On the road… again!
Afghanistan to Zambia
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek

 

Cracking the Lilly Fuchsia Case

Youthful CSI investigator Jaelyn (Mushroom) Hunt(er) lived the CSI credo of following the evidence. Those essentials are: observe the evidence; gather it up; display it during an initial examination; secure it in a suitable container to protect latent clues; and re-examine the evidence, as needed, for a thorough review of existential linkages that will lead to the perpetrator(s), the motive and the mechanics of execution.  Thus it was that 11-year old Jaelyn (Mushroom) Hunt(er) was able to crack the Lilly Fuchsia Case.

When a mysterious and unexpected parcel was retrieved from the mailbox of her grandparents, they were puzzled about the contents, since the sender whose name was clearly written in cursive in the return address position of the parcel was a person unknown to them.  More to the point, the parcel was addressed to Lilly Fuchsia—who did not live at the delivery address.  To be sure, the address was correct and clearly written, including the spelling of the longish name of their town and its obscure Zip Code.  It was also clear that the sender had used the same thin-line black pen to neatly and unwaveringly fill in both the information blocks in the return address; and the complete address of Lilly Fuchsia in Greenbackville, Virginia. 

Since the address checked out, the grandparents took the liberty of opening the parcel to discover that it contained the Pokemon figurine known as Giratina.  Surely this was intended for Jaelyn, but it was sent from Philadelphia in Eastern Pennsylvania; and Jaelyn was only visiting for a relatively short time in Virginia.  Who was the sender?  Why did they send it to the obvious alias named Lilly Fuchsia?

Some of that photographic evidence is shown above and below.  Steps have been taken to protect the privacy and identity of those not directly involved.  It was, however, a real mystery and it took the observational skills of Jaelyn Mushroom Hunt(er) to get to the bottom of it.

The plastic Pokemon Giratina had formed a conspicuous bulge in the soft packing envelope and was readily extracted unto the examination table.  There was nothing unusual about it; it seemed to be a genuine Giratina. 

The mystery about the sender and why a Giratina was sent to an alias with the surname Fuchsia festered until the following morning when CSI special agent Hunt(er) took another look inside the thick mailing envelope. She discovered a torn piece of art paper with a faint pencil sketch which clearly was a work of her own doing.  Even her grandparents recognized the signature lines of her stylized cats.  The envelope also contained a thin strip of coded hieroglyphics that some of her school mates called unknown writing.  Evidence was mounting that the sender and Jaelyn shared a common interest in coded hieroglyphics and the artwork of Jaelyn herself.  But the sender didn’t attempt to write any words on the enclosures.

When CSI Hunt(er) put the torn sheet of artwork together with the strip of code, she knew that it could only be sent from her classmate in Western Pennsylvania, the one who always wanted to be called Lilly.  Thus, it appeared, Lilly Fuchsia had sent a small gift to Jaelyn by addressing the package to herself.  By now, 11 year-old CSI Jaelyn Mushroom Hunt(er) had deduced that it came from her school friend Taylor.  Mystery solved!  Case closed!