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TREASUR7 5' Detective and the treasure map

Michaela recognized the voice on the phone. It was the owner of
the museum.

"Michaela, I need your help again." he said.

Michaela assumed that he was calling about another necklace
robbery. But instead, he asked her help with a different kind of
mystery.

"What kind of mystery?" asked Michaela.

"We were digging up the ground to build a new wing on the
museum, when we discovered what looks like the ruins of an old
library that was buried in the rubble of the 1906 earthquake."
he explained, "In the rubble of the library were hundreds of
books. We'd like you to look at one of these books and see if it
has clues to a buried treasure."

Michaela went down to the museum and looked at the book. It's
title said, "Famous Bank Robberies." In the margins on several
pages describing the robbery of a local bank in 1903 were hand
written notes.

Here are the notes:

Sailor's Hill

Where birds drink and clean themselves

Trunk, branches and leaves.

Trunk and leaves, no branches.

Chop okay.

Silverware.


"What do you think these words mean?" asked the museum owner.

Michaela replied, "I don't know yet. But I think the key is the
first clue. If we can figure out what SAILOR'S HILL means, I
think we can figure out the rest of them."

So, Michaela went to the new public library and looked up maps
of the city from a hundred years ago.

"Yes! Here it is!" she exclaimed.

"Did you find something?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, "It says here that the area of the city we
now call OCEAN VIEW used to be known as SAILOR'S HILL, because
it was the first piece of land sailors could see when they came
home to port."

The museum owner said, "You said that if you could figure out
what SAILOR'S HILL was, you could figure out the rest of the
clues. Do you still think that?"

"Yes." replied Michaela, "I think these clues tell us where the
bank robbers from 1903 buried their treasure after they robbed
the bank."

(Can you figure out what the clues mean?)

Michaela explained, "We're looking for a house up in OCEAN VIEW
with a bird bath in the yard. That yard also has a tree with
branches and leaves AND a tree with leaves but no branches."

"What does that mean?" asked the museum owner.

(Do you know what kind of tree has leaves but no branches?)

"A palm tree has leaves but no branches." replied Michaela.

"What about the next clue?" he asked, "What does CHOP OKAY
mean?"

Michaela thought for a moment, then guessed, "I think it's
telling us about the other tree."

(Can you tell what kind of tree has branches and leaves that can
be described by CHOP OKAY?)

Michaela replied, "If you chop the word OKAY in half you get OK.
OAK."

"OAK. OAK TREE!" he exclaimed, "That makes sense. So, we'll go
up to Ocean View and look for a house with a birdbath in the
yard as well as a palm tree and an oak tree?"

"Yes. I think so." replied Michaela.

"What about the last clue: silverware?" he asked.

"That's an odd one." said Michaela, "Let's find the house first,
then look at the last clue after we've found it."

There were six houses on the hill with palm trees in the yard
and five houses with oak trees. But only two of them had both a
palm tree and an oak tree in the same yard. And only one of
those had a birdbath in the back yard.

"This must be the place." said the museum owner, "But how will
we know where to dig?"

Michaela looked around and thought for a moment, then replied,
"Did you notice that the bird bath is right in the middle
between the oak tree and the palm tree?"

"Yes. I suppose it is. So?" he asked.

"So, what was the first clue after SAILOR'S HILL?" she asked.

"The birdbath. So?" he asked.

(Can you tell from this clue where the treasure was buried?)

Michaela replied, "I think the treasure is buried right under
the birdbath."

Sure enough, just a few inches below the birdbath, they dug up a
treasure chest. But instead of a padlock, this chest had a metal
plate with holes in it. But the holes were odd shapes. The shape
of the hole on the left side of the plate looked like a smiley
face. On the right side of the metal plate was what looked like
a long, very skinny triangle. Between these two holes were four
tiny holes in a row and evenly spaced and close to each other.

"There's no pad lock!" exclaimed the museum owner, "How do we
open it?"

(Can you tell from these clues how to open the treasure chest?)

Michaela replied, "I think the last clue from the book tells
us."

He replied, "The last clue from the book is SILVERWARE. How does
that tell us how to open the treasure chest?"

(Can you tell from this clue how to open the treasure chest?)

Here's how Michaela opened the treasure chest:

She slid a spoon into the opening that looked like a smiley
face. She slid a fork into the four small holes. Finally, she
slid a knife into the hole that was shaped like a long, skinny
triangle. Then, CLICK, the treasure chest was unlocked. It
contained a million dollars worth of gold coins.

©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties.
Do not sell this story or rewrite it.
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http://www.bobsnook.org/kid  email: bob@bobsnook.org

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