Spy Mission, #1: Mr Victim's Missing Box
My youngest in particular is really interested in spies and spy missions. It seems that he will do anything, even things that he would not ordinary want to do, if it is part of a spy mission. This momma knows a golden opportunity when she sees one, and made a spy mission for the boys to do.
The set-up was that a spy within their organization was working on a case when he suddenly died (of natural causes), so the case was passed to them to solve.
Mr. Victim, who is very elderly and has vision difficulties, had contacted the spy organization because a watch and a box of family heirloom-memorabilia had been stolen from him. The watch was mysteriously returned but the box remains missing. The mission is to find out who stole the items and get the box back.
I took photos of the other five family members, who became the five suspects in the case and wrote up clues that the previous spy had obtained from an interview with Mr Victim.
The five suspects, all members of Mr. Victims household staff:
Rachel: The Maid; wears glasses and a brown shirt
Stewart: The Chauffeur; wears glasses, a brown shirt and a black hat
Ginger: The Cook; wears a brown shirt and a black hat
Joe: The Gardner; wears a blue shirt and a black hat
Tom: The Butler: wears a blue shirt
- Mr Victim found glasses by the couch and the next day they were gone.
- Mr. Victim's watch was returned; placed on the table.
- Mr Victim saw Rachel looking through the window.
- Mr Victim saw Stewart pulling at the curtains.
- Mr. Victim saw Joe staring at the refrigerator.
- Mr. Victim's diary pages for the last 10 days had been torn from his diary and were missing.
To give them an idea of how to use the clues, I had the previous agent determine that from the clues provided by the interview, that Rachel, Stewart were the most suspicious, with Joe also being a possibility. I urged them to find more clues
The previous detective had been given a mysterious coded message but had not solved it before his death. I provided them with a Morse code sheet to help them solve the coded message.
The coded message, they found, said:
THE MISSING DIARY PAGES ARE ON THE WASHING MACHINE.
The ran there and found the pages, which gave them the clues they needed to solve the case.
TUESDAY: Today I saw someone with glasses following me.
WEDNESDAY: I saw someone with glasses at my window.
THURSDAY: Someone with a black hat was in every store I went to today.
FRIDAY: There were two people following me; one wore a blue shirt.
SATURDAY: A girl was outside my window.
SUNDAY: Someone with a black hat tried to steal my shopping bag.
MONDAY: I think the person who tried to grab my bag was the same person I saw on Thursday.
TUESDAY: This morning someone in a brown shirt ran away from y door at 3 am! I also found my watch tonight on the table. It must have been returned to me. The box is still missing.
WEDNESDAY: I found a broken pair of glasses and all of my things turned upside down in my bedroom.
I was pleased to see that they could use a graph (like they did in a recent math activity) to solve the mystery.
They determined which suspect was most likely and confronted him.
He confessed and returned the box.
The agents received their reward.
They liked the case, but Quentin requested that the next one be more spy-like and less detective-like. We shall see what I come up with.
