Granny Mae needs a detective. Turn your sound on.

Lessons you need for this case

The six notes in this case use six different secret codes. You must have finished all six code lessons to solve the whole mystery. If you skipped one, go back and learn it now.

Check the box next to each lesson you have finished.

    Check all six lessons to open the case.

    How this case works

    1. Read about the case and meet the eight suspects.
    2. Crack the six notes. Nobody will tell you which code is which. One note cannot be read until another note tells you where to find a missing card.
    3. Answer three questions. Who took Big Bertha? Where is she now? Why was she taken?

    Be careful with step 3. A wrong answer locks the answer box for 3 minutes. Guessing will not work. Cracking the notes will.

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    Your work saves on this computer.

    Teacher note

    Answers are inside. Enter the teacher password.

    What is going on

    Big Bertha is a pumpkin. She weighs 900 pounds. Granny Mae Pickett grew her from a seed, and on Saturday Big Bertha was going to win the blue ribbon at the Harvest Fair, just like Granny Mae's pumpkins have done five years in a row.

    On Tuesday, Granny Mae went to visit her sister. When she came home on Wednesday morning, Big Bertha was gone. All that was left was a dent in the dirt.

    The big weigh-in is on Saturday morning. Granny Mae has hired you to find her pumpkin before then.

    What we know

    ?
    The pumpkinBig Bertha weighs as much as a horse. Nobody carried her off by hand. It took a machine.
    The tire tracksDeep tracks lead from the pumpkin patch, across the road, toward the Sorrel farm.
    7
    Rule 7The fair has a strict rule. Only the grower may move a giant pumpkin. If another grower touches it, that pumpkin is out of the contest.
    The notesSix notes, found around the pumpkin patch. All six are in the same green pencil.
    The scarecrowHe stands right next to where Big Bertha sat. He saw everything. He is not talking.

    Granny Mae says: "It was Hank Sorrel. Five years of second place, and now this. If he so much as touched her, she is out of the contest. Find her, and find her fast."

    The timeline

    • Tuesday, 4:00 PM. Granny Mae drives to her sister's house, forty miles away. Big Bertha is sitting in the pumpkin patch.
    • Tuesday, 6:00 PM. The TV weatherman says, "No frost tonight, folks!"
    • Tuesday night. A hard frost. It drops to 28 degrees.
    • Wednesday, 8:00 AM. Granny Mae comes home. Big Bertha is gone.
    • Saturday, 9:00 AM. The big weigh-in at the Harvest Fair.
    A word to know: frost. Frost is ice that forms on a very cold night. One hard frost can turn a pumpkin to mush.

    Eight names are on the list

    Each of them has a reason, or a way to move a 900 pound pumpkin. An alibi is proof that you were somewhere else when it happened. Look at who has one.

    Granny Mae says: "Eight names? I only need one. Hank. Sorrel. I have said it twice now. Do you want me to write it on the barn?"

    The six notes

    Every note has a secret message. First work out which code it is. Then crack it. The keys are in the Code toolkit tab. You need all six notes to answer who, where, and why.

    Notes cracked: 0 of 6

    Caesar Wheel Review the lesson

    Every letter slides the same number of steps down the alphabet. Find the secret number, then slide the strip. Look up each code letter on the top row. The real letter is right under it.


    Pigpen Cipher Review the lesson

    Each letter is drawn as the shape of the pen around it. Shapes from the second grid and the second X have a dot. Use this key for this case.

    Tap Code Review the lesson

    Every letter is two sets of taps. Count the first set to find the row. Count the second set to find the column. C and K share a box.

    Two taps, then three taps, means row 2, column 3. That is the letter H.

    Atbash Cipher Review the lesson

    Atbash is the mirror alphabet. A swaps with Z. B swaps with Y. C swaps with X, and so on. Look up each code letter on the top row. The real letter is right under it. It works the same way in both directions.

    Hidden Message Review the lesson

    A hidden message does not look like a code at all. It looks like a normal, boring note. The secret is hiding in the first letter of each word. Write down those first letters, in order, and read what they spell.

    Example: "Please ask Sam soon" hides the word PASS.

    Cardan Grille Review the lesson

    A Cardan grille is a card with holes cut in it. The message hides inside a big square of letters. Lay the card on top, and only the letters of the message show through the holes. Read them from left to right, top to bottom.

    If you get nonsense, the card may be the wrong way around. Turn it and look again. A square card can sit four different ways.

    No card, no message. In this case, you have to find the card first.