True Detective

How Tiffany Brooks 鈥�21 cracked the clues of a fourteen-year-old 涩里番下载 treasure hunt.

In 2006, English Professor (TKM to students) created a campus treasure hunt to celebrate the release of his fantasy book Memoirs of a Shape-Shifter. He drafted fifteen clues drawn from the novel and 涩里番下载 history and lore, and offered a $2,000 prize to the sleuth who could solve the mystery. But no one ever did. That was until last fall, when Tiffany Brooks 鈥�21鈥攚ith some help from friends Abby Hunt 鈥�21, Aidan O鈥橬eill 鈥�23, Kiki Kavanagh 鈥�22, Jacob Kelleher LSOE 鈥�21, and Caitlin Mahon 鈥�21鈥攆inally finished TKM鈥檚 puzzle after nearly a year of dogged detective work. "This was definitely one of the coolest parts of my 涩里番下载 experience," said Brooks, who grew up watching Spy Kids and reading Nancy Drew mysteries. "I鈥檓 glad I was able to share it with other people." Here are the stops Brooks made around campus as she deciphered Kaplan-Maxfield鈥檚 clues to complete the hunt, and collect the reward.

鈼� START: Bronze eagle atop the Dewey Column

Bapst Library interior

TKM鈥橲 CLUE:
Though you be a Know-Nothing yet,
Turn about and walk to the place
Of the tarred-and-feathered leader.
厂翱尝鲍罢滨翱狈:听The Swiss Jesuit priest John Bapst鈥攖he namesake of Bapst Library鈥攕urvived a tarring and feathering by members of the Know-Nothing Party in 1854 to become the first president of 涩里番下载.听鈼�听STOP 2:听Bapst Library

鈼�听STOP 3:听Shakespeare stained glass window in Bapst Library

鈼�听STOP 4:听Gasson 100

鈼�听STOP 5:听Stokes Hall

鈼�听STOP 6:听Fourth-floor conference room at Stokes Hall

Fulton Hall atrium

TKM鈥橲 CLUE:
Where the clue has led, seek the number
Among its fellows. Read and think:
Where is there such a place nearby?
厂翱尝鲍罢滨翱狈:听In the library database, Brooks discovered that the call number she found at Stokes Hall鈥擯z8.B327 Wo鈥攊s for听The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. That sent her to the atrium at Fulton Hall, where design elements such as the domed tin light fixtures and the tapestries woven with the red, pink, and black hues of poppies are rumored to be inspired by the children鈥檚 book鈥攁nd one of the atrium benches听is听inscribed with the Latin "Certes, Toto, sentio non in Kansate iam adesse."听鈼�听STOP 7:听Atrium at Fulton Hall

鈼�听STOP 8:听Burns Library

鈼�听STOP 9:听Fourth floor of Stokes Hall

Fulton Hall atrium

TKM鈥橲 CLUE:
Now remember also your discovery
At Clue #4.听Where does one grow
That never grows, though always
Watered and under the sun?
厂翱尝鲍罢滨翱狈:听Clue 4 had Brooks counting the branches on the trees in the mural听The Church: The Education of Mankind, in Gasson 100. With that in mind, she found a tree "that never grows, though always watered and under the sun" in Peter Rockwell鈥檚 ten-foot bronze fountain听The Tree of Life, on the edge of O鈥橬eill Plaza.听鈼�听STOP 10:听The Tree of Life听fountain

鈼�听STOP 11:听Stokes Hall S369 (Kaplan-Maxfield鈥檚 office)

鈼�听STOP 12:听Bapst Library sundial

鈼�听END:听Volunteer & Service Learning Center in McElroy Commons
At the last stop on the hunt, Brooks found a star-shaped brooch like the one described in Kaplan-Maxfield鈥檚 novel, nestled inside a dusty book from Sundial Press. Puzzle solved! 鈼�

Back To Top