The Writing Loft

Mystery, Museums
and Mayhem
An Artoberfest Adventure
by The Writing Loft in collaboration with Friends of the Arts

Find the artifacts.
Locate the perpetrators.

Participating Museums:
Chico Museum
Bidwell Mansion
Gateway Science Museum
Stansbury House
Patrick Ranch
Janet Turner Print Museum
Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology
Colman Museum
Chico Creek Nature Center
Gold Nugget Museum
Ehmann Home

The Story...

Here are the facts: Francis Pickney, an anthropology professor, and an unknown accomplice have walked off with ten artifacts from a traveling museum exhibition. No one discovered the theft until the exhibit was placed aboard the U.S.S. Aron Tiforp on its way to Hawaii.

Before documentation could be sent to the Chico authorities, the boat sank in the Pacific Ocean. The authorities conducted a thorough search of Pickney's home, but the only evidence of the missing items was an empty crate and a codex the police is sure tells the location of each of the items.

The only clue detectives could decipher revealed that the objects were hidden in plain sight spread among the displays in a number of Chico's museums.

Your mission is to find the missing items, discover the whereabouts of Francis Pickney and identify his accomplice. Good luck! Visit each museum and find a note that holds a piece of the codex containing the clues.

To identify the ten missing artifacts, head to the ten museums where the authorities believe Francis Pickney and his accomplice have hidden their stolen goods. At each museum you will find a note that has a puzzle you need to solve to find the hidden artifact at that museum.

The notes at each museum will also contain two clues—one clue will help lead you to the whereabouts of a one Mr. F. Pickney and the other clue will help lead you to the identity of his dastardly accomplice.

You’ll need to collect all ten clues to solve the mystery. Once you have identified the ten missing artifacts, know exactly where Francis Pickney is hiding and know the identity of his accomplice, alert the authorities right away!

4. Collect the clues listed on each note to learn the location of Mr. Pickney’s hideout.

5. Collect the clues listed on each note to determine the identity of his accomplice.

6. Once you have found each of the missing artifacts, solved the whereabouts of Francis Pickney and discovered the identity of his accomplice, email your findings to artoberfestmystery@thewritingloft.com.