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Do you think it could of been an animal bone?

In the beggining of shegogs poemhe is saying that he is in his basement. That might be a good place to look for clues. Mrs. shegog also slipped a word about the basement when she left the message on the answering machine. The words"Left and Right" at the end of the poem may be directions on the map to lead you to his teasure.

Hello!
Sorry I can't identify myself but i think you shouldkeep up the good work I hope you solve this mystery.
I also think you should go under the tunnels and find any clues.
Go with a grown up that knows the area very well!

Hi Rachel! I think the kids should talk to their parents about going down into the tunnels and taking a grown-up with them. Although one that doesn't know much about what they are working on so he/she doesn't interfere. They could also look up information about Generel Shegog at their libarary

Hi. I was wondering if there was a message board fo kids. I have a website I am trying to promote to kids and I'm having trouble. Please help.

Hi Rachel!
Where did Mrs. Shegog get that necklace? Sometimes the least suspicious person can be the guilty one. Do you think the kids are being held as prisoners?

i think there at k5

Where do you keep the bones you find.

Daniel Stains

what bone did you find and did you find any others .

what bone did you find and did you find any others .

Have you found any other bones yet like a foot or a leg .

Look in F-3.That is the olny place that you can flood water!

Claire L Simpson.
I have read most of the tips and i am going to go with'j9'.I have had a good look on the map and it looks like a good guess I have one Question(Why did the kids go into the tunnel?).

I think thier in j9.


Samantha

I THINK THERE IN J.9

i.5

I think they are trapped in the chapel.
Katie Trahan
gabe@trahan.net

Rachel,
Seems to me, the names,Lowery,O'Brian,Shegog
named in the letters from the confederate soldiers, and the fact mrs. Shegog
had on a heartshaped ruby necklace, which more than coincidence,was mentioned in the news article about her winning the senior contest,and also in one of the letters written by a confederate soldier. My thinking is, that Lowery, O'Brian,and Ms Shegog conspired to get the treasure and it has already been removed by them...proof? the heart shaped ruby necklace!

did you say you found a map?
e-mail me y-dogrt100@worldnet.att.net

DEAR RACHEL,
What is your case about.Where DID YOU FIND THE BONES.WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO.

I think that you found the bone in the trap door because somebody got murdered there. I don't think it is a soldier. It was prbably a recent death.

Amanda

THE KIDS ARE AT J9!

THE KIDS ARE AT J9!

nn

I THINK THE KIDS ARE AT J9 ON THE MAP

I think that you will find your friends at J-9. I figured it out by the cadense poem. This was alot fun!!!!

1. I must have missed it, but where did the kid find a telephone in an underground tunnel?

2. They're trapped in underground tunnels filling up with water- I wouldn't expect a grown man, much less a young kid to sound so calm and logical on the phone.

3. Kids, don't go rooting through anyone's property- it is an evasion of privacy, and your case is apparently not sufficient enough for a search warrant...not unless a bunch of bones start turning up while people start missing.

4. Was someone's grandfather a detective? Perhaps he still has a few friends on the force. Use connections. Is there a local forensics lab? Have the bone tested. Perhaps they can approximate how long its been there.

How did you get trapped in the tunnels?

How did you get trapped in the tunnels?

rachel,would you please ask your grandfather if he could check out the bone and maybe he could tell the reason for the bones' owners death
[from:trinaph]

[From: LZRQUEEN]
I beleive the kids and the treasure are located in J- 9 on the grid. I came to this conclusion from thr left- right cadence in the poem
LZRQUEEN

Rayson-Sonya
Ok it has been 48 hours.....what has happened I hope that we will get some news soon, I hope we won't have to wait until next Monday.

Rachel: You heard it here first. The Kudzu Kids are safe! They were at J-9. More info here. Thanks a bunch. There were some good gueeses and teamwork.

[From Holly] Give my thanks to Rayson-Sonya for noting my wrong turn. I think she is right about where the treasure is, not where I originally thought. Her solution is still at the intersection of an X (as she explained elsewhere). It is also nearly at the CENTER of the map. I am thinking that if you are going to create a map on how to get somewhere, the logical place to put that destination would be near the middle. It also explains something that was bothering me about my original location. If Rayson-Sonya is right, Hunter, Zach and Melody are at a den that is at the end of a tunnel. If water was coming into the den from that tunnel there would be no other way out. But my original guess (at the intersection of 4 tunnels) would have left other ways out. It makes more sense that they are stuck at a dead end. So I would suggest following up on Rayson-Sonya's suggestion
Sorry for the misdirection.

Holly

Jerry Boyce is not the real janitor. I found info. about him. Could that be useful? Thankyou, Hayley Halpin :-)

Rayson-Sonya
My boo-boo I wrote the wrong thing I meant number 9 and J across.

Rayson-Sonya
To Holly, I saw your map,I feel you are on the right track,however if you notice, you went straight through an intersection where you should have turned to the right. I feel that if you walk a crucifix when you map it, it looks like a crucifix when you are done. You are real close though, you just took a wrong turn.

i think you'll find them G across and 12 down

[oxford]
I believe you'll find your friends at G across and twelve down. I think the general pretty much had it mapped out for us.

Rayson-Sonya
The Treasure room is located on your map:
9up and I across. Holly tried to look at your map but it said there was no path and no mention on you web page it's self.

I think that the poem is the key. I don't know where to start though. I tried from the long straight passage that is far from anything. It led me to the middle of the maze. I think that is where they are trapped.
Thank You
Katrina Kellerman

This is the map from Holly's web page. She has a larger version on her site--thanks Holly!

[From: Holly] Here's my guess. I've made a map, using the one with the overlap you created as a starting point. I don't know how to email it to you, so I put it on a web page for now, here. You might want to make a copy quickly, since I don't know how long I can leave it there.

The numbers below refer to numbers on the map

1: Start at the Magnetic Observatory. Note on the sign it is called "Dead House". In the poem, see that it says "But the earth's riches rot/beneath the House of the Dead"

2:Stark's Bait. At this point, go left. In the poem: "Scavenging fools whose claws cannot wait/Shall go wandering right at the den of Stark's Bait." We aren't fools. Also it continues. "And if he put coutry first then on to Goldstar Peak". But he was a traitor to his country (he was originally a Union soldier), so we continue: "And if he put God first then turn the other cheek". The opposite of right (and "toward Goldstar Peak" is left. So we go this way. Note that Stark's Bait is called a "Den" and it is marked as a circle on the map. This turns out to be important later!

3: Santo Spirito. Take the 2nd path. Poem says:
"Marching the twice left path of old Santo Spirito". This also confirms we were correct to go left above!

4: Fourth Den. This is the fourth circle on the map from the starting point. In the poem: "And once his eyes on the fourth den do fix..."

5: Crucifix pattern. In the poem: " ... He shall march the rest as a Crucifix" Note that the turns in the tunnels map the "Left, right, right, left, right, right,l eft, right, right" pattern, and that this forms part of the outline of a crucifix.

6: The treasure den. I think this is where the kids are. In the poem, it says "Left!" - you turn off of the crucifix path and go left and the next thing you get to is another den. Also note that this den is at the intersection of 4 tunnels, like an "X". The poem says "X marks the spot where the sick spiritis loom". Looking at the map, it appears this spot is in front of the Y building (also known as the Old Chapel - of course it wasn't old then, it was new, so they just put "Chapel" on the map). Remember that the building was used as a hospital during the war, so naturally it is near where sick spirits loom. On your map this is at about point 375, 375. I don't know what the scale is, so I can't tell you how far that is from the Y building.

If the Y building is also connected (as seems likely), someone could have broken water pipes there and that could be what is flooding the tunnels. (Maybe the Professor or O'Brien). You might want to have someone from the university maintenance check quickly, as it seems likely that the other kids could be in danger from flooding, especially if they are at a low point in the tunnels. I think they may have dropped the cell phone in the water already, and it may not be working anymore.

The conversation with the strange students showed a picture of an entrance to a tunnel. Was that near the Y building? Maybe this is the closest point of entry to where the kids are.

I don't think you will find any treasure there though. I think Old Lady Shegog has found it already. She was wearing a ruby locket, and that sounds like the one the civil war soldier letter was referring to. She was an archeologist, so I bet when she returned she traced all this and found the treasure already. I wonder if she had the strange students look for it for her, and they aren't telling.

I think you should have a grown up look for the kids; don't go by yourself. I think there are two things to worry about. First of all, I think there maybe traps, especially in the GoldStar peak area (where fools would go according to the poem). Also, one of the civil war soldier letters talked about burying guns in the tunnels, so these might have decaying hair triggers and booby traps to shoot Union soldiers that might be searching for the treasure and not know the right way.

Also, I don't think the Professor nor O'Brien know that Old Lady Shegog has already found the treasure. If they find you, they might hurt you to prevent you from getting to it first. This may have already happened to the other kids, and the Professor may be trying to drown them.

I don't think that what the Professor is doing will help him get tenure. Your dad is a professor, what does he think? Be sure to ask. This could be important! At least, it could be important to Professor Lowry and could determine what he does next.

Rayson-Sonya
Also I believe the city can shut the water supply to the college area so the water won't flood the tunnels totally. I believe the police can handle that.

rayson-Sonya
As I have said before, I believe the treasure room is the center dot in the middle of the map. If you finish connecting the line starting at the Chapel and going across until you reach Magnetic Observatory, the line goes right thru the dot I am speaking of. The line to the right of Barnard Observatory can be followed across the map as well. Those two lines form the "X" the dot in the middle is the treasure room. There are two ways to enter, the Chapel and the Magnetic Observatory...The Chapel is the quicker way to reach the treasure room. The Treasure room is located in the Grove area which just is an open area with trees .
Now about the treasure....the orginal is gone, Mrs. Shegog said there is nothing down there, I believe she knows the truth since she had the necklace. I think that Dr. Lowery was recreating the treasure probably using antique jewlery.He may have gained possesion of the ruby necklace as well. He may have bought it from Mrs. Shegog since he had her number. He may also have a copy of the poem since she seemed eager to share her Great grandfather's stuff. As I figure she also has her grandson(Jerry Boyce-O'Brian) keeping an eye on Dr. Lowery to see what he is up too. That maybe how Mrs. Shegog was informed about impending danger in the tunnels. Kevin Stark probably found the leather map in his ancestors stuff and took it to Dr. Lowery to see what he thought about it. That is what gave Dr. Lowery the idea of creating the treasure then writing a book. It would give him good standing at the college and he would be able to publish a book. Mrs. Shegog maybe in on it as well, since she would gain attention and her status would be better in the community if the book was written.She would have a famous great granddad. Overall Dr. Lowery needed physical evidence to back up his claims in the book he was writing so he recreated and planted evidence to backup his story.

Or the whole thing could be a fake!! One can buy old parchment paper.There were only 3 letters in the archives,Dr. Lowery could have planted those as well. Also leather can be aged to look older then it is. Dr. Lowery is desperate enough to orgestrate the whole thing in order to publish a book, and receive the respect he thinks he deserves. Mrs. Shegog's grandson does have a criminal history, so he might be eager to help portray this hoax if he thought the payoff was good enough.
As I see it either senerio would do. Since the initial discovery of the bone showed that part if not all of this, was based on deception of some sort.
Well I am done!

I notice that the X that all treasure maps have in order to indicate where is the treasure is missing.
A "y" could be considered and " x" with the fourth part missing. There is certainly some kind of device that self-protects the treasure, even if it has to do only with words.

From Sue

I think they are trapped somewhere in the
Goldstar Peaks.They should have people looking
up and down for those kids of unless someone
led the into the tunnel and then somehow he/she
got past them and trapped them in there.Like
someone didn't want anyone to find out the
history.That's what it sounds like to me.

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