There are 8 parts to this mystery --- The continuing parts will be released one at a time based on each part being solved. NO answers will be revealed at any time, until someone solves the complete mystery. Once you solve a part, email the answer to [email protected]. Whoever sends in the final answer sheet with the correct final answer will win a prize worth 10's of 10's of dollars......IF ANYONE REVEALS ANY ANSWERS OR HINTS ON ANY FORM OF SOCIAL MEDIA - THIS PERSON WILL BE IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED AND BLOCKED FROM THE CONTEST AND FROM WINNING THE VALUABLE PRIZE ...... 

PLAY FAIR FOR EVERYONES BENEFIT!

All that will be revealed is true, except for those things that aren't.....

Let the games begin....

The Hill House Bed and Breakfast has been around for quite a while before my wife, and I purchased the property. We are located on the Bourbon Trail in Loretto Kentucky and are near quite a few distilleries. Less than 3 miles from Maker’s Mark, 9 miles from Limestone Branch and the new Jefferson’s Brand and only 12 miles from Bardstown which is considered ‘The Bourbon Capital of the World’. We fully embrace the way of life on The Bourbon Trail and realize it attracts close to 3 million visitors each year. We have learned about the importance of bourbon and realize the most expensive bottles ever distilled come from this area. There is a unique history associated with the Bourbon Trail, but we never knew the extent of the events that occurred in our humble abode until very recently.

It was a weekday in early October, and we finally decided to go up in the expansive attic and do a little fall cleaning. The various left-over Christmas decorations were scattered about, but what most intrigued us was the pile of unmarked boxes pushed into the corner. We had briefly opened them when we first moved in, and it looked like they were mostly older books and games. We decided to go through each box and look at the contents and make keep-piles, trash-piles and donate-piles. About one hour into this process, we moved one of the larger boxes towards the stairs and inadvertently pulled up the end of an old 1x6 board underneath the box. I started to replace the board but noticed some type of yellowing protective parchment paper stuck between the joists. I carefully pulled the wrapped package from beneath the floor and realized it contained a pile of old-style journals tied together with leather wraps. I removed the yellow outer paper and pulled the first journal off the top and browsed the contents. It appeared to be a reconciliation of certain days at the Inn during the1880’s including guests and other information. The first letter read as follows……

July 15, 1889
Veritas 1
It is a warm summer day in the rolling hills of Kentucky as the group meets again at our centrallocation – The Hill House Inn. We are called ‘The Order of Validus’ and this journal is released to note some information that was finally verified and brought to our attention. As is expected in our secret society, we give our sacred word to never directly divulge any corroborated information and can only pass along cryptic references. This is in most part due to the grave consequences entailed and for the protection of the original corroborator. Ninety-eight percent of all historical events are for the most part true and based on verified facts. It is the two percent that are brought to our attention and what our society focuses on. Everything you read and are taught is not always true……

This is one of many journals that have been documented and is our first that requires release to the public. We always meet at The Hill House based on its central  location. The Inn is centered on a + from 4 strategic locations in the main area of the populous United States. Traverse City to the north, Kansas City to the west, Tallahassee to the south and Washington D.C. to the east. The intersecting points from these 4 cities form a cross at the current site of The Hill House. 

I will start with our guests here at the Inn for this weekend - Frances Sonesta and Rachel Quincy are debutantes from St. Louis and staying in the downstairs room named Magnolia. Upstairs in Dogwood, which is the largest room, are Lawrence Atwood and Trinity Bates who are business partners from Chicago. Across the hall from Dogwood is Maple and occupied by Warren Cornine and Tessara (Tess) Vasiliou. Tess is a rich widow from Crete who met Warren in Greece while he was helping with the Cretan revolts against the Ottoman Empire. And in the back upstairs room, Cherry, are Andrew Beightly and Franklin Stenner, who are from Boston and looking to start their own distillery. My name is not important but for posterity’s sake you may refer to me as Waard from this time forward. The upcoming sequence of riddles and clues will threaten the Intelligence of many a person, but it must be laid out in this manner. The origins come from a group of well-read individuals in the aspects of mathematics, geography and history meaning that this will not be an easy task to decipher. So let us start with our first clue that was presented to me by our scholars to initiate this fore named Bourbon Trail Mystery. Read the contents and notate the solution in the spaces following this excerpt to begin the first phase of a solution.          Good Luck.

“Papa used to read us bedtime stories most every night. It wasn’t your normal kid stories but paragraphs from classic Shakespearean characters like Aragon, Romeo and Elsinore. His booming voice would echo off the 10-foot ceilings of the bedroom that my sister Sierra and I shared. We were enthralled with his storytelling ability, unlike our hound dog India who was curled up asleep on the round rug at the foot of the bed. His stories would seldom stray from Shakespeare however he had started reading a book recently released about a young boy named Tom Sawyer who loved to get in trouble in his Mississippi delta playground. My favorite story being where Tom tricked his friend Joe Harper by creating an echo in the deep woods of Missouri. Nothing pleased me more than listening to these well-told stories, but my sister was of a different note in her favorite memories. She often talked of the fancy dinner parties in the downstairs living room where guests were dressed in impeccable white clothing dancing a waltz in the early hours. A crackling fire was built in the large fireplace and it showered warmth on all who braved this cold November night. And as the night progressed, watching as our Argentinian cook began teaching the most daring guests a new dance from her country called the tango. It was a sight she said would always hold a special place in her heart.”

The answer consists of this many letters........

_____   _____   _____  _____   _____     _____    _____   _____   _____

I will start with our guests here at the Inn for this weekend - Frances Sonesta and Rachel Quincy are debutantes from St. Louis and staying in the downstairs room named Magnolia. Upstairs in Dogwood, which is the largest room, are Lawrence Atwood and Trinity Bates who are business partners from Chicago. Across the hall from Dogwood is Maple and occupied by Warren Cornine and Tessara (Tess) Vasiliou. Tess is a rich widow from Crete who met Warren in Greece while he was helping with the Cretan revolts against the Ottoman Empire. And in the back upstairs room, Cherry, are Andrew Beightly and Franklin Stenner, who are from Boston and looking to start their own distillery. My name is not important but for posterity’s sake you may refer to me as Waard from this time forward. The upcoming sequence of riddles and clues will threaten the Intelligence of many a person, but it must be laid out in this manner. The origins come from a group of well-read individuals in the aspects of mathematics, geography and history meaning that this will not be an easy task to decipher. So let us start with our first clue that was presented to me by our scholars to initiate this fore named Bourbon Trail Mystery. 

Now for our second clue - Read the contents and notate your answer in the spaces following to begin phase 2 of a solution. Good Luck.

“We start with Franklin in a Cherry tree, then add Frances for the sum to agree.” ________

“The Maple leaves are bright and yellow, and Warren by himself is a lovely fellow” _________

“Andrew and Tess make a lovely pair, despite equaling a sordid love affair” _________

“Rachel has doubled herself in the room, with Lawrence totaling a Dogwood bloom.” _________

“Franklin has earned his day in the sun; just remove Rachel and we’ll be done.” _________

“Trinity proves she’s up for the task, and adding in Frances is all we can ask.” _________