Elaine and Francois Martine

IFNE 01/22 Forty years back, a businessman named Francois Martine had his mountain chalet robbed by a high-end cat burglar. A real expert. French police even suspected magic was involved because there were no clues other than a missing solid gold owl. “The client is Martine’s daughter, Elaine. She says the owl has been in her family for generations. There’s a bonus if we don’t press for details.” , And this is where it gets really weird.” Not that long after the theft, rumors popped up on the net. Someone claiming to be the thief said he had the owl and left eleven clues to its whereabouts with five in a cipher that no one’s been able to figure out.” “Elaine has additional information she recently came into that might narrow it down more.” “She already did after she sent the fifty-k non-refundable deposit.” “It’s our new company policy. Only way to do it. Makes the client have some skin in the game. That way, Elaine won’t hire six different hunters to up her chances. All or nothing kind of deal.” “What’s got her motivated enough to part with that much money?” “The key that will allow the ciphers to be broken. She’s passed along the five clues in decoded form.”