tax break or bursary for using local workers. Like with Alex though, the studio was tight-lipped about the details, so all she knew was that production was planned to start in August. I'd bet my left kidney that Garret was never a target and that it was Deborah who was the intended victim.
"I tried getting in touch with Rachel's agent, but it seems he's been out at some function and I keep getting his secretary. I've asked her to contact him and tell him this is urgent police business, but she's not confident that she'll get through as he often turns his phone off so he can focus on networking. I guess what they say is right, agents always survive shipwrecks because sharks don't eat their own kind.
"We contacted Rachel Edison's parents. Once we explained that we already knew she had the job and we just required more details, possibly to save lives, they were quite understanding. Rachel apparently was very upset though... Poor girl thought that this role might have been her ticket out of this town, and breaking the NDA would spoil it all. It's tough to crush a girl's dreams but lives are at stake. Her parents sent over a scan of the agreement they have with the studio. Unfortunately the film is just listed as 'Untitled Stephen King Adaptation' on the contract at the moment, either for secrecy or for creative reasons. The bulk of the contract is just legalese describing Rachel's rights as a cast member and pay scale etc. etc. The only thing of particular note is a section that looks like a waiver her parents had to sign, stating that they consent to their child being in a film with violent and sexual content, reserving their right to refusal once they see the script."
The chief glugs down his glass of whiskey and pours himself another. "This is good work folks, I believe you are putting the pieces together and you've established some good connections between these victims. Let's do our best to make sure there aren't any more."
"In the middle of this all" could refer to the literal center of the map, i.e., Kerry.
It also seems that if we join Weepy Grove, Ender's Copse, Sarsdale, Armstrong/Aldrin Walk and back to Weepy Grove, Kerry also falls kind of in the middle of the resulting shape?
Might be worth a try, but I'm scared of calling it a potential solution. Anybody else think we should send someone to Kerry? (We've checked it before and there was nothing then, but maybe there is now.)
Edit: is there some way we could look into who else in town might have been contacted by this studio / casting agent? If more people auditioned for the movie, those are probably the other potential victims.
Edit 2: the "middle of this all" could maybe also be Cunningham Centre? And when he says "will you rise to the challenge or will you fall" -> Sallynoggin Heights? Too many possibilities make sense!
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Wed 08/07/2020 09:54:32
"In the middle of this all" could refer to the literal center of the map, i.e., Kerry.
It also seems that if we join Weepy Grove, Ender's Copse, Sarsdale, Armstrong/Aldrin Walk and back to Weepy Grove, Kerry also falls kind of in the middle of the resulting shape?
Might be worth a try, but I'm scared of calling it a potential solution. Anybody else think we should send someone to Kerry? (We've checked it before and there was nothing then, but maybe there is now.)
Edit: is there some way we could look into who else in town might have been contacted by this studio / casting agent? If more people auditioned for the movie, those are probably the other potential victims.
Edit 2: the "middle of this all" could maybe also be Cunningham Centre? And when he says "will you rise to the challenge or will you fall" -> Sallynoggin Heights? Too many possibilities make sense!
All your suggestions make sense to me. And here are some more:
I don't think there are any more kidnappings, at least. We would have been told from the suspect. But we don't really know which locations we should count,
if we are looking for a shape/pattern. If we only take the three spots where we have found victims into account, "the middle" of that triangle (the Aldrin/Armstrong Walks - Ender's Copse - Weepy Grove) would be somewhere north of Torrent's Crescent. I don't know if "rising" or "falling" can be used about torrents or the moon - I'll leave that to the squad members with English as first language. But a crescendo is clearly "rising".
Then again, the "zig and zag" may point at something else than the central point.
Quote from: heltenjon on Wed 08/07/2020 12:58:05
I don't think there are any more kidnappings, at least. We would have been told from the suspect. But we don't really know which locations we should count, if we are looking for a shape/pattern. If we only take the three spots where we have found victims into account, "the middle" of that triangle (the Aldrin/Armstrong Walks - Ender's Copse - Weepy Grove) would be somewhere north of Torrent's Crescent. I don't know if "rising" or "falling" can be used about torrents or the moon - I'll leave that to the squad members with English as first language. But a crescendo is clearly "rising".
"Crescendo/crescent" (and "croissant"!) come from "grow", not "rise". But maybe our suspect does not care about such linguistic nitpickings :-D In any case yeah, the moon definitely rises and torrents fall, so maybe Torrent's Crescent
is our place!
Quote
Then again, the "zig and zag" may point at something else than the central point.
Yeah, it's just too eye-catching. On the other hand, maybe they just chose the words for their rhyme? I feel like we have too many possible avenues of investigation here...
The officer on duty at the front desk goes into the chief's office, carrying a parcel. Muffled shouting is heard, and moments later the officer leaves, looking a bit sickly. The chief throws the parcel out onto the floor, spilling the contents.
A scrap of torn shirt material, with the word "PIGS" scrawled on it in what appears to be blood. The chief comes out from his office, head in his hands. "I don't think we can rule out there being another kidnap victim. Get this down to forensics IMMEDIATELY for testing."
I bet it turns out to be pig blood.
That would lead to Carrie/Kerry
Chief, is it possible to get an updated map of the area with the EXACT sites of the crime scenes to date marked on it?
Very good Mandle, i was just drawing lines from one crime scene to the other.
Guess you did it, too and encountered the same problem :-))
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/7BLFcs9.jpg)
Here the locations and victims in chronological order for clarity:
Where ? Who/What ?Armstrong/Aldrin Walk Rachel Edison
Sarsdale Garret Hawthorne
Ender's Copse Deborah & Tommy Hawthorne
Weepy Grove Alex Pelton
Barrymore Place Poster found (Try again)
If the perp wants to harm the production, likely targets could be the star(s), the producer, the director or the writer. And we don't know any of them...
Ask the legal experts about enforcing NDAs during a criminal investigation. But if we ask the boy's parents to hand over all material relating to the film he might get in trouble. Plus they would likely challenge it considering they are lawyers.
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Wed 08/07/2020 15:05:56
Very good Mandle, i was just drawing lines from one crime scene to the other.
Guess you did it, too and encountered the same problem :-))
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/7BLFcs9.jpg)
That map looks conclusive enough to me! I'd say Kerry (especially with the connection to "Carrie" and the bloody fabric) is certainly the next location!
Very well, we might check out Kerry.
Chief, do you have that contract? I guess we can find out from that whether the studio is called "Intrepid" or "Endeavour" or whatever and possibly the producer of the movie? We should approach them about the case and warn any prominent people from the production who may be in the area. We would very much like to know what they are making that could provoke our nut so much. Are they planning to make a pornographic adaptation or what?
Nervous about what they might encounter, Sergeant Pangborn and Officer Leland head out to Kerry to see if anything unusual has appeared since the last time the area was searched. They find nothing, giving them mixed feelings, since they are disappointed they couldn't rescue any victims but are relieved that there were no life-threatening traps.
The chief slaps a sheet of paper onto the corner desk of the bullpen. "Rachel's parents just sent us a scanned version of her contract. I don't know how much helpful information is included, but every little helps. Her NDA appears to be a different document."
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/3mrLdzth.jpg)
"Our lawyers say that if we go to court, the NDAs aren't binding, and we'd be able to subpoena the information without any trouble. Even Alex's parents would concede to that. Trouble is, we can't wait for this to go through the court system. We need to get as much info as we can NOW, and I feel we'd be chasing our tails trying to squeeze these details from them. We've got a goddamn maniac to apprehend! They've kidnapped and tortured innocent people, tried to kill our officers, they called us pigs for Christ's sake! This asshole needs to be behind bars!
"I have the IT folks working on a map with the GPS coordinates of each crime. In the meantime, keep looking at that note for hidden locations!"
Damn... Should we try Torrent's Crescent next? The reasoning was pretty solid too.
QuoteLet's count the ways one two three.
I'm smarter than the NYPD.
You've saved some lives which is not bad,
But I've put two of yours in hospital, are you sad?
You sneaky clever little pigs,
Won't catch me as I zag and zig.
Will I start a fire next? Or wrap a noose around someone's neck?
In the middle of this all,
Will you rise to the challenge, or will you fall?
The master's work must not be spoiled,
I'm stopping those who would have it soiled.
He is the centre of my world,
Soon my finale will be unfurled.
"This could very well have a location hidden in it, so let's not lose sight of the fat that this criminal is probably still out there kidnapping people and setting up traps. Here's the map again for reference.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
I think we are way off course and that the clue must be somewhere contained within these two references.
Ian Aloser's map looked sure to be the solution but it was not.
We need to throw away our various theories and reexamine the source.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Dammit....
Officer Laura's suggestion "Torrent's Crescent" makes a lot of sense, too.
Just a thought : Could the TBD in the production's locations of the contract
have a second meaning? I looked it up but couldn't find anything except "Torpedo boat destroyer" or
a British railway station :-))
And let us not forget the game rules about bringing the target to safety and catching the criminal.
And : Did the lab's results of the blood on the cloth reveal anything ?
EDIT: Wouldn‘t it make sense to find out who‘s behind the company
„INTREPID PICTURES“ ?
EDIT: Still wondering about the zig zag , so i made a typical zigzag pattern of the known locations,
which would lead us to Cunningham Centre (
In the middle of it all )
However, Torrent's Crescents might apply as well, Rise or Fall could be related to the waning and waxing moon,
visible to us as a crescent. and it could also be the center of the rectangle as seen in the second pictureI believe it's one of the two, got no better idea ....
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/JnvQxtZ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/7BLFcs9.jpg)
Oops, posted while there was an update, so Torrent's Crescent is obsolete....
Officers White and Collins, happy to be back on patrol together, do a thorough search of Torrent's Crescent, but unfortunately find nothing of note.
The IT department use GPS coordinates recorded by the officers at each of the crime scenes, and put together this map of the exact crime scenes:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/Kd9jzk1h.png)
The forensics report on the "PIGS" scrap of torn material reveals that the DNA recovered from the blood matches a man called Daniel Wiseman. He has a record for soliciting a prostitute in the San Fernando Valley out in California. Phone calls have been made to his listed address, but have received no answer.
Quote from: JackPutter on Thu 09/07/2020 16:55:50
Officers White and Collins, happy to be back on patrol together, do a thorough search of Torrent's Crescent, but unfortunately find nothing of note.
ffs XD
Quote from: JackPutter on Thu 09/07/2020 16:55:50The forensics report on the "PIGS" scrap of torn material reveals that the DNA recovered from the blood matches a man called Daniel Wiseman. He has a record for soliciting a prostitute in the San Fernando Valley out in California. Phone calls have been made to his listed address, but have received no answer.
Hey, what about the blood that the first victim, the one who was buried alive, was covered in? We never got the results of the analysis for that, so I guess it wasn't relevant?
Ok, you might think I'm crazy, but here's what I did (see picture)
I created a line (1) from Ender's Copse to Sarsdale, then a line (2) from Sarsdale to Weepy Grove.
Based upon the
ZigZag-idea, I then created a line from Sarsdale to Armstrong/Aldrin Walk (4)
Next I created a line (M,) from Weepy Grove to the exact center of line 4 (
In the middle of this all).
Next I mirrored lines 1 and 2 about line M and landed in Sheldonville.
The lines in yellow are a bit hard to see, there is no way to modify the color.
It may be wrong, but I still believe that the line
Let's count the ways one two three has a deeper meaning.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/PadUvFh.png)
Just a suggestion after having failed so miserably in Torrent's Crescent ....
EDIT: The only alternative according to the Zig Zag theory would be Sallynoggin Heights
This is NOT a potential solution yet !!
Ian, if the lines were to form a pentagram (a five-studded star), where would the last one go?
Edit: That goes to all, of course, not only Ian. You draw a pentagram by zigging and zagging.
Quote from: heltenjon on Thu 09/07/2020 22:14:58
Ian, if the lines were to form a pentagram (a five-studded star), where would the last one go?
Edit: That goes to all, of course, not only Ian. You draw a pentagram by zigging and zagging.
GENIUS!
It looks like it would be the same as the zig-zag map! Sheldonville!
Ian Aloser's map:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/PadUvFh.png)
Ok, I fumbled with the map a bit more and I am not 100% sure whether Sheldonville
or Cunningham Centre is the place we are looking for. As Officer Hunt pointed out,
Sallynoggin Heights might be a candidate as well (Rise and fall).
Pro for Sheldonville: Makes up a nice pentragram (Pentagon ?) or pattern
Pro for Cunningham Centre: "In the middle of this all" from the transcription
The facts :
We don't know who or what the target is
A finale is soon to be unfurled and we must take care not to mess it up
I don't know if we should wait until we get further information on who is behind Intrepid Pictures
or if we should take action and search Sheldonville or/and Cunningham Centre
Here are our updated maps
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/80rFEVH.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/UpDDqJz.png)
And here are the game rules:
Quote
Firstly, this criminal has many crimes lined up, but a big finale planned. To stop the finale, you need to do one of two things. You either need to figure out who the final target is and get them into protective custody, or you can track the criminal to their home town and arrest them. However, if you arrest the criminal without identifying who the final target is, the criminal may have had time to put their final plan in motion and you won't be able to save the target. On the other hand, if you manage to get the target to safety without identifying where the criminal is, then they might be able to escape.
I don't think we're supposed to wait around...we have enough clues to try taking some step. (If we don't, I guess the chief will refuse to send out troops.) The pentagram is based purely on the zig and zag line, but I'd like to check it out. What do you say? Cunningham Centre?
It's a fifty / fifty chance.
I'd prefer Cunningham Centre due to the association with "in the middle of this all"
Hey, we got two teams ! Can we actually send out two teams at once?
So I go for "POTENTIAL SOLUTION" Cunningham Centre, but beware of any possible traps !
How does the star look if Sheldonville is the final stud?
It would look like this:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YAwthRe.png)
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Fri 10/07/2020 10:31:20
It would look like this:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/YAwthRe.png)
Look at how perfect that is!
It has to be Sheldonville!
Yeah, but I had to decide and chose Cunningham Centre due to the a.m. reason.
Mandle, make it a potential solution !
Potential solution Let's send someone to Sheldonville. Proceed with caution and look for traps!
Sipping a coffee, the chief addresses you in a careful, considered tone. "So if I'm understanding you correctly, you want to send two officers to Cunningham Centre and two officers to Sheldonville. Who do you want to send where?"
I have a bad feeling about this
This is to remind us of our Officers' skills:
Spoiler
You asked for it, so here it is - a breakdown of what Pangborn thinks of his officers. Officer White is the only woman on the force and she definitely keeps it on the straight-and-narrow, she's never had any complaints or stepped out of line further than forgetting to refill the coffee pot once. Officer Collins, currently injured, is known as the joker of the group, but his sense of humour has understandably dried up recently and he's a bit skittish about heading back out on the streets. Can't say I blame him. Officer Leland graduated top of his class in the police academy last year, he's sharp but lacks some real-world knowledge that only time can teach him. That's why he's partnered with Officer Ullman. Ullman's been on the force damn near as long as I have, and he's lived in that town his whole life. If he ever needed to find another job, I bet he'd be the fastest damn taxi driver you could ask for. All of the officers have attended the same courses in crime scene examination and weapons discipline. I'd personally trust them all to conduct themselves equally well on the job.
"Officers White and Collins usually work as a team, ditto officers Leland and Ullman. This isn't by coincidence, so I'd recommend not splitting up those teams if you can, as you'll get the best results by keeping them together. Sending a lone officer into a dangerous situation isn't advisable, but if you're just canvassing an area for information you might get away with sending one, though you'd better stress the importance of calling for backup if anything suspicious arises.
"As for Pangborn himself... Well I've known him personally for years, and you won't find a finer example of an officer. In fact he's actually turned down promotions to other departments more than once, I even offered him a spot on this task force. He's got young kids though, and isn't willing to uproot them just for a job. If you send him into any situation, you can bet he'll be the smartest guy in the room, and having him there will definitely bolster the other officers' chances of success. Of course, the opposite is also true... God forbid anything happens to him, but if he were to be taken out of action... that would be a huge hit to the morale of the unit.
Chief, what do YOU think? We know that Ullman is a fast driver. What do we know about the two locations?
We cannot risk to have another one of our staff getting injured, let alone getting killed.
What would you suggest ?
EDIT: Why not send a team of four to both locations? Sheldonville and Cunningham Centre are close by....
They could do some extra hours and if we succeed, they will be granted an extra day off
EDIT: Anyone of you know "The Pentacle" by Stephen King? Some say that it wasn't written by S.K.,
but from the preview I saw it contains some parallels to our case
I'd say forget about Cunningham Center. The pentacle is too perfectly proportioned to be a coincidence. It's gotta be Sheldonville! (BAZINGA!)
Why don't we send a full squad to Sheldonville, tell them to be very careful ( as if that is necessary now!), and let them go to Cunningham Centre if Sheldonville is a red herring?
Mind you, the pentacle could be a happy coincidence, but I feel it's worth checking out. Sheldonville also was the result of the W-shape.
Ok, let‘s go !
POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Full squad to Sheldonville !
Be prepared for the worst !
The four officers met up back where they had parked their cruisers, in the centre of Sheldonville. Sergeant Pangborn could tell by their faces that nothing had been discovered. He cleared his throat and addressed them all. "Thanks for doing such a thorough job. I know these constant searches are hard work, but as we've already seen by now, there are innocent lives at risk. Our job is to protect and serve the community, so that means putting ourselves in the firing line from time to time."
"You're telling me!" chirped Collins, before adding, "Come on Sarge, what the hell is the chief doing down there in NYC? Throwing darts at a map? Seems like we've been having no luck at all recently."
Pangborn gave Collins a warning look. "Easy, Collins. The chief has a team of experts working on trying to predict and prevent this lunatic's actions. The trouble with a mad person is that they're often incomprehensible, and no matter how much work you put in it all amounts essentially to educated guesswork. I do see your point of view here, don't think that I don't, but we've got to trust the team downtown. They know what they're doing."
"If you say so..." mumbled Collins under his breath. Pangborn let it slide, he wasn't petty, he knew how stressed out everyone must be. He couldn't help but wonder about the task force's methods though, he couldn't get rid of this niggling feeling that things just HAD to be simpler than they were making it out to be...
I take Pangborn's thoughts as a hint that our pentagram is not it. We have to think easier, somehow.
Will have access to my laptop shortly
Still totally shocked....
Well damn. Turned out to be no point after all?
Well, I still don't know if we can solve it graphically, but here are my 2
possible alternatives based upon the lines in the transcription, which are:
"in the middle of this all", "He is the center of my world" and "as i zag and zig"
The Zag and Zig makes sense to me, because this is what a Zig/Zag pattern looks
like e.g. when stitching two pieces of cloth together
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/jnWKA8J.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ol9XvQx.jpg)
That would yield Cunningham Centre and Sallynoggin Heights as possible locations.
The one remaining would be the intersection point north of Kerry
Otherwise I am clueless .....
EDIT:
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONCould we send a full unit to Cunningham Centre ?
I assume that we have only searched Sheldonville before
Needless to mention that we take extreme care....
EDIT: The name Cunningham appeared in Under the dome and Christine,
both by S.K.
Another thought - we've already had a message in the last letters. How about one using the letters in the middle? Is there any hope there? ("in the middle of it all")
Good idea, Officer Helten Jon.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work, because line 2 and 3 already have an even amount of letters.
It would have to be odd to get a letter in the middle.....
Let's wait what Cunningham Centre will bring
Quote from: heltenjon on Sun 12/07/2020 19:26:00
Another thought - we've already had a message in the last letters. How about one using the letters in the middle? Is there any hope there? ("in the middle of it all")
There are thirteen lines in the poem. Could it mean the clue is in the middle
line?
"Will I start a fire next? Or wrap a noose around someone's neck?"Here's the map again for reference.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
Chief, this Daniel Wiseman may be the latest kidnapped person. We ought to work out if he is connected to the movie project. Is there any way we can do this? Perhaps our IT-wizards can conjure up something from his socal media?
Just in case the suspect should be crazy enough to send us some of his own blood, we also need to make sure Wiseman is not the criminal himself. I'd guess our perp probably owns signed special editions of Mr. King's books. These are ordered from the publisher, and we could probably discover pretty quickly if Wiseman had ordered something like that. I doubt we'll find anything, but at least it could rule that possibility out.
I think the solution must have something to do with "PIGS". Do they produce pig iron somewhere? Do any of the place names have any swine-like meaning I'm not aware of?
@Mandle: I don’t see any clue in line #7
@Heltenjon : We indeed have neglected to search for information about Wiseman
The only other clue i detected is the relation between „soiled“ and Leith Acres
I have been away for a few days but I'm still as clueless as when I left. Cunningham Centre is definitely one of my candidates, but like the chief says, it feels like we're throwing darts at random at a map: I can't see anything in the text that's like "yes! This must be it!" :-\
THE KS CASEChapter SixSergeant Pangborn was the first one to arrive back at their meeting point after splitting the team up to look for suspicious activity in Cunningham Centre. One by one, he was joined by officers White and Leland who both reported nothing out of the ordinary. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Please, let something show up, please..." he silently pleaded. Suddenly, there was a crackle over the radio. "Son of a bitch!" It was Collins. Pangborn quickly signaled for White and Leland to hop into a patrol car, while he squeezed the button on his transmitter.
"Collins, come in! What's going on?" Pangborn dropped into the driver's seat of his cruiser and turned the key, the engine growling with gusto. He swung the wheel around and pointed the car towards the area he had sent Collins. "Collins, are you alright?" With a flick of a switch his siren was screaming. Looking in his rearview mirror he saw Officer White at the wheel of their other patrol car, Leland beside her with his hands braced and his teeth gritted.
"Uh, sorry Sarge, false alarm... some damn pussycat just leaped out of nowhere and scratched the hell out of my neck." Pangborn rolled his eyes, and noticed Leland throw his hands in the air in the car behind. Pangborn gently pressed the brake pedal and turned off the siren. "Roger that, Collins. What's your location? We're en route." Pangborn checked his watch. Something really should have turned up by now...
"I'm just leaving the cemetery now. Nothing out of the ordinary to report here, didn't find anything at the mill or the..." Collins had trailed off. There was an uncomfortable silence. Pangborn went for his radio, but Collins came back. "Um, Sarge... There's something weird here." A knot started to develop in Pangborn's stomach. "Understood Collins. Hold the fort, we'll be there in less than a minute."
The patrol car's tires skidded on the loose gravel outside the graveyard. Pangborn pulled on his hat and got out of the car. Collins stood just outside the fence, looking towards the treeline. Pangborn approached and stood next to him. "What's the deal, Collins?" Collins didn't turn his head, instead he pointed in the direction of the trees. "That's the cat that scratched me..."
Pangborn turned his head in the direction that Collins had indicated, and the knot in his stomach tightened. A scraggly Maine Coon cat with matted hair was chewing on something a short distance away. It was sitting on what appeared to be a makeshift grave site. A flimsy cross made of branches was embedded in the ground, and dangling from the crossbeam was a sign with the word "CHURCH" scribbled across it in what appeared to be crayon.
Pangborn took a step closer, and his stomach finally sank entirely. The cat was chewing on the exposed bones of a human hand. It seemed that whoever was buried had tried to dig their way out and had expired mere inches from safety. It wouldn't have taken much effort for a feral cat to dig down and make a meal of the poor individual's arm.
With all the force he could muster, Pangborn threw his hat to the ground in frustration. Officer White and Officer Leland had just arrived, their faces pale and their eyes wide. Pangborn looked at each of his officers, his eyes burning. "We've got to CATCH this son-of-a-bitch!"The chief kicks open his door holding a whiskey bottle and sweeps everything off the first table he sees. "The ONE thing I was holding onto, the ONE little shred of pride I clung to, was that no-one had died. I REFUSED to call this maniac a killer, because so far there was a body count of zero. Well I don't have that anymore goddammit!" The chief kicks the table for good measure.
"The victim is Daniel Wiseman, the guy from California whose blood we found on the shredded material. Single guy, no kids. From what we've been able to gather in the short time since we found his remains, he worked as some kind of freelance location scout for various Hollywood productions. He was staying at an AirBNB not far from the graveyard where his body was found. We searched his room and found some documentation linking him to what appears to be the same production as the other victims, but unfortunately the place was in a ransacked state when we arrived so the... ugh... killer probably made off with a lot of the important stuff to cover their tracks.
"We know it was the killer because they left us this." The chief holds up a single sheet of paper, clearly written using a typewriter.
QuoteHaha! You'r in doubl roubl ow! 19
v ry hi g will b s for my fi al soo . 8 hos dir y birdi s will s , h y should l av h Mas r's work alo a d o ch ap i by wis i g, dis illi g, a d con or i g i for h mass s. 1 h y hav do i oo ma y im s ow a d I will o le i happ , o ow, o h r ! So h dir y birdi s may fly h r , bu h y will g t a surpris wh h y land. 3 H Y SHALL O CO I U . 1 his h r sy ds OW. 2
You will v r fi d m . 7 I hav 26 pi c s l ft. 18 I ca disapp ar. 21 I am o old, my bon s do o cr ak. 2 Will I scap ? 12 Do s h quick, brow fox jump ov r h lazy dog?
Good luck NYPD
The chief takes a swig of whiskey straight from the bottle. "This has to end, soon..." He starts to mumble to himself and heads back into his office.
MAP FOR REFERENCE:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
(Below is an out-of-character explanation of the previous puzzle.)
Spoiler
Cunningham Centre was the correct location for the previous riddle, so I'm entirely happy to continue things even though some of the methods used to figure it out were incorrect. It wasn't like it was a blind guess on your part, there was a lot of thought put into it and in reality it wouldn't matter the reasons behind searching somewhere. What matters is finding the victims! It was fascinating to see everyone try so many different methods to figure it out!
The pentacle that led to Sheldonville was a complete coincidence! In fact, I was purposely staying away from the puzzles where the crime locations create a pattern on the map because that was such a key element of the Justice Killer case. I just happened to pick place names that created that pattern without even thinking about it.
The INTENDED clues that the poem contained are as follows. "In the middle of it all" was something you picked up on, which pointed towards Cunningham CENTRE. Similarly, the line "He is the centre of my world" was in the poem, again indicating Cunningham CENTRE. The final clue in the poem was the line "You sneaky clever little pigs." What's another way of saying a clever pig? A CUNNING HAM.
Another case has kept me from contributing much to this one, but I have at least added the missing letters to the last message:
QuoteHaha! You're in double trouble now! 19
Everything will be set for my finale soon. 8 Those dirty birdies will see, they should leave the Master's work alone and not cheapen it by twisting, distilling, and contorting it for the masses. 1 They have done it too many times now and I will not let it happen, not now, not here! So the dirty birdies may fly here, but they will get a surprise when they land. 3 THEY SHALL NOT CONTINUE. 1 This heresy ends NOW. 2
You will never find me. 7 I have 26 pieces left. 18 I can disappear. 21 I am not old, my bones do not creak. 2 Will I escape? 12 Does the quick, brown fox jump over the lazy dog?
Good luck NYPD
Obviously those numbers are significant somehow. Since the highest number is 26 I'm thinking they must correspond to letters.
19 s
8 h
1 a
3 c
1 a
2 b
7 g
26 z
18 r
21 u
2 b
12 l
shacabgzrubl
Nothing seems to jump out at me from that set of letters, so maybe it's a cipher.
Great job CaptainD !!
I took the letters (double checked the numbers ) and crunched them through a ROT-n converter, but nada !
Don't know if it matters, but I got some strange effect when I pasted the text into Open Office (Grey marks, like placeholders):
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/oMzcQjb.png)
Seems like this won't be easy ....
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is one of several "standardized" sentences that contain all the letters of the alphabet and is widely used for displaying all characters in a font or typography set.
I applied the numbers to this sentence (1 = T, 2 = H, etc) and got the following letters:
M K T E T H C T U S H W
Looks like there aren't enough vowels there to form a sentence, but maybe I'm close to something here... I feel that the missing letters from the perp's typewriter (N, T, E, Y) should also be significant somehow.
Also, he's talking about "birdies landing". Possibly the film crew arriving by plane to NYC before heading here? He's definitely got a reception planned, that's for sure. But we don't even know when filming is supposed to begin, do we?
Good job Officer Hunt!
Seems like we have a target.
We should contact Intrepid Pictures to find out
if they have planned a flight !
Chief, could you please contact the eligible colleagues ?
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Mon 13/07/2020 13:25:56
the missing letters from the perp's typewriter (N, T, E, Y) should also be significant somehow.
Just for clarity, only E, N and T are missing. Y is in the original message in "lazy".
The missing letters could represent:
- The number
Ten-
ENT - a common abbreviation in hospitals (at least in the UK, not sure elsewhere) - stands for "Ear, Nose and Throat" (otherwise known as otolaryngology)
-
Ent as in a walking tree (Lord of the Rings) - "THEY SHALL NOT CONTINUE" does remind me of Gandalf's stand-off with the Balrog "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
-
Net (as in, we're caught in the killer's net?)
Of course the missing letters may mean nothing in themselves.
The chief makes a phone call and reports back to you all. "The receptionist for Intrepid Pictures says that there's a team headed to Upstate New York as we speak, they flew in to JFK this morning and are traveling by road up there to finalise some shooting locations. But get this, he couldn't track down their booking info for where they are staying. Seems like all the data on the trip has been wiped from their records. This could be gross negligence or a malicious hacking attack, but the bottom line is that there's no record on where their destination is.
The receptionist said he'd try to reach a member of the team and would get back to me if he had any success. In the meantime, I bet the killer has left clues as to their planned destination in that last letter. We need to figure out where they're going so we can protect them!"
*Groan* I can't believe I missed Cunning ham! In fact, it occurred to me immediately when Jack revealed that there was something to find there. And I can't believe we never sent anyone there...we were so close! 8-0
Yeah, we were on our way, but then switched to Sheldonville ....
Talking about Sheldonville :
This is the only place on the map i found that contains 12 letters !! (Correct me if I'm wrong )
Assuming that the 12 numbers in the text lead to a location, it can only be Sheldonville.
The only alternative I see with 12 letters ist Margaret Anne (12) Penitentiary (12), but these
belong together (24).
Hmmmm.......
EDIT: Maybe the numbers don't mean anything at all but just point to a 12 letter location
EDIT: I NEVER EVER would have found the CUNNING HAM :-)
I did some more counting, assuming the numbers refer to characters in the sentence's order... (roll) So:
start is starting count from the sentence right before the number.
backw. is counting backwards from the number.
forward is counting forwards from the number.
1.st Counts always from the start of the 1st sentence.
I wasn't sure if I should take the numbers so I counted them and after the / with without counting them
start backw. forward 1.st
19 r e t r
8 i n r r
1 t s t H
3 e a e h
1 t e t H
2 h o o a
7 l r 6/p u
26 e/r O/N 2/m o
18 1/a 7/d m/o t
21 t/l e/e t u
2 a a i a
12 1/D 2/k k d
Not sure if this can be of any use, but I'll leave it here.
Quote
The only alternative I see with 12 letters ist Margaret Anne (12) Penitentiary (12), but these
belong together (24).
Uhm... I was going to suggest that the clue might indicate 2 locations ("double trouble")... and I could see some planing over filming at the Penitentiary... but I doubt the team would "stay" there. Or would they? :-\
Interesting approach, Cassiebsg,but I think you are thinking far too much ahead.
It was said in the game rules that the riddles are easy to solve ( I never would have
found out the thing with the audio file, though).
What we can see from the numbers (if converted to letters from the alphabeth) is:
Neither Margaret Anne (3xA) nor Sheldonville (3xL) nor Penitentiary (2xN+2xE+2xI+2xT)
would comply with the letters in the note ( max. 2xB+2xA ), so Double Trouble might be the clue
that leads us to Margaret Anne Penitentiary !!
I'm sure they would be able to accommodate a film team over there, these institutions do everything to
have an extra income !
EDIT: Double trouble could also mean that we have to protect or find the target AND get the killer
But I am pretty sure that the 12 letters lead us to both of them
PRE-POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Chief,
We need to make phone calls to all eligible places like hotels and institutions and ask them if any bookings were made by a company named INTREPID PICTURES.
Let us focus on Sheldonville first, then MARGARET ANNE PENITENTIARY.
However, they may have booked an acommodation in the surroundings, so check them all !!
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Mon 13/07/2020 22:25:41
PRE-POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Chief,
We need to make phone calls to all eligible places like hotels and institutions and ask them if any bookings were made by a company named INTREPID PICTURES.
Let us focus on Sheldonville first, then MARGARET ANNE PENITENTIARY.
However, they may have booked an acommodation in the surroundings, so check them all !!
...hoping the missing letters don't spell out TENT... :-D
EDIT: Oh, and the murder site mirrors Pet Sematary.
The chief spends all morning calling hotels, inns, motels, and any other temporary accommodation locations he can find in the area. He gets no decent leads, so he calls the Intrepid Pictures reception again and is told that as far as the receptionist can remember, the team will be staying in an AirBNB somewhere in the district, but has no information on where that might be.
LETTER FOR REFERENCE:
Spoiler
QuoteHaha! You'r in doubl roubl ow! 19
v ry hi g will b s for my fi al soo . 8 hos dir y birdi s will s , h y should l av h Mas r's work alo a d o ch ap i by wis i g, dis illi g, a d con or i g i for h mass s. 1 h y hav do i oo ma y im s ow a d I will o le i happ , o ow, o h r ! So h dir y birdi s may fly h r , bu h y will g t a surpris wh h y land. 3 H Y SHALL O CO I U . 1 his h r sy ds OW. 2
You will v r fi d m . 7 I hav 26 pi c s l ft. 18 I ca disapp ar. 21 I am o old, my bon s do o cr ak. 2 Will I scap ? 12 Do s h quick, brow fox jump ov r h lazy dog?
Good luck NYPD
MAP FOR REFERENCE:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
Is there a way to contact AirBNB ?
The chief tries to contact representatives at AirBNB but as anyone who has used the service before will tell you, the customer support is atrocious. He spends an hour trying to get ahold of a human to explain the situation to before giving up and deciding that solving the killer's riddles will be an easier task than contacting AirBNB directly.
I think we should not try to get the locations from other investigation than cracking the riddles. The other avenues have given us motive, method and victimology, but we're not supposed to be able to get the locations that way as far as I understand the game.
So: "My bones are not old"...is there anything else that could possibly point in the direction of the sites beginning with "New"?
I am still convinced that the solution to the sought location has to do with the 12 numbers
and a corresponding 12 letter location. The "Double Trouble " still makes me think that it
might be POTENTIAL SOLUTION Margaret Anne Penitentiary
I'd suggest we send a full squad there, if nothing shows up there, the only place left according to the 12 letter theory would be Sheldonville.
You may be right. However, the "26" is the only number inside a sentence. "I have 26 pieces left" could be that sentence, meaning that number should not be counted.
In my mind, it feels most right to think along similar lines as officer Cassiebsg. The fox/dog-sentence in the end could be there to show us what letters are missing. The placement of the numbers points in the direction that the number means something in the sentence before (or after). Have anyone tried to do the letter swapping without the three letters T, E and N?
I guess you are right and this might be the finale with a crisp
riddle worth a finale
I just wanted to make sure that the double trouble 12 letter theory
is the solution, if it‘s not ( which I fear ) it will not be so easy to solve it
I have misled the investigation so far. I'm pretty sleepy right now so I will continue my efforts when I wake up tomorrow.
Sergeant Pangborn and his team search Margaret Anne Penitentiary but see no indication that it is the planned destination of the film crew or the location of the killer's hideout.
Quote from: JackPutter on Tue 14/07/2020 15:22:06
Sergeant Pangborn and his team search Margaret Anne Penitentiary but see no indication that it is the planned destination of the film crew or the location of the killer's hideout.
I think this means we're on the lookout for two locations, like Cassiebsg and Ian Aloser have suggested.
That's bad news :-(
But Chief, just to make sure that the 12 letter theory is wrong, could we send the whole unit to Sheldonville?
I still haven't given up on this. Hope you agree !
Unfortunately the team uncovers no clues in Sheldonville.
Having a pile of A4 papers here scribbled with letters and numbers I believe
that this is a case for native speakers
Sentences like "My bones are not old" , I have pieces left " etc. surely contain a clue,
let alone the "fox over the lazy dog".
I find NO pattern using the numbers.....
I AM A LOSER
It looks like the first paragraph deals with the location of the movie set, and the second with the location of the killer. Perhaps we ought to treat them as two codes?
QuoteI am not old, my bones do not creak.
Perhaps 'creak' is used here as a homophone of 'creek'? As in, Silver Creek?
Excellent, Kastchey !
Do you see a similar context in the first paragraph?
Edit : I am not old : Tween is a word for kid or adolescent
There’ s Tweener’s Way, but it appears in the second paragraph
We must be absolutely sure so that we catch the criminal
AND save the film crew
EDIT:"by twisting, distilling, and contorting it for the masses" in the first paragraph:
Twisting, distilling, and contorting are industrial (for the masses) processes
Could this be a clue leading to Smither's Industrial Complex ?
The chief listens intently to your discussion, nodding along. "This is all very good speculation. Just one issue," he asks in a gentle tone, "If the first paragraph deals with one location, and the second paragraph deals with the other location, what the hell do the numbers mean? Are they just a red herring?"
I was thinking about GPS coordinates in Degrees, Minutes and Seconds format 2x(3x2), ->12 numbers,
but somehow it doesn't fit (looked up the coordinates for New York )...
Chief, could we have rough coordinates for Silver Creek and Smither's Industrial Complex ?
EDIT: Forget it, my mistake, we would need 24 numbers , 12 for each location
QuoteHaha! You're in double trouble now! 19
Everything will be set for my finale soon. 8 Those dirty birdies will see, they should leave the Master's work alone and not cheapen it by twisting, distilling, and contorting it for the masses. 1 They have done it too many times now and I will not let it happen, not now, not here! So the dirty birdies may fly here, but they will get a surprise when they land. 3 THEY SHALL NOT CONTINUE. 1 This heresy ends NOW. 2
You will never find me. 7 I have 26 pieces left. 18 I can disappear. 21 I am not old, my bones do not creak. 2 Will I escape? 12 Does the quick, brown fox jump over the lazy dog?
Good luck NYPD
MAP:Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
I'm still struggling to make sense of this, but here's the note and the map for convenience, since we left them behind a couple of pages back.
I am afraid that the numbers are the red herring ....
The chief scratches his head and wonders aloud, "Out of curiosity, when CaptainD first posted the list of numbers converted to letters, did anyone try seeing if there were any hidden words in that sequence?"
NOTE FOR REFERENCE:
Spoiler
QuoteHaha! You're in double trouble now! 19
Everything will be set for my finale soon. 8 Those dirty birdies will see, they should leave the Master's work alone and not cheapen it by twisting, distilling, and contorting it for the masses. 1 They have done it too many times now and I will not let it happen, not now, not here! So the dirty birdies may fly here, but they will get a surprise when they land. 3 THEY SHALL NOT CONTINUE. 1 This heresy ends NOW. 2
You will never find me. 7 I have 26 pieces left. 18 I can disappear. 21 I am not old, my bones do not creak. 2 Will I escape? 12 Does the quick, brown fox jump over the lazy dog?
Good luck NYPD
MAP FOR REFERENCE:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
Now if that isn't a broad hint ...
I just don't see any clue in "shacabgzrubl" except ACAB,
so this might be the only message/insult as far as the numbers are concerned,
thus giving the numbers no further meaning
Come on colleagues, wake up from your desks !!!!
There are SO many words that can be formed from letters in that sequence that I'm not sure how that helps... bag, bash, laugh, blush, gas, cars, rash, bra, grab, carbs, club, crash... wait, laura?
OMG HE'S COMING FOR ME!
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/7b13598d6b561b4c3e0c69336d88abbb/tumblr_inline_mwjmgo5F2o1r050x5.gif)
Hmmm...Shake a Bee Gees Ruble.
Doesn't sound like an immediate hit. This time was the first time the chief posted the solved note instead of the original, meaning there probably isn't anything more to find in the unsolved one.
If we are allowed to combine the letters in the sequence with the letters TEN in order to make a message, perhaps the z could be ZEN? Pointing in the direction of Tranquility Grove? (This may be overthinking it again, though.)
I believe we should shake some action NOW
For the first paragraph: My top candidate would be Smither's Industrial Complex, see explanation above
For the second paragraph, it would be Silver Creek, as explained by Kastchey. Tweener's way would be an alternative,
but I'm afraid that if we fail at one location, we won't be able to catch the killer AND save the film team.
Creek from"Creak" is similar to Cunningham Centre from"Center"
For the numbers : I think it's only the ACAB ( All Cops Are Bastards) insult,
they also appear in a sequence.
Before I make it a POTENTIAL SOLUTION, I would like to have my colleagues' approval, unless someone
comes up with a better theory....
Here's the CaptainD post we should be referring to for ease of viewing.
This is the closest we have gotten it seems:
Quote from: CaptainD on Mon 13/07/2020 12:19:00
Another case has kept me from contributing much to this one, but I have at least added the missing letters to the last message:
QuoteHaha! You're in double trouble now! 19
Everything will be set for my finale soon. 8 Those dirty birdies will see, they should leave the Master's work alone and not cheapen it by twisting, distilling, and contorting it for the masses. 1 They have done it too many times now and I will not let it happen, not now, not here! So the dirty birdies may fly here, but they will get a surprise when they land. 3 THEY SHALL NOT CONTINUE. 1 This heresy ends NOW. 2
You will never find me. 7 I have 26 pieces left. 18 I can disappear. 21 I am not old, my bones do not creak. 2 Will I escape? 12 Does the quick, brown fox jump over the lazy dog?
Good luck NYPD
Obviously those numbers are significant somehow. Since the highest number is 26 I'm thinking they must correspond to letters.
19 s
8 h
1 a
3 c
1 a
2 b
7 g
26 z
18 r
21 u
2 b
12 l
shacabgzrubl
Nothing seems to jump out at me from that set of letters, so maybe it's a cipher.
I did a reverse alphabet cipher on the letters and this is what I got:
hszxzytaifyo
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Fri 17/07/2020 12:53:00
I believe we should shake some action NOW
For the first paragraph: My top candidate would be Smither's Industrial Complex, see explanation above
For the second paragraph, it would be Silver Creek, as explained by Kastchey. Tweener's way would be an alternative,
but I'm afraid that if we fail at one location, we won't be able to catch the killer AND save the film team.
Creek from"Creak" is similar to Cunningham Centre from"Center"
For the numbers : I think it's only the ACAB ( All Cops Are Bastards) insult,
they also appear in a sequence.
Before I make it a POTENTIAL SOLUTION, I would like to have my colleagues' approval, unless someone
comes up with a better theory....
If it saves lives I say go for it, just use caution though in case it is a trap (Is the killer still doing that?)
Ok, Officer Mkennedy, let's make it a POTENTIAL SOLUTION together!
Chief, let's send Team 1 to Smither's Industrial Complex and Team 2 to Silver Creek
We should make one team with officers White and Collins and the other one with officers Leland and Ullman.
We know that Ullman is the best driver, so depending upon the locations, i let you decide who will
be Team 1 and Team 2.
Let's pray we don't fail ......
shacabgzrubl are the letters found in the two words Salzburg and Bach. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart. If that is a coincidence, it's even better than the pentagram that wasn't there!
Just in case, I'd like the chief's permission to see if there's been many recent fliers from (or to) Salzburg. Hoping that the corona times makes this a possible avenue of investigation...normally, I'd guess the population size would make this difficult.
OMG, hope I didn‘t mess it up ...
You have a fertile imagination:-)
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Fri 17/07/2020 20:22:20
Ok, Officer Mkennedy, let's make it a POTENTIAL SOLUTION together!
Chief, let's send Team 1 to Smither's Industrial Complex and Team 2 to Silver Creek
We should make one team with officers White and Collins and the other one with officers Leland and Ullman.
We know that Ullman is the best driver, so depending upon the locations, i let you decide who will
be Team 1 and Team 2.
Let's pray we don't fail ......
You may want to send at least 3 officers to each location rather than just two.
And how exactly are you planing to do that, when there's only 5 officers in town and 1 is in the Hospital?
I believe that we have four officers and Pangborn.....
The chief drums his fingers on his desk. "Officer Ullman is still in hospital after getting a fire axe lodged halfway through his calf. The available units for searches are Sergeant Pangborn, Officer White, Officer Collins, and Officer Leland. Do you want to send two officers to Silver Creek and two to Smithers Industrial Complex at the same time?
"I've looked into flights to and from Salzburg, there's no airline flying those routes at the moment. I had such a strong feeling about that idea too, Salzburg seemed like it had great promise."
Can we send a team of three officers to one location first, then after they are done send a team of three officers to the second location?
Guys, we're blind.
The letters "shacabgzrubl" contain the place name SCHAALBURG (top right corner of the map).
Officer Laura Hunt,
That‘s brilliant, nobody but you have seen that
But what now ?
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Fri 17/07/2020 22:31:27
Officer Laura Hunt,
That‘s brilliant, nobody but you have seen that
But what now ?
Well, we send someone over there, of course!
What about the second location, though? The industrial complex, Silver Creek, or neither? Are we missing any other obvious clues in the note?
Oh, I had concentrated on the "rare" letters, like the z to find words that might fit... (roll)
Funny though, at some point into this investigation, I had market Yorks Way, Schaalburg, Aldrin Walk and Talbots Inch. with a star as possible locations... but no idea how I got to them... and why I discarded them (as in I didn't post them)... 8-0
If we take the letters we didn't use: z and b... (roll)
could it mean nothing? his initials? the address in schaalburg?
Quote from: JackPutter on Fri 17/07/2020 21:53:32
The chief drums his fingers on his desk. "Officer Ullman is still in hospital after getting a fire axe lodged halfway through his calf. The available units for searches are Sergeant Pangborn, Officer White, Officer Collins, and Officer Leland. Do you want to send two officers to Silver Creek and two to Smithers Industrial Complex at the same time?
"I've looked into flights to and from Salzburg, there's no airline flying those routes at the moment. I had such a strong feeling about that idea too, Salzburg seemed like it had great promise."
Just send two officers to one location and the remaining three to the other. You can decide who goes where.
Hey, we have three possible locations now.
One for the killer and actually TWO for the filmteam:
The production site AND their AirBnB.
EDIT: I can hardly believe how long it took us to not find SCHAALBURG until Officer Hunt finally got it.
Actually, it was so easy that we should have found it right away and therefore it might be a trap.
So we have a staff of four : White and Collins are a well-proven team, I believe they should stick together.
That makes it even harder, I think we cannot afford to miss a shot.
Chief, please cancel my previous POTENTIAL SOLUTION until we come up with a better plan.
We have to send people to Schaalburg. If it's a trap, so be it. We cannot ignore it. It's the best lead we have, and the chief has been urging us in that direction.
I can't really believe that we have to find both locations in the same turn.
Okay Office Heltenjon,
Give it a potential solution ! Whom shall we send ?
Why don't we send Pangborn? He can probably avoid any traps, and if this is the perp's location, he's our best card in taking him down. He can pick his own partner.
Yeah, do it !
potential solution Send Pangborn and the officer(s) of his choice to Schaalburg, please.
Thanks Officer Heltenjon, now let's pray for the best ...
Clicking in the button on his radio, Sergeant Pangborn called back to the station. "White and Collins, come in." He checked his watch and looked over to Leland, who was going door-to-door asking the residents of Schaalburg for information. Gillian's voice crackled through the radio, "White and Collins here, go ahead Sarge." Pangborn cleared his throat and leaned against his patrol car. "I want you two out in the prowler, ready to take off if we get a lead on another location. We might not have much time left." Gillian's reply was swift. "Roger that Sarge, we'll be standing by with the engine running." Pangborn smiled despite himself. He was happy to have White and Collins back as a team.
"SARGE! Get over here!" Pangorn spun around to face Leland, who was standing on the doorstep of a nearby house. Beside Leland stood a thin man with dark hair and a beard speckled with grey. As Pangborn started to stride towards the house, he called out to Leland, "What's up?"
Leland spoke to the man next to him. "Tell the Sergeant what you told me." The other man seemed a little confused, but complied. "Well, like I told your officer here Sergeant, my name's Michael Fimognari. I'm a cinematographer, I'm here on a location scouting trip for an upcoming film. We've been delayed because no-one on the team can get in contact with the scout that we sent out in advance so-"
Arriving on the doorstep, Pangborn cut him off. "Michael, I know this is sudden, but I need you to get out of the house now. Get everybody in the house out of there. We need to take you all to the police station IMMEDIATELY." Pangborn could tell by the look on the man's face that his confusion had only grown. "What do you mean? What's going on?" Pangborn dropped his hand to his waist and unholstered his service revolver. "Sir, I don't have time to explain the whole situation, but we believe we have received a direct threat against the lives of everyone from Intrepid Pictures and we need to get you to safety NOW."
Michael's face turned pale. "How did you know we were with Intrepid Pictures? Christ, that doesn't matter, I believe you." Pangborn watched as he turned into the house and shouted to his co-workers to leave. There wasn't any movement from the people inside, so Pangborn signaled to Leland to move in. The two officers moved through the house, repeating the conversation they had with Michael with each new member of the crew they came across.
Eventually they had cleared out the bottom floor of the building, and the two officers stood in the hallway by the front door. "Is that everyone?" Pangborn shouted to the small group out on the sidewalk. "Except Mike!" called one of the women. "He went upstairs to use the john." Pangborn turned to Leland. "I want you to stay outside with them, keep them together. Get in touch with White and Collins, tell them we've located the film crew and that we need extra hands to take them back to the station. And for God's sake, keep an eye on your surroundings. That maniac could be out there watching us." Leland nodded and headed outside.
Pangborn leapt up the stairs three at a time and made his way onto the landing. A handful of doors presented themselves to him. He approached the first one on the left and knocked. No answer. Same result with the second one. Frustrated, Pangborn hammered on the third door and was relieved when he got the chipper response, "Just a minute!" Pangborn sighed, then got back to business. "Mike, this is Sergeant Pangborn, you are in a dangerous situation and we need to get you to safety," Pangborn called through the door. He heard the sound of running water stop, before the door was unlocked and swung open. Pangborn was greeted by a round-faced, slightly-balding man in his forties. "What seems to be the problem officer?" he chirped.
Pangborn quickly explained the situation and found that Mike was more than eager to comply. Pangborn let Mike walk ahead of him across the landing - he wanted to make sure a police officer was the last one out of the house. Mike seemed frazzled by the situation, mumbling to himself as the two men descended the stairs. "I don't get it, who would threaten a film production, we're not doing anything illegal, we get all the right permits and permissions..."
CLICK!
Pangborn grabbed Mike's arm and told him to shush. He had heard something, a click or a switch or a clunk. Whatever it was, he couldn't hear it now. Pangborn felt Mike start to shift his weight to resume walking down the stairs, so Pangborn looked down. "DON'T MOVE!" he cried, and Mike froze in place.
Crouching down, Pangborn could tell that the board under Mike's left foot had been tampered with. It didn't fit squarely to the staircase, and looked like it had been removed and hastily replaced. Pangborn shut his eyes and let out a low, guttural groan. Goddammit. A hidden mine. Christ, this asshole was probably watching the house and saw us evacuating. I bet they activated the mine as soon as they saw us at the door, and I just got lucky on my way up by not standing on this particular stair. Damn it all to hell!
"What's wrong?" Mike stuttered, clearly none the wiser but definitely concerned. Pangborn thought for a moment about what to do, but after only a second's contemplation he knew what course of action he had to take. He slid up beside Mike and placed his own foot on the booby-trapped stair. "Mike," he said in as calm and collected a tone as he could muster, "I want you to get down this staircase and out to the street as quickly as you can. Now. Go." Mike didn't need telling twice. Pangborn held his breath as Mike stepped off the rigged board and he shifted his own weight onto it, and sighed with relief when nothing happened. In a flash Mike had disappeared out the door, leaving Pangborn alone on the staircase.
Pangborn weighed up his options. Obviously he couldn't stand on the staircase for the rest of his life. He could put in a call for the bomb squad, but they would be hours away. If he got tired or his foot cramped up and the pressure on the board changed, that could be the end of him. They could try putting something else on the stair as a weight so he could step off, but getting something heavy enough that would also fit onto a single stair in a residential house would be near impossible on short notice. He considered it a minor miracle that he had gotten the timing right in putting his own weight on the step, not to mention the stroke of fortune of the two men weighing roughly the same. It was just as Pangborn was settling on a course of action that Leland appeared at the doorway to the house. "Sarge...?"
"STAY BACK!" called Pangborn, stopping Leland in his tracks. "Leland, get everyone outside to a safe distance. Make sure you get the neighbours out of the houses next door too. Put a call in for an ambulance and the fire department. Hide yourself behind the prowler, and when the dust settles you get your ass in here ASAP. You hear me?" Leland paused for a moment, taking a long look and Pangborn. Then Leland nodded, and ran out of Pangborn's view. Pangborn could hear Leland shouting to the civilians to get out of harm's way, and couldn't help but smile. That rookie will go far, he thought to himself.
Pangborn reflected on the previous bomb that had gone off. White had managed to tackle Collins clear of the immediate blast site, and he escaped with relatively minor injuries. This bomb-maker probably didn't have the skills or resources to put together anything that would level a building. It was about an eight foot drop from where he was to the floor, and probably the same distance straight across to reach the foot of the staircase. Assuming that the bomb itself was directly under his right foot, and assuming he was recalling his high school math lessons correctly, if he managed to make it to the foot of the staircase that would put him about 12 feet from the epicentre of the explosion. He hoped that was enough. He put his gun back in his holster and fastened it. Didn't want that becoming a projectile. Well, enough time had gone by for Leland to evacuate everyone. It was now or never.
Taking a deep breath and spending a moment to think of his wife and kids, Pangborn jumped.
The explosion shattered every window of the lower storey of the house. The ground shook, and debris was flung far and wide. Flames and plumes of dust shot out towards the road, and Leland felt the heat even protected behind the police cruiser. Car alarms three streets away started to go off. In the distance, Leland heard the approaching wails of emergency response vehicles. As soon as the ground settled, Leland ran for the entrance to the house. God, he hoped Pangborn was still alive.
The chief emerges from his office with a solemn look on his face. "Not much to say. Pangborn is in intensive care. The man he saved, Mike Flanagan, is the director for the next Stephen King adaptation Intrepid Pictures is making. No evidence left that points to the identity of the criminal." With that, the chief enters his office and shuts the door.
The names are real - these are the people behind the King adaptation Dr. Sleep, among other things.
Phew! That was some intense reading! I'm happy that we saved the crew and that Pangborn survived; I kind of doubt if any of the other officers could have solved that impossible situation, so I think (hope) sending Pangborn saved an officer's life as well.
Then it's on to the culprit!
Ah, crap. I wonder if this could have been avoided if we hadn't spent time squabbling over whether to send someone to Schaalburg...
(Such a cool read though! Worth it just for that :-D)
We still need to find our perp, and I'm pretty sure the key is in the second part of the note, where they talk about themselves:
QuoteI can disappear. I am not old, my bones do not creak. Will I escape? Does the quick, brown fox jump over the lazy dog?
"I am not old, my bones do not creak" just stands out so much to me. Oldtown could be an obvious option, but it doesn't feel like the correct solution to me.
If he/she is the "quick, brown fox", then who/what is the "lazy dog"? Is it another pun like "cunning ham"? Maybe it's just a reference to the alphabet and I'm reading too much into it...
I wonder if the killer's location is on the map...
I'm sure the chief doesn't want to be bothered right now, but I'll go buy some donuts and see if that can cheer him up. We have to send something to Pangborn anyway.
I'll take my way through Potential solution Alphabet City, just to make sure. I'm still thinking about that "I have 26 pieces left" line. I'm sure I'm only imagining things, but it seems like a small effort that can be done by ourselves without putting further workloads on the officers up north.
If anyone wants to tag along to help me pick out the flowers, there's room in the car. I'm admittedly better at buying burgers and donuts than flowers. But damn, Pangborn deserves some.
Oooofff....
Well, I guess we have saved the film team, but sacrificed Sergeant Pangborn.
I wonder if there had been an opportunity to get hold of aK-9 dog, but I am quite sure
that Pangborn had thought of it beforehand.
Now we're after the killer and the clue seems to be found in the second paragraph of the note.
As Kastchey proposed, it could be Silver Creek (my bones do not creak), but it might as well
be Tweener's Way( I am not old ) related to the word "Tween".
We should interrogate Flannagan to get more information about the film project.
We have three officers left and a killer about, so what should we do now ?
EDIT: Officer Heltenjon, interesting idea, we should follow your suggestion.
P.S.: That was a narrative masterpiece, JackPutter ! I admit I was very nervous reading it slowly line by line....
Quote from: heltenjon on Sun 19/07/2020 12:45:37
I wonder if the killer's location is on the map...
I'm sure the chief doesn't want to be bothered right now, but I'll go buy some donuts and see if that can cheer him up. We have to send something to Pangborn anyway.
I'll take my way through Potential solution Alphabet City, just to make sure. I'm still thinking about that "I have 26 pieces left" line. I'm sure I'm only imagining things, but it seems like a small effort that can be done by ourselves without putting further workloads on the officers up north.
Yeah, that line confuses me... Is the "26" part of the sentence, or was it part of the numbers we had to match to letters? But then again, "z" was not included in Schaalsburg.
QuoteIf anyone wants to tag along to help me pick out the flowers, there's room in the car. I'm admittedly better at buying burgers and donuts than flowers. But damn, Pangborn deserves some.
I'll pick the flowers, you get me a double bacon BBQ burger with cheese. Step on it!
Someone should immediately interrogate Flannagan about
the film project and whether the place were the explosion occurred
was the place where the film team stayed and where the film was
to be made as well as its theme
EDIT: In case no information is gained neither from a visit in Alphabet City nor
from Mr. Flanagan, I suggest we send the remaining crew to POTENTIAL SOLUTION:
Silver Creek
Also, ask Mr.Flanagan and the film crew, about the scout that is missing, what's his name? where is he from? how was he hired? Where (what area) was he scouting around? What exactly was he looking for?
Depending on the answers he could be a potential victim that is still missing, or the perp. himself.
OT: Oh, and I found it very fitting that the last line I could read on my browser was "Taking a deep breath and spending a moment to think of his wife and kids, Pangborn jumped.".... and then I needed to scroll down. (laugh) Perfect addition to the suspense!
Cassiebsg, the missing scout was mentioned in Chapter 6:
Quote
"The victim is Daniel Wiseman, the guy from California whose blood we found on the shredded material. Single guy, no kids. From what we've been able to gather in the short time since we found his remains, he worked as some kind of freelance location scout for various Hollywood productions. He was staying at an AirBNB not far from the graveyard where his body was found. We searched his room and found some documentation linking him to what appears to be the same production as the other victims, but unfortunately the place was in a ransacked state when we arrived so the... ugh... killer probably made off with a lot of the important stuff to cover their tracks
Ah. Forgot about that. :-[
In that case, my questions go about the production crew. Are they missing someone? Did they use extern/local/fan help?
For one thing we all agree, the perp. knows a lot about the "secret" movie and production. So how did he gain this info? Just killing the scout and getting all documents he add might explain for a lot, but not for everything. Because he had to know who the scout was and what he was doing in town.
We got this location from the numbers in the last message. My guess is we now need to find the final location from the words.
I'm going to be busy with work for the next day or two so I probably won't get a chance to post any long/detailed updates. I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up and also thank you all very much for your kind words about my writing! I'm very glad you enjoy the little passages I've been adding.
OT: Thanks for the heads up JackPutter. :)
Yes, we need to find the location from the message, that I agree, but I'm not sure going to a location looking for a guy/gal we know nothing about (except that's he/she is a Stephen King fan and obvious crazy) is enough to find the perp. :-\
Let‘s wait for what the film crew has to say
Maybe it will bring us closer to the killer
We've already ordered investigations in Alphabet City (which is probably nothing) and Silver Creek (which could very well be it). While we await Jack getting ahead of his busy schedule, we've got to further examine all the clues about our culprit. The spelling sure is odd!
Here's another, admittedly out-there, solution: New (I am not old) ton (my bones do not creak) Haven (I can escape).
Newton Haven, very smart, Officer Heltenjon
Apologies for the delay everyone, full update coming tomorrow!
THE KS CASEFINAL CHAPTERCollins knocked on the door and examined the porch. This was the last house they had to visit in Silver Creek, and Collins's hopes weren't particularly high. He could tell by looking at White's face that hers were practically submerged. The house seemed well-kept, nothing out of the ordinary. Probably another bust, he thought to himself as the door swung open.
He found himself looking at a petite woman, probably in her mid-twenties. Auburn hair, pale skin, relaxed posture. She was wearing a dressing gown, his knocking had clearly disturbed her from some peaceful activity. No different from any of the other residents he had spoken to today. In unison, he and White produced their badges, and Collins rattled off their standard opener. "Hello ma'am, my name is Officer Collins, this is Officer White. We are checking the area for anything suspicious as we've been given a tip that there has been some criminal activity in these parts. It's nothing for you to worry about, but if you've seen or heard anything unusual then we would appreciate if you could let us know."
A worried look spread over the woman's face. "Gee whiz officers, I hope it is nothing serious. Have you been talking to all the residents?" White nodded. "Yes ma'am, in fact you're the last house on the list." The woman's eyes widened with concern. "My, you folks must have been out here for hours! Please, come in, I've just made some fresh lemonade, I'd be flattered if you'd take a glass and a few minutes to refresh yourselves."
The woman stood back, opening the door wide and gesturing for the officers to come inside. Collins looked at White, and the pair communicated in a language of silent facial expressions which they had honed over their years spent patrolling together. He raised his eyebrows, asking if White wanted to oblige without saying a word. The corner of White's mouth puckered, what's the harm? Collins's lip curled, I guess so, and besides, I could use a cold drink. Collins and White turned back to the woman. "We'd be happy to take you up on that offer ma'am, thank you for your generosity."
The woman smiled as she led the officers down the hallway. The house was neat and proper. Collins threw a passing glance into each doorway. A living room fitted with leather furniture. A small bathroom. A room with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Collins stopped and took a closer look at the third room. It was practically a library! In the centre of the room stood a high-backed leather armchair, and a small coffee table stood next to it, adorned with a ceramic coaster and a coffee cup still filled with steaming liquid. "Wow," Collins called to the woman, who was just leading White into the kitchen. "This is quite the little bookstore you have here! Mind if I take a look inside?" The woman turned to him and presented a chipper grin. "Not at all! It's my pride and joy." Collins gave White a look that signaled for her to be on the lookout, before stepping into the room.
He was surrounded by books on all sides, almost all of them hardbacks. Collins had a gut feeling that if he was to examine them, he would find that most would be original first editions - the entire room was dripping with literary ancestry. A brief scan of the shelves revealed that every book had been carefully placed in alphabetical order. There were plenty of authors he recognised, Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury... but dozens of names which were complete mysteries to him. As he slowly looked around the open, square room he could hear White chatting with the woman in the next room.
It was at this point that he realised that the armchair wasn't the only furniture in the room. In the corner behind the door, there was a small desk and a hard wooden desk chair. The desk was narrow, just wide enough to hold its contents, namely a small notepad, a fountain pen, and an old-fashioned typewriter. Curious, Collins walked over. The typewriter looked untouched, like it could have rolled off the factory floor yesterday. It had a fresh sheet of white paper spooled halfway through, ready to be typed upon, but at the same time it looked arranged, as though the entire desktop was merely a display piece. His curiosity got the better of him, and he started to push on the keys. The CLACK CLACK CLACK of the old metal keys filled the air, drowning out the sound of the women talking in the next room.
"C - O - L - L - I - - S"
Collins swallowed. He had heard the CLACK of the "N" key when he pressed it, yet there his name was, without that particular letter. Maybe he just hadn't pressed it hard enough. He punched downwards on the key with his finger, and the little arm swung forward to strike the page. Collins bent down to take a closer look. While the black ink had clearly left an impression on the paper for all of the other letters, there was definitively no mark being left from the "N" key. He began to sweat. Quickly he bashed the "E" key. CLACK! But again, nothing on the page. He tried "T" immediately. CLACK! Not a mark.
Quickly, Collins headed for the door. As he stepped into the hallway, he heard the homeowner calling out. "Officer Collins, here's that lemonade..." Rounding the corner, Collins found himself only a couple of feet from the woman. Her left hand was holding glass of cloudy yellow liquid, while her right was in the pocket of her dressing gown. Collins tried to disguise the worry on his face, but he could tell the woman had noticed something was wrong. For the briefest of moments, Collins's mind worked overtime, trying to read the microexpressions on the woman's face, hoping to predict her next move. In a flash, her arm was moving.
Dropping his hand to his sidearm, Collins instinctively yelled out for his partner. He saw the revolver emerge from the woman's pocket just as he unclasped his holster. He was the fastest draw of anyone in their station, but the woman had gotten the drop on him. He was just starting to raise the barrel of his gun when the flash burst forth from the muzzle of the woman's pistol.
The bullet hit Collins square in the chest, and he dropped. He gasped for air as he hit the floor, his head spinning and his ears ringing. He desperately tried to focus his eyes on the woman, rolling on his side to get a better look. Amazed, he watched as White grappled with the woman, trying to disarm her. The first gunshot had been deafening, so to Collins the whole scene played out like a macabre silent dance routine. White's face was determined, stony, she was shouting something. The ordinary-looking woman's features had twisted into that of a shrieking shrew. The gun waved around at arm's length from the women, occasionally coughing forth bullets which tore through the walls and rained ceiling plaster down on top of them.
Eventually the woman got the upper hand, clobbering White on the back of the head with the handle of the pistol. White flopped to the floor, falling as a dead weight, landing hard on her head. The woman fled out through the kitchen, the last Collins saw of her was the now-empty revolver falling to the floor at the threshold of the hallway. Collins looked down at his chest. Great pain shot across his torso every time he inhaled, but he saw no blood. He fumbled his hand across the front of his chest and found something hard and metallic embedded in his uniform, just in front of his heart. It was the bullet which had struck him. The bulletproof vest he had started wearing after the bomb attack had saved his life. He may have some broken ribs and a punctured lung, but he was breathing.The chief cracks the lid off a fresh bottle of whiskey and takes four long glugs straight from the neck. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "Well, we found the killer's residence, but we have two more officers off the street. Collins is in hospital with a collapsed lung, and White's being treated for severe blood loss and concussion. Ullman has just started traction to get his leg back in working order, and Pangborn only regained consciousness yesterday. The house Collins and White were in belongs to a woman named Annie McGee. She works in a book store in Charlesburg. Her whole family's from the area, she went to the local schools and never moved away for college. By all accounts she's kept to herself, no criminal record. We've no confirmation that she is the woman who attacked officers White and Collins, but her appearance does match the description Officer Collins has given us.
"We've interviewed all of the film crew, for the most part they were able to give us some details about the production but not much information on the crimes. They're working on an adaptation of the novel "Revival" and they were going to use some of the natural beauty spots in the area as shooting locations. They got a subsidy from the local authorities as long as a certain percentage of their employees were locals, so they cast some minor parts from the area along with some of the smaller crew positions.
"The only one with any real insight to the killer was the director, Mike Flanagan. He says he's worked on enough Stephen King-related works to know the audience pretty well. He says that King's fans are some of the most dedicated, rabid animals out there. They seem to sniff out every detail, whisper, and rumour that's King-related as soon as it happens. He wouldn't put it past them to hack into the Intrepid Pictures systems to find out details of their production. He also said that if you put a gun to his head, he could hazard a guess as to who is behind this... At the New York Comic-Con panel before the release of Doctor Sleep, a crazed fan forced her way onto the stage, ranting and raving about how everyone associated with the production was going to hell for ruining Stephen King's books. The woman was put on the blacklist for media events. Flanagan couldn't remember her name exactly, but said it sounded like it was Irish in origin. "Amy McCoy" or "Audrey McGill" or something along those lines. He said this without being informed of what happened to our officers earlier and whose house they were in at the time.
"Nothing was found in Alphabet City, though I can't blame you for thinking outside the box. Now that our killer's home address has possibly been exposed, she'll REALLY be on the run. I suggest we put out an APB based on the description we got from-"
Out of nowhere, the phone on the corner desk begins to ring. The chief does a double-take. "What the... that hasn't rung in weeks! Everyone, get to your phones!" The chief hurries over to the desk and yanks up the receiver. A woman's voice speaks hurriedly.
QuoteOh you think you've spoiled my climax? All good plans contain a failsafe so they will be successful! Once I get out of here, I'll put a stop to the destruction of the master's work, believe it! Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of! Just watch me!
The phone line goes dead. The chief slowly puts down the handset. "Looks like we have one last chance to catch this maniac. All hands on deck!"
I was sure that all was lost now. I must say I look forward to hearing from Jack what had happened if we had chosen differently in some instances. Great writing, as usual! i particularly liked that the gun coughed out bullets. (nod)
So, gang...do you think the phone call contains our final clue?
Yeaaaah !
Great writing, Chapeau !!
But now to catching the killer :
First thing that comes to my mind is Joe's Hill (Climax)
We have only one shot left, let's be careful !
I wonder what she means by "when I get out of here". Where is "here"? The town itself? Or was she wounded in the struggle and she's in a hospital? Can we call all nearby hospitals and find out if somebody matching her description has checked into the ER in the last hours?
[Side note / personal pet peeve: it's Edgar Allan Poe, not Allen ;)]
The chief rapidly calls all the hospitals in the area, but no-one matching the woman's description has been checked in for any injuries that could have resulted from a fight.
[I feel great personal humiliation at that typo. I have a copy of Poe's complete works sitting on the bookshelf next to my desk, it was literally in my eyeline when I was writing that passage. I have brought shame upon my family.]
Quote
Oh you think you've spoiled my climax? All good plans contain a failsafe so they will be successful! Once I get out of here, I'll put a stop to the destruction of the master's work, believe it! Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of! Just watch me!
The only places related to "climax" , i.e. elevated locations, would be Joe's Hill or Sallynoggin Heights.
That would be two places already, if one of them is the location, we would have a 50/50 chance.
I wonder what is meant with "Kidnapping and murder are just the start", what would be next?
And last but not least: Do we have any officers left?
EDIT: Can it be that only officer Leland is left ?
Quote from: JackPutter on Sat 25/07/2020 09:04:49
[I feel great personal humiliation at that typo. I have a copy of Poe's complete works sitting on the bookshelf next to my desk, it was literally in my eyeline when I was writing that passage. I have brought shame upon my family.]
(laugh) I absolutely feel you. When I was informed that not one, but TWO typos had been found in IOAWN4T, it hurt my pride way more than any technical bug.
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Sat 25/07/2020 09:45:14
I wonder what is meant with "Kidnapping and murder are just the start", what would be next?
I'm guessing a bomb? :-\
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Sat 25/07/2020 08:44:03
[Side note / personal pet peeve: it's Edgar Allan Poe, not Allen ;)]
I firmly believe that in this universe, existing side by side with ours, the author's name was Edgar Allen Poe. And the director is called Woody Allan.
When Stephen King was confronted with an error in one of his books (The Colorado Kid, IIRC), he answered that it was not an error, but a hint. ;)
So...the case at hand. If this is another of those letter jumbles, there's only one location with the letter x on the map.
Putting this brief off-topic detour under spoiler tags:
Spoiler
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Sat 25/07/2020 08:44:03
[Side note / personal pet peeve: it's Edgar Allan Poe, not Allen ;)]
Quote from: heltenjon on Sat 25/07/2020 11:03:58I firmly believe that in this universe, existing side by side with ours, the author's name was Edgar Allen Poe. And the director is called Woody Allan.
Hahaha yeah, one wrote "The Crow" and the other directed "Brooklyn".
Quote from: heltenjon on Sat 25/07/2020 11:03:58When Stephen King was confronted with an error in one of his books (The Colorado Kid, IIRC), he answered that it was not an error, but a hint. ;)
That... actually happened too. I had to clarify that a couple of things in the game were indeed
very intentional and not oversights. Maybe not a good sign :-D
Get a warrant for Annie's residence and place of business. Interview her entire family and coworkers. Call the DMV to see if there are any vehicles registered to that name and what their license plates are. Get a sketch artist to make a picture, though she may be using some sort of disguise by now, at least that's what I would do if I were her.
I totally agree with searching her house,
we should focus on the books and check if there
are any books of Stephen King, especially „Revival“ and
if they contain any comments
One of the main characters in „Revival“ is a reverend
Could this be related to the audition with the priest ?
Maybe we find a clue there, the theory with the locations
connected to „Climax“ is still a bit too vague for me
But who would do it ? I believe that Officer Leland is our only person left for the job
EDIT: Maybe we can recruit some staff from the academy...
MORE EDIT:
Quote
Once I get out of here
I looked up the dictionary and found the verb "to sally forth", which could be related to "get out of here"
Along with
height being a synonym for
climax, that would make
Sallynoggin Heights a suspicious place...
The chief scratches his chin and looks around the room. "Any progress folks? After such a strong beginning, is this really how it ends?"
I am totally confused about whom we can send to search the killer's house.
I believe we could find more clues there, but as I mentioned above, we have
only officer Leland left and I would never send one officer out there alone.
EDIT: From game rules and setup :
Quote
Firstly, this criminal has many crimes lined up, but a big finale planned. To stop the finale, you need to do one of two things. You either need to figure out who the final target is and get them into protective custody, or you can track the criminal to their home town and arrest them. However, if you arrest the criminal without identifying who the final target is, the criminal may have had time to put their final plan in motion and you won't be able to save the target. On the other hand, if you manage to get the target to safety without identifying where the criminal is, then they might be able to escape.
Fourthly, to add an extra element of tension, the little town that the crimes are about to take place in has a very small staff of local officers. There are FIVE and ONLY FIVE members of the town's force.
Sergeant Pangborn
Officer White
Officer Collins
Officer Leland
Officer Ullman
Be very careful that you don't go after any obvious red herrings, as they might be traps laid by the maniac... Needless to say, if you fall for too many traps, there will be no police left, and the criminal will have free rein until new officers can be put in place.
Facts:
We know who the killer is and where she lives
We found the target and I guess they are in safety now
BUT: We don't know what the big finale is and the killer's current whereabouts
So Chief, what are our resources ?
We already suggested to search the killer's house for clues....
Heres a plan to set a clever trap. We contact Steven King and ask ask him to do a commercial to be televised on the local stations asking the killer to turn herself in, or if not that, then call the police hotline to talk to him personally. Then when she calls we have him talk to her long enough to get a trace. Bit of a long shot but then for all I know Steven King might be the intended target himself.
The chief comes in with a status report. "Right, listen up y'all. We've searched the McGee residence, and we've turned up nothing related to the crimes, apart from a complete collection of Stephen King books which have all been signed by the author. It looks like she covered her tracks well. Her family and friends all seemed very shocked when Officer Leland questioned them, they all said she was always a quiet, reserved person who was never angry a day in her life. She loved to read and tried to write a little herself, but never got anything published. She has never owned a car, she cycled everywhere she needed to go. We've circulated a sketch based on Officer Collins's description to all police departments in the NYPD.
"Detective mkennedy, I like your outside-the-box thinking. I believe that despite what he writes, Mr King is staunchly anti-violence so maybe a televised plea from him would work. I think it's a bit of a gamble though, and I'd rather not put too many people outside of the police force in danger.
"I think it might be worth going over the killer's last call with a fine-toothed comb. If she just wanted to make a getaway, she never would have drawn attention to herself. She called us for a reason, call it a hunch but maybe there's one last clue in there..."
I still believe that Sallynoggin Heights is a top candidate for the "big finale".
But from how I understand our situation, there is only Officer Leland left to investigate.
The killer might be determined to even kill herself ( Kidnapping and murder are just the start )
and I am afraid that explosives might play a major role
I don't know what my colleagues think, looks like they are all on holidays , except Officer Mkennedy.
So folks, what is your opinion ?
Agree with Sallynoggin Heights, I really can't make anything else of that call. Since there's nobody else available, let's ask Officer Leland to take a look and hope for the best...
From how I understood the intro by our esteemed game host, we have now prevented the grand finale and got the victims into protective custody. But I may be wrong, as I have been so many times before in this very entertaining game.
If Ms McGee cycled everywhere, I guess she's on our map and haven't got far. I'm pretty clueless about the message so far. (And I'm indeed on vacation IRL).
Ok, It's all or nothing !
POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Since we have neither recruitment nor a K-9 dog,
send Officer Leland to Sallynoggin Heights.
Needless to say that utmost care must be taken.
[Heltenjon, enjoy your vacation ! I really wonder what alternatives we had, soon it will be revealed]
Do you think we only get to try once? ;)
Maybe hire a few people from a private security firm to accompany Leland?
McGee singing triumphant: "I shot the sheriff!"
Leland appearing behind her with gun raised: "But you didn't shoot the deputy." ;-D
@Heltenjon, i think you‘re a bit too jaunty regarding
having only one officer out there for the big finale :-)
Let‘s hope for the best, i am really looking forward
to what will happen, pretty sure it will be in Sallynoggin Heights !
@Mkennedy: I don‘t think private security has the rights
to represent the law, though I would be glad if we had some assistance
You can spell 'climax' using the letters in Smithers Industrial Complex, but that's all I can think of other than what has been proposed already.
Bravely Officer Leland scours the Sallynoggin Heights area but he finds no leads.
Spoiler
A quick word about how to finish the game... I felt it would be unsatisfying if, after all your excellent hard work on the case, I didn't give you one last chance to slap a pair of cuffs on the killer. You have all been so great at solving the puzzles and asking all the right questions that a real police squad would ask, I would have hated to leave things unresolved. So the killer's last call was the last puzzle, if you can solve it then you'll be able to catch them. Good luck!
Oh nooooooo ......
I was so sure about Sallynoggin Heights :-(
If it‘s ONE last chance, then we must be 100% sure
Sorry, just to clarify, I meant "one last chance" as in this is the final clue. You can have more than one guess as to what the solution of the puzzle is!
Pheeeew, that gives us room and time to think, here's the killer's last call for reference:
Quote
Oh you think you've spoiled my climax? All good plans contain a failsafe so they will be successful! Once I get out of here, I'll put a stop to the destruction of the master's work, believe it! Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of! Just watch me!
EDIT: And here is the chief's last statement, I wonder if the fine-toothed comb means more than thorough searching
Quote
"I think it might be worth going over the killer's last call with a fine-toothed comb. If she just wanted to make a getaway, she never would have drawn attention to herself. She called us for a reason, call it a hunch but maybe there's one last clue in there..."
Do we know what kind of bike she rides?
Have people in the area seen someone in the area ridding a bike matching the description?
I think we need to figure out exactly what she means by "Once I get out of here,"... where exactly is here? Her hiding place maybe?
There's nothing at all that catches my eye in that call, so I'm afraid I'm looking too much into everything. Might be that we need to figure out where "here" is (after all, that's where we'll catch her, but maybe she just means "the town" in general), might be that the key is in the words "just the start", might be "just watch me". I am completely stumped. I am even considering that "failsafe" is a synonym for "safeguard" and thus we need to check the prison! * throws hands in the air, sighs, grabs one of heltenjon's donuts *
Just a few thoughts concerning the letters we got from the killer:
The VERY first note we received was full of typos and bad grammar, whereas the
last one we got written with a typewriter didn't contain any of those.
Could it be that actually TWO persons are involved in the crimes ?
And what did the word "Church" mean we found on the cross where Wiseman was found ?
I remember that the audition took place with a priest, maybe a church is playing a role in this
last riddle (Once I get out of here ).
The other place to get out from would be the penitentiary .......
If the solution is to be found in the last phonecall only, then I'm pretty clueless......
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Thu 30/07/2020 17:54:52
....
And what did the word "Church" mean we found on the cross where Wiseman was found ?
...
Church is the name of the cat from "Pet Sematary", short for Churchill.
Quote from: Kastchey on Wed 29/07/2020 18:45:04
You can spell 'climax' using the letters in Smithers Industrial Complex, but that's all I can think of other than what has been proposed already.
Actually, we can spell "spoiled climax". (Then we are left with the letters mithersnustr, which I find no use for.) It could be worth a try? But I'd rather find "failsafe" in some form on the map.
Smither‘s Industrial Complex was a candidate before,
It might still be, maybe just for the „X“, which might mark the spot.
EDIT: And i still believe that there are two persons involved
How could the petite woman transport Wiseman‘s corpse ?
With a bicycle ?
I take the full responsibility to have Officer Leland search
POTENTIAL SOLUTION: Smither‘s Industrial Complex
Officer Leland checks out the factories and warehouses around Smithers Industrial Complex, but apart from finding a few teenagers smoking the reefer, he finds no signs of criminal activity.
Uhm, maybe stupid, but have we checked her book store in Charlesburg?
Of course, we searched her house but not the book store!
How I understand from our Chief‘s words, she is actually trying
to lure us, so let us send Officer Leland to
POTENTIAL SOLUTION CHARLESBURG
EDIT:
Quote
Oh you think you've spoiled my climax? All good plans contain a failsafe so they will be successful! Once I get out of here, I'll put a stop to the destruction of the master's work, believe it! Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of! Just watch me!
I thought that the "failsafe so they will be successful" might have something to do with a perspective, and this led me tp PROSPECT PLACE, but let us first see if we can find something in Charlesburg, especially in the book store
Officer Leland checks out Annie McGee's bookstore in Charlesburg and finds that most of the store appears to be your average, run-of-the-mill bookstore. There are sections for bestsellers, non-fiction, second-hand books... things don't get interesting until he checks the basement. There he finds Annie's hideout. It is full of scrawled plans, a cork board with pictures and notes pinned to it, circuits and leftover chemicals from the bomb manufacturing process, unlicensed firearms... It leaves no doubt that Annie McGee is behind the attacks. What concerns Officer Leland the most though, is the fresh sheets of paper that lie in the printer's tray, the ink still wet. Someone was printing something out not long ago - he must have just missed her! Examining what's left in the printer's tray, Leland finds nothing useful, only these sheets...
https://imgur.com/a/zc9skz7 (https://imgur.com/a/zc9skz7)
Spoiler
Apologies for the brevity of this update, didn't want to leave you good folks hanging but also didn't have much time to get in-depth.
Uhm, the "end is the beginning"... maybe she means where this case started? Or maybe that's the red herring, and the real location is hidden in the way the text is laid out... ??? Or maybe there's more it, and there's a hidden message in the text.
Cassiebsg, I believe you are right with going back to the beginning of the case.
And it began with a phone number which might be hidden here as well.
When you look at the numbered paragraphs you notice that they have a different number of lines,
where 4 would represent a Zero.
That would make 3 4 8 0 11 5 6, doesn't look like a phone number to me, though,
because from how I understood it, it would have to start with 555 for the area
Pretty clueless at the moment, I don't see any pattern there
EDIT: Wait, the first 3 numbers make 15=3x5=555
Hmmm, i think Officer Heltenjon should have a look at this,
he elegantly solved the puzzle in the beginning , I would
still sit on that today
And IF it’s a phone number we should find out to whom it belongs and
NOT call it because it might trigger a bomb
EDIT: The number in the beginning was 555-1408, checksum 28
The checksum from the last message is also 28
Did we ever check whose phonenumber the 555-1408 is?
I don’t think we did
So I am pretty sure that she wants us to call 555-1408 again
EDIT: Why did we NEVER try to find out whom that number belongs to, or did we?
EDIT: POTENTIAL SOLUTION: Try to find out whose phone number that is
What about Sallynoggin Heights? Is that still being considered for investigation?
Sallynoggin Heights revealed nothing
Was sure it would be a hit....
( see previous page )
Thanks, Ian, for those kind words, but I fail to see a distinctive pattern in the message. It looks like a homage to the novel Jack wrote in The Shining, repeating the same sentence over and over. I can't remember if he skipped bullet point 4 as well, but that omission is the only thing that stands out right now.
The end is the beginning is the end (etc.) could be an allusion to a book SK has written that ends in that style, which I won't name here for spoiler reasons. OR it may mean we ought to search the first location again, which was between Armstrong and Aldrin Walk.
But this message is not a new riddle, but rather a hint to how we should interpret the last phone conversation, if I understand this correctly. We can solve this from the phone message alone, but maybe not from this hint alone. So...was Aldrin Armstrong's failsafe? ???
Looks like I should read these threads more carefully.... :embarrassed:
Quote
Did we ever check whose phonenumber the 555-1408 is?
I don’t think we did
So I am pretty sure that she wants us to call 555-1408 again
EDIT: Why did we NEVER try to find out whom that number belongs to, or did we?
EDIT: POTENTIAL SOLUTION: Try to find out whose phone number that is
Me stupid !!
We DID try to trace the phonecall from the beginning, i completely overlooked it, sorry for the confusion !
Anyway, I am quite sure that she wants us to call that number again.
I see no other clue in the last call she made, so let's give it a try, so
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONLet us call 555-1408
The chief tries calling 555-1408 but there is no connection. He gets the tech team to use every tool at their disposal but they find no active phone at the other end of that number. The connection must have been scrubbed after the last call.
Oooof,
my resources have been exhausted.............
Assuming that the papers we found DO include a hint in form of a phone number,
the only remaining numbers I could make up from 3 4 8 0 11 5 6 would be
555-6511
555-6520
555-6510
It should be no problem to find out if any of these belong to someone in the surroundings
On the other hand, we still may have overlooked a clue in the last phone call, but as I said,
I used up all my imagination......
But just to make sure: Could we please advise the tech team to check possible owners of the a.m. numbers?
REMEMBER: The big finale is still to come !
I think we have averted the big finale and are now trying to keep our perp(s) from escaping. But I may be wrong.
Can we (potential solution please retrace our steps and check if the original sites at and between Armstrong Walk and Aldrin Walk have been disturbed?
Chief, I think we ought to send reinforcements to officer Leland...perhaps the fire department or some retired cops in the area could help out somehow?
Officer Leyland checks out the original crime scenes around Armstrong Walk and Aldrin Walk but finds nothing that points to the killer's whereabouts, just a sinister reminder of the crimes in the form of a large crater...
The chief finishes off his bottle of whiskey and tosses it into the recycling bin. Reaching under his desk, he pulls out a fresh bottle and cracks it open. "Going back to the first clues and crimes doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. I'm starting the think this 'beginning is the end' claptrap has nothing to do with the early crimes, maybe it's just referencing that last phone call..."
Here's the map again, because I had to go back like 5 pages to find it:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png)
And the last call:
QuoteOh you think you've spoiled my climax? All good plans contain a failsafe so they will be successful! Once I get out of here, I'll put a stop to the destruction of the master's work, believe it! Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of! Just watch me!
My God, I feel so dumb :-(
If it's in the last phone call, the only thing I see is HOME,
made up from the first (OH) and the last (ME) word of the phone call.
But we did check her home after she made the phone call, so I don't expect anything there.....
EDIT: Maybe the beginning refers to the place she was born.
POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Can we search her parents home ?
EDIT : And if nothing is found there, we should search her home once again VERY thoroughly from the cellar to the attic.
It might be that PLANS is meant in an architectural sense, meaning that there is a hidden room in her house.
P.S.: How much whiskey can our chief take ?
Officer Leland heads to the home of Annie McGee's parents. They are extremely cooperative and even assist in the search of their home, but no secret rooms or hidden stashes are found. Leland returns to Annie's residence and turns it completely upside down looking for any extra clues, but finds none.
The chief looks exasperated. "For the sake of Pete... there must be a way of looking at that last call with beginnings and endings in mind that we just haven't tried yet..."
Quote
destruction of the master's work, believe it! Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of! Just watch me!
Just watch me on BEELIVE ?
Time to watch !
EDIT:
POTENTIAL SOLUTION:We should find out if there is an upcoming event
related to Stephen King at BEELIVE
EDIT: And try to find a user named ,,reyalsgnik,, there
(Though it's in Arabic, Thai and Chinese only ...)
EDIT: There's also a user named BeeLive on Facebook and Twitter
We should check there, too !!
( I don't have an account there )
EDIT: Forget about the german beekeeper dude on YouTube :-))
Chief, could we Potential Solution check out Sycamore Close? I get some vibes from the words more (beginning) and close (end).
I also find "spoiled my climax? All", making out "syca", but as I cannot find the rest in a similar manner, I guess that's just a coincidence.
Wow, Heltenjon !
I had already taken the champagne from the fridge when I saw
your theory. The „more“ from Sycamore could be found in the sentence
„There is so much to take care of“ , it could definitely contain a „more“
I was so sure of having found the clue, but now I am in serious doubt...
Let‘s see what Jac the Chief comes up with....
The tech team scours the internet but finds nothing Stephen King related on Beelive. After hours of searching through usernames and profiles, they determine that there's no connection to our case there.
Officer Leland checks out Sycamore Close but finds nothing. He calls the chief, worried things are taking too long. The chief agrees.
The chief addresses you all with a distinct note of urgency in his voice. "Alright folks, we need to get to the bottom of this. I want you to go through that last call line by line and see if anything jumps out at you." He prints out a copy of the transcript and pins it to his door.
QuoteOh you think you've spoiled my climax?
All good plans contain a failsafe so they will be successful!
Once I get out of here, I'll put a stop to the destruction of the master's work, believe it!
Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of!
Just watch me!
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/GQ5fJ6s.png)
This is driving me nuts....
The only thing I notice is that each line has an odd number of words,
a coincidence ?
Maybe the clue is found in the passage between the words „start“ and „stop“,
I am giving up at this point....
Map for reference:
Spoiler
https://i.imgur.com/2RUq8U0h.png
The Chief's words about getting to the bottom and seeing if anything jumps out makes my mind drift towards Shudder Lake. But alas, I can't find it in the phone message. Can anyone see something related to the only body of water on the map? ???
Heltenjon, looks like we are the last two fighters left.
I had a similar idea about Shudder Lake, especially when our Chief
arranged the last phonecall (fishing)line by (fishing)line.
However, I am absolutely clueless, I have a textdocument containing the transcript and
the wierdest possible combinations of letters following the beginning/end hint, but to no avail.
Don't you think that due to the fact that there are 5 lines and each line would give two letters,
the clue we are looking for should be made from 10 letters ?
There is a number of places on the map that consist of 10 letters, I just don't get it.
The chief stumbles out of his office, drunk beyond belief. He staggers around the room, bumping into walls and knocking things off desks, all while muttering to himself incoherently.
"... beginnings and endings... line by line... map, map, they never mentioned a map, I'M NOT A MAP... backwards, so many backwards clues... Annie McGee, Annie McGee, I won't let you get ahold of me... endings and beginnings..."
Eventually the chief passes out on the floor while a rookie calls for first aid.
Quote from: Ian Aloser on Mon 10/08/2020 08:27:31
Heltenjon, looks like we are the last two fighters left.
I'm still here, I just don't have anything to share because I'm completely clueless :(
Good to know, Laura !
I am hopelessly lost at this.
The only thing I could guess is that the chief would be drunk soon :-))
EDIT: I am still playing with the thought that she wants us to watch her somewhere.
(Just watch me at the BOTTOM of the transript and believe it two lines above)
I was sure we could find something through BeeLive, but we didn't.
However, there is also a streaming tool named be.Live , maybe she is trying to lead us to a streaming platform.
Any ideas ?
The IT gremlins scour every video streaming site and every form of social media, looking for any fingerprints of the killer. They present a report where they are confident that there is no information online connected to the case, and while they are not detectives themselves they are of the opinion that the clue contained in the last call is most likely solvable using just the transcript and the other hints that have been dug up.
Ian, looking at the hints I'm fairly sure each line contains a part of the solution, probably at the start and end of each sentence. Maybe it needs to be read from bottom to top, maybe backwards, I don't know. I haven't found anything that would make a slightest bit of sense but the awkward wording can't be a coincidence.
Yes, Kastchey, I have the same feeling, but just don't get it.
"Beginning ist the End" tells me that there are 2 letters to be found per line,
making it a 10 letter location, providing that we are actually looking for a location.
I tried so many combinations, e.g. last letter of first word in the line plus first letter
of last word in the line, but to no avail. Maybe my approach is totally wrong or probably I didn't see it
(Remember Schaalburg, where it took days until Laura suddenly got it).
If it is only one letter per line than it would have to be KERRY.
I also divided each line into a left and a right portion, skipping the word in the middle, but could not see a thing.
(All lines have an odd number of words )
Quote
Oh you think you've spoiled my climax?
All good plans contain a failsafe so they will be successful!
Once I get out of here, I'll put a stop to the destruction of the master's work, believe it!
Kidnapping and murder are just the start, there is so much to take care of!
Just watch me!
Anyway, here are the 10 letter locations I found on the map, I don't think I missed one:
SCHAALBURG
WEEPY GROVE
LEITH ACRES
UNDERFIELD
ROCHESTOWN
ALDRIN WALK
Hope that someone is better at this than me ....
Ah FUCK.
Ian, you were looking in the wrong place the whole time because the Chief said "map, map, they never mentioned a map, I'M NOT A MAP".
The first and last letters of each sentence, read backwards, spell eJfKtOlAxO.
JFK to LAX.
I don't know what the remaining O and E could be, but she's flying to L.A. from JFK airport!!! She's probably thinking of blowing up the offices of the company that's making the film!
Potential Solution: Call all police stations available in the JFK area and send all units we can get our hands on to JFK airport with her description. Ground all flights. Let's get this bitch.
WOW LAURA !!!!!!!
I never would have guessed LAX, since I don't know that this stands for L.A. Airport.
That is why I excluded the letter x immediately, since it is only found in the Industrial Complex, which we already searched.
Great Job !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE KS CASE
EPILOGUE
Leland scanned the departures lounge for the hundredth time. As soon as the word had come in from HQ that the killer would be flying from JFK, he insisted on being part of the stakeout. He wasn't worried about the crime situation back home, it was a peaceful neighborhood at the best of times and with a crazed killer on the loose all the residents were on their best behaviour. He had jumped in a prowler and floored it all the way to NYC with the lights and sirens blasting. He was going to do everything he could to catch this maniac. As the only officer still standing who had ever actually seen this killer in the flesh, he wasn't going to miss this.
Local NYPD officers were stationed throughout the airport, keeping an eye out for anyone matching the description of Annie McGee. With the reduced travel thanks to our friendly neighborhood coronavirus, it was much less crowded than usual, but there were still hundreds of travelers on the premises. The TSA decided that the evidence wasn't strong enough to conclusively confirm that Miss McGee was coming to JFK, so they weren't willing to ground any flights. Thankfully the foot traffic had reduced enough that they were able to close every security checkpoint but one. If Annie was getting on a plane, she'd HAVE to go through the section that Leland was looking at right now.
Leland's desire to catch this criminal was intense. Hell, it wasn't a desire. He NEEDED to catch her. He'd only been on the force a little more than a year, but he'd experienced more hardship than most officers experience in their entire careers. Leland had seen the damage Collins had sustained from that first bomb blast. He had seen the terror in Garret Hawthorne's eyes, after his family was taken from him and he had been tied up and left for dead in his own bathroom. Leland had watched as his partner and friend, Ullman, had been set upon with an axe while they rescued Deborah and Tommy Hawthorne. Leland had been on the scene when they pulled Alex Pelton out of that abandoned car, and he'd been the one to spot that old barbecue where they found the goddamn Drew Barrymore picture.
The thing that stuck with Leland most though, was the look on Sergeant Pangborn's face when he told Leland to evacuate everyone from the area surrounding that house in Schaalburg. Pangborn, stuck on that booby-trapped staircase, had known that there was a good chance that Leland was the last person he'd ever see, and as his potential last act he had tried to protect the public and protect Leland. Leland wasn't going to let Pangborn's sacrifice go to waste.
Something among the crowd caught Leland's eye. It wasn't a particular movement or image, just his gut that told him that there was something off about the view. He quickly scanned the crowd, and his eyes settled on a person who was walking away from Leland, towards the security checkpoint. It was a woman in black clothing, her hood pulled up. Nothing particularly unusual about her, apart from the fact that it seemed like she was wearing slightly warm clothes for the summertime. She wasn't kitted out in black leather, studs, and straps, so it wasn't a punk or goth fashion statement. It was just an all-black set of clothes. Was it the same set of clothes he had seen the killer wearing in the abandoned hotel? It was impossible to tell for sure but... maybe. Leland began to walk towards the security checkpoint.
As he got closer to the checkpoint, the queuing travelers started to obscure his view as they all squashed together. He craned his neck to look around and over the heads of the bystanders to try and keep an eye on the woman. She was just walking through the metal detector now. She had pulled her hood down as requested by the TSA agents, but Leland still didn't have a good angle on her face. It looked like her only piece of baggage was a small backpack. Leland thought back to the plans he had found in the basement of Annie's bookstore. The bomb designs might be compact enough to fit in a backpack, and a lot of the components were 3D printed so they wouldn't appear on the X-ray machine. As the woman reached down to pick up her bag, he caught a flash of her face before another passenger blocked his view. The woman had brown hair and a round face, similar to the face he had seen in the photos Annie McGee's parents had given him.
Leland pushed through the queue and approached the TSA agent who had just conducted the check on this woman. The agent told him that the woman had displayed a valid ID, the name was "Charlene Wilkes." Leland clenched his fists, told the TSA agent to send backup after him, and took off in pursuit of the woman. While he had been waiting for instructions from HQ, Leland had been reading Stephen King's books and committing as much of them to memory as he could. He figured this might give him an edge when it came to spotting clues or aliases, and his hunch had paid off. The main female characters of the novels "Misery" and "Firestarter" are Annie Wilkes and Charlene McGee, respectively. If you swap the surnames around, you get Charlene Wilkes and... Annie McGee.
Rounding a corner, Leland saw the woman approaching a departure gate. The screen above the door read, "NON STOP - JFK TO LAX." Below in smaller letters was the message, "LAST CALL - DEPARTURE IMMINENT." Quickening his pace, Leland tried to come up with a way to apprehend her without causing mass panic and distress to the innocent bystanders. While the departure gates weren't exactly thronged with people, there were still a lot of civilians around who would need to be protected. He juggled that with the need to stop Annie getting on the plane, as once she was in the belly of the aircraft it would be suicide to go in after her alone. Waiting for backup was risky too, the plane could begin to taxi before reinforcements arrived. If Annie got wind of the plane being stalled or turned around on the tarmac, she could detonate her bomb and cause hundreds of deaths.
Eventually Leland realised that there was no subtle way to go about this. She was too close to the gate, she'd reach it before he could get to her. He took a deep breath, stopped, placed his hand on his revolver, and shouted. "Annie McGee!"
The woman up ahead stopped mid-step, like someone had hit the pause button on the bubble of air where she was standing. Leland called to her again. "Annie McGee! You are under arrest!"
Very slowly, the woman turned around to face him. Leland's hands trembled as he came face-to-face with the person who had been terrorising his town. It was her, it was Annie without question.
There was twenty feet between them, and about half that to the door of the departure gate. Annie looked at Leland, and Leland tried to work out what was going on behind her eyes. Was she scared that she had been caught? Disappointed that she wouldn't get to go through with her plan? Worried about what would happen to her? Angry that she had been stopped so close to succeeding? Amazingly, the only thing Leland saw in her eyes was a dark emptiness. She hardly seemed to be phased at all.
Annie turned her head to look back at the departure gate, pausing for a moment, as if to consider making a break for it. The member of the airline crew in charge of checking boarding passes had noticed the odd standoff happening in the aisle. It looked like Annie wouldn't be getting onto the plane. Members of the public started to stare from afar at the woman being accosted by the young police officer. Annie slowly turned back to face Leland. She stood motionless, her arms by her sides. Was she about to give in? Leland raised his eyebrows ever so slightly while maintaining eye contact, silently pleading with her, "Please, come quietly."
In a flash, Annie's hands shot up to her backpack straps. Suddenly her bag was on the ground and she began unzipping it. Leland drew his gun and cocked it. He bellowed as loud as he could. "ANNIE! FREEZE RIGHT NOW! I WILL SHOOT!" His words didn't discourage her, still with the same empty look on her face, Annie slipped her hands into her bag. Leland heard a woman to his right scream, and a child somewhere behind him began to cry. He shouted again. "EVERYONE CLEAR THE AREA! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" He heard the terrified scuttle of dozens of feet moving every which way as the bystanders scattered.
He saw the bomb. Annie had retrieved it from the bag, and it perfectly matched the designs he had seen. He watched as her hand moved across, right to the trigger switch. Leland gazed as deeply into her eyes as he could, desperately searching for a glimpse of sanity, any kind of indication that she wouldn't actually go through with it. All he saw was determination. Right as Annie's finger touched the switch, Leland squeezed the trigger.
With his eyes closed, fearing an imminent blast, Leland waited to feel the shockwave rip through his body. None came. He cracked open his eyes, and saw much the same building as before. The only difference was that, in the time he had had his eyes closed, there was no longer a living, breathing woman standing in front of him. Instead he saw a crumpled heap of limbs dressed in a black outfit lying on the floor.
He approached the person's twisted form, gun still drawn, and examined the scene. The clothes were stained with blood, and the crimson liquid was starting to roll its way steadily across the floor. The bomb was lying just a foot or two away, its corners scuffed by the fall but otherwise undamaged. There was a deep, circular, red gash in the crumpled person's forehead, directly between their eyes. Their eyes that had seemed so empty even when the person was alive, were now devoid of any light whatsoever.
Annie McGee was dead.
* * *
The chief bursts into the station, bags under his eyes, his skin pale, but a grin on his face. "Fantastic work everyone! The bomb squad are on the scene and taking care of business. I am so proud of your success, well done to each and every one of you! I can say with confidence that you are the best squad of detectives that any police department has ever been lucky enough to have. If I'm not mistaken, you managed to act quickly enough to save all but one of the killer's victims. God knows how many would have been killed and injured if you hadn't stopped her from getting on that plane.
"I've just gotten off the phone with our friend Sereant Pangborn, his recovery is going well and he was delighted to hear that his favourite rookie had taken down the killer. He extends his gratitude to you all on behalf of his officers, but he does say you owe his team a box of doughnuts for all the 'little challenges' you subjected them to.
"Your conduct throughout this investigation has been superb. You were led astray a few times but you always came back around and pulled through in the end. I think you have a lot to be proud of, especially because of the multitude of different types of clues, puzzles, and riddles that were thrown your way. You adapted to it all brilliantly! PROMOTIONS ALL ROUND!"
The chief ducks into his office and grabs his reserve bottle of whiskey. He comes back into the bullpen and tosses it in the garbage. "I don't think I'll be needing that anymore. I've been waiting to say this for a long time...
"CASE CLOSED."
Thank you so much to everyone for playing along! You were incredibly good sports. In particular, thanks for encouraging me when it came to the descriptive scenes of tracking down the victims. I hadn't done any creative writing in a long time and I am very grateful that you all accepted me using this game as a way to get back into it.
I apologise for some of the more confusing or illogical puzzles. The Justice Killer puzzles were so tight, I felt I had to experiment a little for this case, and I think I may have dropped the ball a couple of times. If anyone would like to know more about any particular clue, riddle, or plot development, or if you even just want an explanation about something that was unclear to you, please don't hesitate to get in touch! I will be happy to fill you in on anything that you might want to know. I'd also be up for writing a full breakdown of clues/Stephen King references if anyone is interested.
I hope you all enjoyed playing along with this game as much as I enjoyed running it. I couldn't single anyone out for particular merit, you all did such fantastic work and you really came together as a team! It was amazing to watch one person solve the first step of a puzzle, then have another person pick up from there and get a little further, and so on until the solution was discovered. It was also lovely to see that everyone's unique skills were used in different ways, so if one person wasn't good at letter-puzzles and just couldn't make any headway on the current riddle, then they could weigh in with their knowledge of Stephen King to help with the background investigation.
Thank you all so much, this has really been the highlight of my time spent social distancing. In a time when I've been anxious and nervous in general, it was always a great comfort to log on here and be able to interact with you all in such a fun way. Best of luck to anyone who wants to take the reins for another case, I will be eagerly awaiting with my deerstalker hat and cork pipe at the ready!
JackPutter, this is/was fantastic !
I will come back tomorrow with a more detailed acknowledgment,
had a few swigs too many!
Thank you so much and cheers until tomorrow!!!
EDIT:
JackPutter, I would like to thank you once again for this great and challenging entertainment.
Like your antecessor Mandle, you really put up something special here.
Your writing was so extraordinary, I could hardly wait for the next chapter to appear.
The riddles were really fair at all times (also for non-native speakers),
the puzzle with the audio file was simply ingenious !!!!
And the passage with the typewriter in McGee's house: Brilliant !
And the funny side-story with our whiskey drinking chief, I KNEW it would have this outcome :-))
The only thing I have to criticise: You raised the bar to such a high level that I can hardly imagine
how someone can come up with a case similar to the one you created here.
It would be nice if you wrote a few lines about how we could have done better (e.g. less injuries ,
I still think that the"jump of the quick brown fox" was related to not stepping on the bomb hidden under the
board in the staircase)
So thank so much you once again, I can imagine how much work you put into this.
And thanks for your patience ( especially with the final puzzle and our endless search for Schaalburg...)
Also, my thanks go to all officers here who contributed their skills to solve this case. It was a great pleasure having
you on my side !!!
I hope this wasn't the last CTI case, I would be happy to be on the team again for future challenges !
Thank you all and Cheers !
:-D :-D :-D
I'm so relieved! (laugh) Thanks a lot to JackPutter for a brilliant game, suspenseful writing and fiendishly challenging puzzles!
Also thanks to all who participated. You can see from the amount of readings that more people had a look at this than us who posted the most. Even so, I'll encourage more people to tone in when such a game is taking place. If you're clueless yourself, there's an odd comfort in seeing that there are more would-be-officers out there also trying to crack the case.
Laura, great spotting on the last riddle! I lacked the knowledge necessary to recognize this message and wouldn't have been able to crack it.
Jack, I for one would like to hear about any Easter eggs we haven't commented on, and also a bit about your process in creating this. What would have happened had we sent other officers or made other choices? Did you plan that out?
Heltenjon - I'll happily do a breakdown of easter eggs and also describe my process for creating the narrative. I'm in work today (12 hour shift, woo hoo!) so unfortunately I won't be able to do a detailed post today, but I can do a proper deep-dive tomorrow when I have more time.
Amazing finale, Jack, congratulations! I've had a rough and busy morning and I'm exhausted so I don't feel like writing much right now, but I wanted to at least say how much I've enjoyed this case even when I was completely lost and clueless. I loved all the official updates, and it was great to work together with the rest of the team towards finding a solution. Thank you so much for everything!
I have a seed of an idea for a future case, but my brain is so tied up right now with my own game and its puzzles that I don't know when I'll be able to try and develop this idea into a full-fledged story. But if I manage to do it, even if it's three months from now, I hope to see you all here again!
btw,
Spoiler
It's "fazed", not "phased". Sorryyyyy my inner QA / proofreader compels me :-D
Ian Aloser - I am really flattered by your kind words, thank you so much! I am very glad you enjoyed it and that you thought the puzzles were fair, I was very worried about that aspect of the game so I am relieved to hear you say that. I'll post a full breakdown of clues etc. below so you can see where you could have done better. I'm glad you enjoyed my writing passages, I wanted to reward everyone for their hard work so writing a little story when you made progress seemed to be a good way to do that.
Laura Hunt - Thank you very much for your praise, I am so happy that you had fun! The typos will haunt me for the rest of my life though! If you do decide to run another game I will be first in line to sign up!
THE BREAKDOWNTHE PREMISE:Spoiler
Just to spell out the entire story for clarity, Annie McGee was a shy, quiet girl who lost herself in books at an early age and never really learned to socialise. She discovered the books of Stephen King, and revered him as something like a God. She equated his books to a sacred text. She had always been appalled and disgusted at the film adaptations of his work, as they changed and modified the stories so much to the point of blasphemy in her eyes. She had a particular disdain for Mike Flanagan who worked on many Stephen King adaptations, in particular because in his adaptation of Doctor Sleep he used visual references to the Stanley Kubrick version of The Shining which King himself is famous for disliking. When she heard that Mike Flanagan was making ANOTHER adaptation, being filmed in her own town no less, she finally snapped and had to put a stop to it. Being the obsessive fan that she was, she was able to find out many of the production's details and she started planning accordingly.
If you know your Stephen King books and movies VERY well, you may have noticed that a lot of the would-be death locations were styled around things that happened in the movie versions, but not the novels. It has been many years since I read some of these books and seen some of these movies, but if I recall correctly I mostly used scenes from the movies that weren't in the films. The white "For Sale" sign with "CARRIE WHITE BURNS IN HELL" written across it is the ending of the 1976 film, but not the book. In the book version of The Shining, Jack Torrence terrorises his family with a kind of croquet mallet, never a fire axe. The evil car in Christine is crushed into a cube at the end of the movie, but is still roaming free when the book comes to a close. These details were to subtly hint that the killer was hung up on the movie versions specifically.
Spoiler
There's a few Stephen King related places on the map, some of which have been pointed out already. "Joe's Hill," is named after Stephen King's son, whose pen name is Joe Hill. Silver Creek is the name of the town closest to Annie Wilkes's house in Misery, and as I was loosely basing the character of Annie McGee off of Annie Wilkes, it seemed fitting to have that as the place where she was going to be found. I came up with Torrent's Crescent while thinking of the Torrence family from The Shining. Barrymore Place was named after Drew Barrymore who starred in Firestarter. Sheldonville is named after Paul Sheldon, the author who Annie Wilkes takes captive in Misery. Chunningham Centre is named after Arnie Cunningham from Christine.
A lot of the place names are derived from places that I have personal experience with... Sallynoggin Heights, Sycamore Close, Talbot's Inch, Kerry (not actually a reference to Derry from Stephen King's books, but a happy coincidence!), Rochestown, Newpark Centre, and Leith Acres.
There's a few random references thrown in for good measure. Schaalburg and Rumsfield Acres are references to The 'Burbs. Smithers Industrial Complex and New Haverbrook are references to The Simpsons. Aldrin Walk, Armstrong Walk, Tranquility Grove, and Stafford Place are all references to the Apollo space missions. (Based on a real neighborhood near me that has a similar naming convention!)
Spoiler
Almost every name has some reference or meaning behind it. As Leland deduced, Annie McGee is a combination of Annie Wilkes and Charline 'Charlie" McGee.
As heltenjon pointed out, the officers in the area are all named after characters from Stephen King's work. Sergeant Pangborn is a name I actually regret a little... I hadn't realised that Sheriff Pangborn was in so many different books, films, and TV series! In fact he's a main character in the Castle Rock TV show that came out a year or two ago, and I had forgotten that he was in The Dark Half too. My only memory of him was Needful Things, which is not one of King's more popular works so I thought it was obscure enough to get away with. I was wrong though, and you realised it immediately! Leland is named after the evil store owner in Needful Things (Leland Gaunt), White is named after Carrie White, Ullman is a named after the hotel manager in The Shining (Stuart Ullman) and Collins is named after Carrie's teacher (called Miss Collins in the movie).
The rest of the names are references to various interests of mine, a lot of them characters or actors from the show Community. Rachel Edison is named after Annie Edison. Garret Hawthorne is named after the characters Pierce Hawthorne and Garret. Alex Pelton is named after the Dean of Students. Daniel Wiseman is named after the director Len Wiseman.
Spoiler
This one was a little sloppy. I was still trying to get the overarching story straight in my head when I posted it, so it's a little out-of-place compared to the other letters. I am still kicking myself for signing the letter KS, that just led to SO much confusion over whether the killer was the King Slayer or not. The idea was that Annie was KILLING the kingslayers, i.e. the people who would butcher the work of her favourite author. I should have put KS in the letter somewhere but not signed it as KS. My bad, folks! I also kind of regret writing it in that messy, jumbled style. It didn't really fit with the idea of Annie being an aspiring writer. I kind of intended it to be purposely misleading, like a smart person trying to write badly on purpose to cover their tracks (which real serial killers have done!), but I don't think it came across properly and may have caused confusion. The "SPECIAL SOMEONE" in the letter was Mike Flanagan, the director Annie hated so much.
Similarly the unusual line, "IM SMARTER THAN ALFRED EINSTEIN AND TOUGHER THAN FORT KNOX AND DWAYNE JOHNSON COMBINED" is a reference to the town of Castle Rock (Fort Knox being the castle and Dwayne Johnson being The Rock) which I was going to use as a reveal that the town on the map was called Castle Rock, an early hint that this was all to do with Stephen King. I dropped it though since (a) the Stephen King link was found out pretty swiftly and (b) it would be a really weird reveal. Like, all the characters should know the town's name already, no? So now it's just a bit of an orphaned reference with no payoff.
The last line, "WHAT DO YOU SAY? CAN I COUNT ON U?" was a hint that the solution to the number puzzle was to count the numbers out loud in order to find the right solution. I could not stop laughing when I saw Detective Hunt get SO CLOSE with a method that was so utterly different to the intended one! The coins were to direct you towards it being a phone call, but they were actually used again in another clue later!
Spoiler
You can see me already trying to clarify/backtrack on the KS business in the first phone call from the killer. There's a whole paragraph about not being KS, the victims are KS, and so on. I originally considered not posting the word search and letting you figure out the Playboy clue yourselves, but I figured I'd be nice and have the chief work it out so you could get right to the puzzle.
Y'all found "Between Armstrong Aldrin" pretty quickly there, even if Collins did nearly get his arm blown off when you learned the dangers of a wrong guess.
Spoiler
Sarsdale and Ender's Copse were the solutions to this two-part poem puzzle. The *achoo* from the killer came right before the word "end" which was a hint towards both of these places. The killer also said, "I will have the last laugh," again pointing towards the end of the sentences. This was also the first time Annie used a phrase from Annie Wilkes's vocabulary, "dirty birdies."
Spoiler
You picked out the ROT-1 code almost instantly, I was kind of amazed since I find those things very hard to identify personally. The line, "IWILLPROTECTHIM" was intended to steer you towards the killer being a fan of Stephen King and that King himself was not the target. The mentions of tears and sorrow correctly steered you towards Weepy Grove, in record time I might add!
Spoiler
More Annie Wilkes catchphrases here, "cockadoodie brats" being another hint at the killer being a crazed fan. The line, "I AM THE OPPOSITE OF KS" was another attempt to clarify that the killer was TARGETING the people who murder King's stories, while also indicating that the killer's username was King Slayer backwards. I had to have the chief emphasise that point a few different ways! I made sure to include the line, "You need to look for me FOR REAL" to give you a hint that this was going to be a clue you needed to solve by actually searching in the real world. You figured out the other clues about Tumblr, Twitter, and SoundCloud pretty well! I'd have loved to have seen Detective Hunt's face when she found that recording.
I've already described the solution to the backwards-recording puzzle (it was the one where the investigation went in the direction of patterns on the map) so I'll just copy and paste it here:
The INTENDED clues that the poem contained are as follows. "In the middle of it all" was something you picked up on, which pointed towards Cunningham CENTRE. Similarly, the line "He is the centre of my world" was in the poem, again indicating Cunningham CENTRE. The final clue in the poem was the line "You sneaky clever little pigs." What's another way of saying a clever pig? A CUNNING HAM.
Spoiler
The puzzle with the missing letters is another reference to Annie Wilkes in Misery (Can you tell that's my favourite of Stephen King's books?) as the typewriter she gives to Paul Sheldon keeps losing letters. By the end of the book, the N, E, and T have all stopped working. I used that as the basis for the puzzle. The "quick brown fox" sentence was included to help you identify which letters were missing, I didn't intend for there to be any other clue there. I was absolutely ASTONISHED that CaptainD solved that so quickly, I am not exaggerating when I say my jaw dropped when I saw the solution posted, perfect to the letter, within 30 minutes of me putting it online.
The numbers-as-letters anagram puzzle was pretty straightforward, though the fact that I used the digits "26" IN a sentence did throw people a little. I also accidentally included an extra number 2 which led to a lonely "B" being left when you formed the letters into Schaalburg. The line, "I have 26 pieces left," is a VERY oblique hint... Judas Iscariot famously betrayed Jesus Christ and was paid 30 pieces of silver. The killer has 26 pieces left because they sent four quarters to the NYPD back at the start! This was to point you towards SILVER Creek. Then I realised that potentially that clue was too obscure and I couldn't have expected everyone to know about Judas's 30 pieces of silver, so I added the line, "My bones do not creak," to point towards Silver CREEK, and I'm glad I did because that's how you eventually solved it.
Spoiler
Not too much to say here, the solution was to take the first and last letter of each sentence, in order, and read them backwards. There's an extra "O" at the start and an "E" at the end, simply because to only include the letters "JFK TO LAX" would have meant that the very first word would have needed to start with the letter "X" and I thought that would be just simply TOO awkward!
Spoiler
When it came to coming up with the narrative, I had mapped out the sequence of victims and the killer's plan pretty well. I knew how one crime would lead into another, and where it was all building to.
For guessing locations, I had three categories in mind. The first were the correct solutions, they would advance the plot if they were picked. The second were unrelated locations, where nothing would happen if you searched them. The third category were trap locations, where you would be punished in some way. For example, going to Armstrong Walk or Barrymore Place would result in a negative outcome. The traps were always things that were hinted at in the killer's communications. You actually didn't fall into that many traps, so congratulations on that front!
I always tried to reward you for thinking like a real detective squad. So if you asked if you could investigate a certain thing in a certain way, I tried to allow it. For instance, asking for a sniffer dog when searching right after a bomb went off. That was a perfectly reasonable request! I adapted my plan to allow it. I also tried to give little pieces of information if you showed good detective skills, I actually had Alex Pelton come forward because you were doing so well and in real investigations witnesses come forward all the time, so why not? I did not discriminate about what I would elaborate on though, if you asked a question then you got the answer no matter how relevant it was. This led to a lot of time spent on red herrings. I had to come up with a lot of details about Garret Hawthorne's book which ultimately had no bearing on the case! But they were exactly the kind of questions a real detective would have asked, and if I hadn't elaborated you would have known something was up.
Spoiler
Honestly a lot of the time you folks managed to meet the deadlines I had in mind, which was great! The only time where you took longer than the time I had allocated was on the search for Cunningham Centre. I gave an extra long time limit for that one because I knew that tracking down the SoundCloud recording could have taken a while, but even after you found the clip and had the transcript, you took too long and poor Denis Wiseman didn't make it. Those pesky patterns on the map cost you, I'm afraid! That's kind of the only puzzle you didn't solve quickly enough, so well done to you all there!
When it came to the searches and sending out officers, I mapped out loosely how the scenario would go, so the general outline wouldn't change. I did, however, plan slightly different outcomes depending on which/how many officers were sent. The first instance you see the consequences of this was in the Lakeview Hotel. If you had sent Pangborn along with Ullman and Leland, then Pangborrn would have seen where the killer was hiding and Ullman wouldn't have been injured. If you had split up the team and sent White along with Ullman or Leland, the least experienced officer would have been killed. That's kind of how all the encounters were planned.
Another branching-path moment relied on whether you figured out where the crew were staying first or you figured out where Annie's house was. If you had found her house first, there was a chance she would have detonated the bomb remotely. However if you saved the crew but didn't manage to track down Annie's house soon enough, she would have been long gone and the production offices in Hollywood would have been toast. You manged to JUST find her house in time, so well done to you all!
The booby trapped house in Schaalburg was handled in a similar way. If you had sent White and Collins, one of them would have died but Mike Flanagan would have lived. If you had sent Leland with either White or Collins, one of them would have died AND Mike Flanagan would have died too. Thankfully you sent Pangborn, who had the smarts and the dedication to sacrifice himself and save everyone. I didn't have it in me to kill him though, I grew quite attached to all those folks!
The encounter in Annie's house would only have gone differently if you had specifically sent all three remaining officers. Annie would have been wounded in the scuffle, meaning that she wouldn't have been able to cycle all the way to JFK Airport (that's totally why she took days to get there, not because it was just how this game works) and in her final call there would have been clues to find her still in the town.
Lastly, if you hadn't searched Annie's bookstore, Leland wouldn't have had the knowledge about the bomb having 3D printed components and he would have assumed Annie was unarmed when she went through the security checkpoint. I'll just say that things wouldn't have gone as smoothly if you hadn't made that decision. Excellent job checking that out!
I think that's kind of everything I can think of at the moment... if anyone wants any clarification or wants me to elaborate on something, please don't hesitate to ask!
Jack Putter ,
Thanks so much for this elaborate explanation!
I can hardly believe how much work you put into this post alone!
You really have put up something special, I wish I had just a few
percent of your narrative talent.
One last question : How did you come to ALFRED Einstein instead of Albert?
I laughed out loudly, because Alfred is a rather rare german forename in these times.
And I still blush when I think of my near-perfect pentagram leading to Sheldonville :-)))))
So thank you once more for this great piece of entertainment!!!!!!!
Thank you for the incredibly detailed explanation, Jack! I loved reading how you came up with all those names, references and winks because that's the way my brain tends to work too. I'm humbled that you staged this whole thing for us, and glad that you had fun following our crazy hunches as we ran from one place to another like headless chickens :-D
Reading the reasoning behind some of the clues, I have to admit that some of them were REALLY obscure, like the one about the 26 pieces of silver. Man. You clearly overestimated us!
The way you planned out the different outcomes according to which officers we sent to each scene also had my jaw hitting the floor. Now THAT is dedication. Chapeau.
(Regarding the ROT-1 puzzle, in case you're curious, what caught my eye almost immediately was seeing "MM" twice, plus some other double letters like FF and SS. This told me that it had to be a substitution cipher, not some words hidden among a bunch of random letters. And when I landed on BMM I was like um... that could be "ALL" in ROT-1. And it was :-D)
Cool, thanks for all the hard work! (nod)
My, you don't disappoint, Jack! That's an incredibly detailed post, dare I say in SK's spirit.
(Now, constant reader, SK himself has taken to including these details and hints in his books, where he will tell where an idea came from, or where they will be linked by something or someone.)
Way before social media really became a thing, I behaved like alt.books.stephen-king was my social medium of choice. You could say this case was a trip down memory lane for me. Jack, if you haven't checked out the Castle Rock TV series, you will probably like it. Especially season two, about Annie Wilkes at a younger age.
Thanks for including everything I wondered about and then some. 8-0 I was wondering about the combination of officers a lot. Great to see how it could have been, as this game can't be replayed. It's incredibly hard to get the difficulty just right when you make these kinds of puzzles, but I'd say you managed to make them varied and hard enough. Great use of hints in-game through the captain! That's how I got the phone number puzzle.
I'll also compliment all the little interactions with the team. Good to know that my donut discount was put to good use. And also thank you for those details you didn't put in there, but which were there nonetheless. The perfect pentagram and the clue to Salzburg stand out to me like they could have been correct. Amazing.
Thank you all for such lovely comments! This was my main project over the lockdown period, so that probably explains why I put so much effort into it! I'm very glad you all think it paid off.
Ian Aloser - Alfred Einstein came from me thinking, "If a smart person was pretending to be someone who was dumb but trying to appear smart, what would they do? Well, they'd claim to be smarter than Einstein but get the name wrong!"
Laura Hunt - I realised pretty quickly that the Judas puzzle was too out-there, that's why I added the other clue. I decided to leave the 26 pieces of silver bit in there though because that's the kind of puzzle I like. (Thank you for the tip about recognising substitution ciphers, I'm sure that will be very helpful to me in my future puzzle solving endeavours!)
Cassiebsg - Thank you very much for playing! I am so happy that you enjoyed it!
heltenjon - I'm glad that the subject of this game matched your interests so well! I wasn't sure if there would even be any Stephen King fans playing, and I'm very happy that I managed to include enough references and easter eggs to give you a nice nostalgia hit. Shortly after beginning this game I actually started watching season one of Castle Rock, which is when I realised that Sheriff Pangborn is a much bigger figure in Stephen King lore than I had thought! I enjoyed season one of the show, and season two is definitely on my list! I am also amazed by some of the coincidences that occurred during the course of your investigation... The pentagram and the Salzburg situation both completely amazed me! 100% unintentional. Absolutely fascinating how those things can arise.
I liked the first season of Castle Rock a lot, although I found the ending to be a bit of a cheap "haha gotcha!". I haven't watched the whole of season 2, though. I found it slowwww and a bit boring tbh, and I dropped out after 2 or 3 episodes. Maybe I'll give it another go sometime.
I used to be a huge Stephen King fan back in the day (== the 80s), but I stopped reading him after Needful Things came out, as I felt that his books were just getting more and more bloated for the sake of it (I absolutely hated Tommyknockers), and that he was phoning it in by that point. I'm sure he's written a lot of good stuff after that, but I've never really felt like picking up any of his books since then. So yeah, this means I haven't read any Stephen King in... 30 years :-D