Treasure

Secret Codes

Ben, Riley, Abigail collected the items they needed, including cotton swabs, gloves, lemons, and several other glasses and set them on a table covered in black plastic. Ben slid on some of the gloves and removed the document from its container, gently laying it upon the tabletop. Y/n stood beside Riley as the four looked down upon the document.

"Looks like animal skin," Patrick announced. "How old is it?"

"At least 200 years."

"Really? You sure?"

"Pretty darn," Ben replied.

"Now, if thing's in invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Riley asked.

"Throw it in the oven," Patrick suggested. Each of the four protested his suggestion. "Ferrous sulphate inks can only be brought out with heat."

"He has a point," Y/n said.

"Yes, but this..."

"It's very old. This is very old,and we can't risk compromising the map," Ben explained.

"You need a reagent."

"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?"

"I'm fine."

Ben turned back to the Declaration. "Lemons." Riley handed him the bowl and Ben grabbed one of the slices, reaching his hand down before Abigail grabbed his wrist.

"You can't do that."

"But it has to be done," Ben countered.

"Then someone who is trained to handle antique documents is gonna do it," Abigail said.

"Okay." Ben stood back asAbigail grabbed the lemon and stood in his former spot.

"Now, uh, if there is a secret message, it'll probably be marked by a symbol in the upper right-hand corner."

"That's right."

Abigail grabbed a cotton swab, rubbing it across the lemon. She sighed heavily, leaning on the table. "I am so getting fired for this." She gently applied the lemon juice on the corner, and waited. Nothing appeared. Abigail gave Ben an 'I told you so' look as Riley sighed.

"I told you. You need heat." Abigail and Ben leaned down over the document, each one exhaling. And just like that, a symbol appeared where the lemon was placed. Y/n grinned and hopped slightly.

"Yes!"

"See?"

"We need more juice."

"We need more heat."

Pretty soon, Abigail had a hairdryer, heating up the lemon juice while Ben wrote down the content shown.

"That's not a map," Riley noted. "Is it?"

"More clues. What a surprise."

"Are those latitudes and longitudes?"

"That's why we need the Silence Dogood letters."

"That's the key?" Abigail asked.

"Yeah. 'The key in Silence undetected,'" Ben answered. "Dad, can we have the letters, now?"

"Will somebody please explain to me what these magic numbers are?"

"It's easy, Riley. Look-" Y/n began.

"It's an Ottendorf cipher," stated Abigail.

"That's right."

"Oh, okay," Riley nodded. "What does that mean, Y/n?"