Case of the Missing Salmon

A pacific salmon is missing from the Platte River Fish Hatchery in Beulah. Detective B. Stealthy is on the case and is gathering bits and pieces of evidence, most of which he has scribbled helter-skelter on odd scraps of paper. Piecing together the detective’s notes will help you to solve the crime and put you on the trail of the missing salmon.

Background Notes…

1. Five area cats (Lucy, Mr. Bigglesworth, Sebastian, Phoebe and Mozart) were seen in the vicinity of the Fish Hatchery around the time of the heist, but only one was actually at the scene of the crime.
2. The five cats, each a different breed (Persian, Siamese, Angora, Tabby and Himalayan), each wear a tag with a different ID number on it (127, 268, 382, 417 and 503).
3. Each cat fled to a different area trail (Beulah Village Park, Platte River State Forest - Honor, Betsie Valley Trail - Beulah Trailhead, Betsie Valley Trail - Mollineaux Rd. Trailhead and Railroad Point Natural Area) when they learned their name was on the suspect list — one cat had the salmon with him/her.
4. Inspection at the scene of the crime turned up a cat’s ID tag; the detective found it an odd coincidence that the number on the tag was the same number that had been assigned to the missing salmon.

Collected Facts…

1. Lucy is the Persian cat.
2. Mr. Bigglesworth, who is not the Himalayan, wears number “503″ on his tag.
3. Phoebe, who is not the Tabby or the Himalayan, wears number “127″ on her tag.
4. The cat who wears number “268″ did not flee to either the Village Park or Railroad Point.
5. Mozart’s tag is not numbered “417″ or “382″.
6. The cat who escaped to Platte River was not the Himalayan.
7. Phoebe is not the cat who fled to Railroad Point.
8. The Tabby cat ran off to the Beulah Trailhead.
9. Sebastian is not the Angora.
10. The cat who fled to Platte River, who was not Lucy, wears a tag numbered “382″.

Finding the Letterbox…

Once you have pieced together the information and completed the additional research to deduce which trail the guilty cat headed to, make your way there and use the following clues to find the spot where he hid the salmon:

Follow the trail straight ahead from the main parking area. You will come upon a large inscribed memorial stone. From this rock, walk at 150 degrees to the edge of the trees. Due East, find the salmon hidden under bark in the center of a triple trunk cherry tree.

Point Betsie Light Station

History…

The Point Betsie Light Station, which was registered with the National Registry of Historic Places in 1984, is one of the mostly visited and widely recognized lighthouses on the Great Lakes. The existing structure was built in 1858 on a point of land, known by the early settlers and trappers as “Point Aux Bec Sceis,” translated loosely to mean “sawed beak point.” This point of land was a key turning point for ships entering the Manitou Passage.

Until recent years, the keeper’s dwelling served as supplemental housing for US Coast Guard personnel. The lighthouse has now been turned over from the USCG to The Friends of Point Betsie Lighthouse, a citizen’s organization formed for the purpose of preserving and managing the lighthouse.

The dunes area to the south and east of the lighthouse are a part of the Zetterberg and Point Betsie Dune Preserves, which boast several species of rare dune vegetation, as well many unique shoreline animal habitats. Please be conscious of this as you visit and stay on trails and avoid trampling beach grass or other plants. Hiking trails are available throughout the dunes preserve if you have a longer period of time.

Clues…

This box is missing and will be replanted in a new location.