#1 The Dogliest Detective and the Mystery of the Masked Man
Toby had spent the morning filling out paperwork in the HR Department on his first day of work at the Alaska Consulting Detective Agency, and now he looked forward to a calm lunch break.
However, the moment Toby entered the employee cafeteria, the old guard detectives sitting at their usual table in the center of the room were waiting for him. They were not going to let the young pup get aboard without the traditional hazing.
“Hey, it is the new alpha dog!” said Captain McGruff, loud enough so the whole cafeteria could hear him. Many of the co-workers started giggling and the rest hid their eyes.
“Maybe you can help me solve a big mystery that has us all perplexed.” McGruff said and then cleared his throat.
“I was doing a surveillance job on a big case in mid-town a few months ago. I was on high ground and had a good field of vision. The suspect had been hanging out at home, but then left in a sprint heading northeast. He didn't run too long, though, before he came to a stop next to a guy who was just standing there, dressed peculiarly and wearing a glove only on the right hand."
"The suspect stood next to the guy for a while without talking to him, then took off running due northwest until he stopped next to another guy dressed almost exactly like the first guy, except this guy had a glove only on the left hand. The suspect also didn’t say a word to this guy either – they hardly even looked at each other.”
Toby just wanted to curl up in the corner to avoid this sudden attention. Instead he just stared at the chewy treat on his tray. Captain McGruff gave a big grin to the whole room and continued the initiation. “Of course I made notes of all this myself like a professional detective – I don't just rely on my nose to solve mysteries, you know."
"The suspect hung out at the second location for a short while, then ran southwest, took a hard left, and made a beeline straight home. But he never made it home, because another guy dressed like the others was standing in his way, except this last guy had a mask on. This stopped the suspect in his tracks and made him retreat.”
“What would you do, Mr. Hot Dog?” said Captain McGruff while raising his voice dramatically. “Would you have shot the man in the mask? Would you call the police? Maybe you would arrest the suspect?”
Toby finally looked up to see the entire cafeteria staring at him. He wrapped up what was left of his lunch into a doggy bag and headed for the exit with his tail between his legs. Most of the company workers couldn’t suppress their laughter and some gave high-fives to the Captain.
Just before he disappeared from sight, however, Toby turned and barked out loud enough to be heard over the laughter “I am afraid I am just not experienced enough to know what to do to the suspect, Mr. Captain McGruff. It all sounds like ______ to me.” The laughter suddenly ceased.
Toby turned and left with his tail wagging, found his new office, and took a nap for the rest of his lunch hour. None of the other employees dared to disturb him.
The key to finding the cache is to figure out what 8-letter word (ABCDEFGH) Toby said that solved the mystery and quieted the crowd. The one word answer explains all the oddities in the story. Then translate the letters into single digit numbers (a=1 ... y=25=5, z=26=6). The micro-size cache and log scroll can be found at coordinates:
N 61° 11.1 (C-2) (D+2) W 149° 55.6 (A+4) (G)
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com. Have fun and please make sure the cache is secure when you are done.