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Authors: Penny Warner
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down.”
The Code Busters headed up the stairs and out onto the observation area that surrounded a small, enclosed room. The wind whipped through Cody, much like it had at the top of the lighthouse on Alcatraz. She zipped up her hoodie and pulled the hood over her head. Peering inside the tiny inner room, she saw a few of the massive steel bells, along with a row of horizontal bars that looked like giant organ pedals.
The kids had the place to themselves, so they could take their time and examine every accessible inch of the area. “You check that side, Cody,” Quinn said, indicating the east side. “M.E., there.” He pointed to the south side. “Luke, the west. I’ll check out the north side.”
The Code Busters spent several minutes exploring their assigned areas, searching for anything that might be a clue from one of Diamond Dave’s gang—or even a diamond. After ten minutes or so of exploration, Quinn said, “I got nothing. You guys find anything?”
“Nope,” Luke said. M.E. and Cody shook their heads.
Cody felt as if she would freeze to death if she stayed up in the tower much longer. Between her chattering teeth, she said, “Let me check one more place.” She returned to the side of the tower that faced Alcatraz. “Anyone have a mirror?”
“Cody, this isn’t really the time to check your face,” Quinn said.
“It’s not for that, Quinn. Wait, I have one! I almost forgot.” Cody pulled out her iPhone and tapped on her mirror app. A picture of her face appeared, looking red and splotchy from the cold wind. She held the mirror out over the ledge andmoved it around to see if she could spot anything on the outside.
“I think I see something!” Cody said, as she held the cell phone as steady as she could in her freezing hand. “Letters, and some numbers …”
The kids gathered around. “What does it say?” Quinn asked, straining to see the reflection in the phone mirror.
“I’ll take a picture of it,” she said, and clicked the phone’s camera button. She pulled her hand in from the bitter cold and displayed the photograph she’d just snapped.
Sure enough, words and numbers had been carved underneath the ledge. She read them aloud: “ ‘We ring, we chime, we toll: 9-18-36-3-2-12-17-5-16 10-17-16-2-18.’ ”
“That’s from the plaque inside,” Quinn said. “It’s written in the brochure.” He pulled the brochure from his pocket, opened it, and read the words:
“ ‘We ring, we chime, we toll, Lend ye the silent part,Some answer in the heart, Some echo in the soul.’ ”
He looked at the others with raised eyebrows.
“What about the numbers?” Cody asked. “That has to be some kind of code.” She pulled out her notebook and wrote down the numbers, then tried to match them to letters in the alphabet. But the alphabet had only twenty-six letters. “It has something to do with the quote. Quinn, what’s the ninth letter in the quote?”
“C,”
he said.
She wrote it down. “Okay, what’s the eighteenth letter?”
“L.”
She continued counting off the numbers for Quinn to decipher. The thirty-sixth letter was
A
. The third letter was
R
. And so on. They looked at the word Cody had spelled out.
Code Buster’s Key and Solution found on this page , this page
.
“Well,” Quinn said, his face lighting up with recognition. “I guess that’s where we’re going next.”
M .E.’s eyes grew wide with excitement. “This is so fun! A treasure hunt—for diamonds!”
“Look,” Quinn said, heading for the other side of the Campanile tower. “You can see it from here.” He pointed toward the foothills behind the campus, where a white hotel was nestled. “See that big tower?”
This was the third tower on their treasure hunt,Cody realized. This one belonged to the historic Claremont Hotel. Her mother had taken Cody there to celebrate her thirteenth birthday, and they’d had an afternoon tea party. The hotel had been built back in the early 1900s, and
The Code Busters headed up the stairs and out onto the observation area that surrounded a small, enclosed room. The wind whipped through Cody, much like it had at the top of the lighthouse on Alcatraz. She zipped up her hoodie and pulled the hood over her head. Peering inside the tiny inner room, she saw a few of the massive steel bells, along with a row of horizontal bars that looked like giant organ pedals.
The kids had the place to themselves, so they could take their time and examine every accessible inch of the area. “You check that side, Cody,” Quinn said, indicating the east side. “M.E., there.” He pointed to the south side. “Luke, the west. I’ll check out the north side.”
The Code Busters spent several minutes exploring their assigned areas, searching for anything that might be a clue from one of Diamond Dave’s gang—or even a diamond. After ten minutes or so of exploration, Quinn said, “I got nothing. You guys find anything?”
“Nope,” Luke said. M.E. and Cody shook their heads.
Cody felt as if she would freeze to death if she stayed up in the tower much longer. Between her chattering teeth, she said, “Let me check one more place.” She returned to the side of the tower that faced Alcatraz. “Anyone have a mirror?”
“Cody, this isn’t really the time to check your face,” Quinn said.
“It’s not for that, Quinn. Wait, I have one! I almost forgot.” Cody pulled out her iPhone and tapped on her mirror app. A picture of her face appeared, looking red and splotchy from the cold wind. She held the mirror out over the ledge andmoved it around to see if she could spot anything on the outside.
“I think I see something!” Cody said, as she held the cell phone as steady as she could in her freezing hand. “Letters, and some numbers …”
The kids gathered around. “What does it say?” Quinn asked, straining to see the reflection in the phone mirror.
“I’ll take a picture of it,” she said, and clicked the phone’s camera button. She pulled her hand in from the bitter cold and displayed the photograph she’d just snapped.
Sure enough, words and numbers had been carved underneath the ledge. She read them aloud: “ ‘We ring, we chime, we toll: 9-18-36-3-2-12-17-5-16 10-17-16-2-18.’ ”
“That’s from the plaque inside,” Quinn said. “It’s written in the brochure.” He pulled the brochure from his pocket, opened it, and read the words:
“ ‘We ring, we chime, we toll, Lend ye the silent part,Some answer in the heart, Some echo in the soul.’ ”
He looked at the others with raised eyebrows.
“What about the numbers?” Cody asked. “That has to be some kind of code.” She pulled out her notebook and wrote down the numbers, then tried to match them to letters in the alphabet. But the alphabet had only twenty-six letters. “It has something to do with the quote. Quinn, what’s the ninth letter in the quote?”
“C,”
he said.
She wrote it down. “Okay, what’s the eighteenth letter?”
“L.”
She continued counting off the numbers for Quinn to decipher. The thirty-sixth letter was
A
. The third letter was
R
. And so on. They looked at the word Cody had spelled out.
Code Buster’s Key and Solution found on this page , this page
.
“Well,” Quinn said, his face lighting up with recognition. “I guess that’s where we’re going next.”
M .E.’s eyes grew wide with excitement. “This is so fun! A treasure hunt—for diamonds!”
“Look,” Quinn said, heading for the other side of the Campanile tower. “You can see it from here.” He pointed toward the foothills behind the campus, where a white hotel was nestled. “See that big tower?”
This was the third tower on their treasure hunt,Cody realized. This one belonged to the historic Claremont Hotel. Her mother had taken Cody there to celebrate her thirteenth birthday, and they’d had an afternoon tea party. The hotel had been built back in the early 1900s, and
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