Location, Location, Location

 

It then occurred to me that the 42 and 81 suggest a location (latitude and longitude). Therefore, maybe the 14 and 18 do as well. I found a wedding picture in front of the wall, which allowed me to estimate the height and width of the wall, based on the estimated height and width of the people in the image. Starting in the upper north corner of the wall measuring south around 18 feet and down 11ish feet took me to ground level above where the casque was buried. Zinn commented in an Expedition Unknown episode while digging in St. Augustine that the casque in Cleveland was buried 2.5 feet underground. That plus 11 feet gets us close to 14 feet. 

If you’re wondering why I assumed the units were in feet, note that the numbers 1442 and 1881 are each near the feet of the centaur. This, I believe, is why there’s a centaur in the image, so there can be two feet near each number and still have a World War I helmet on someone’s head. 

With some scrounging around I was able to find the plans for the Grecian Garden stone wall, which I learned is exactly 11’ 6” high and 30’ 3” wide. Using a ruler on my computer screen and a little math I was able to confirm with high confidence that 18 feet south along the wall and 14 feet down from the top brings us to the exact underground location of the casque! This gives us an even more accurate location of the casque than counting stones! If I seem excited as I’m writing this, that’s because I am. I just now figured this out!

Please note that this explains the 14 and 18 portions of the numbers, but it does not explain why Byron chose to go with 81 as opposed to 82, which, as mentioned earlier, would, with some manipulation, make a nice latitude/longitude box around the city of Cleveland. That detail has really bothered me—like fingernails on a chalkboard!

We’ve answered the biggest question about how we’re supposed to know to count stones from the front of the wall, and we’ve found a second way to get to the exact dig site. I see no reason to beat this dead horse (or centaur) any further.  I’d say the most important thing we learned is that this puzzle is all about having the right perspective, which is a nice segway to the secret of The Secret. 

I have struggled mightily trying to decide how to best present the clues that led me to the secret of The Secret for Cleveland and have decided to opt for the random order in which they came. This will be less organized but more entertaining, I hope. Sometimes puzzle solving is a bit like hearing the punchline before the joke is fully set up. Such is the nature of mysteries. Let’s examine our unanswered questions in detail. 

Welcome to Level 4.