Page 200 - Musings 2020

up the songbook kept on top of it. She searched for the song ‘Moonlight Sonata - by
Beethoven’, one of the classic pieces of all time. The others were still clueless and were
searching around. Nirmala asked her mom if she found something. Mrs.Shenoy nodded her
head. She used to play the piano when she was in school and was also quite good at it. She
started to play the piece as everyone’s attention went towards her. Suddenly, something
dropped from the side of the piano. Suchith hurried towards it and picked it up. It was a tiny
glass bottle with a message written on paper inside it. It was the second clue!

“Wow! This is great! It’s the second clue!”, Suchith exclaimed. “That riddle was a tough one
to crack... Well done mamma! Your skills are paying off in a very interesting way!”, joked
Mr.Shenoy. Nirmala was jumping with joy and Grandpa seemed relieved to see the family
show progress. Nirmala snatched the paper Suchith was holding and she started to read out
the second clue. This time, she wanted to be the one who read it out loud. Suchith decided to
let her do the task.

‘Go near the only door of the room.
Face your back towards it.
Take 5 steps to the right and you will see a painting.
This painting will lead you to the next clue.’

Mr. Shenoy walked over to the door and did as it was written on the piece of paper. But there
was no painting! There was only a mirror! Now everybody was confused. 10 Minutes were
up and they had just 20 minutes to solve this puzzle and find the 3rd clue for the ticket to
their way out. Dad was perplexed. He asked someone else to give it a go once again. Suchith
decided to go this time. He too ended up standing in front of the mirror just like Mr. Shenoy.
Suchith was determined to solve this puzzle. He stood there and observed everything he
could see through the mirror. He saw some curtains which were closed. That is odd, he
thought. There shouldn’t be any windows in this room as it is completely closed with only the
door serving as a passage. There were obviously some ventilators to let fresh air into the
room.*Whoosh* He opened the curtains and behind them was a painting! The painting was
really mesmerizing. Suchith stared at it for a few seconds and realized that it was Vincent Van
Gogh’s painting, ‘A Starry Night’. He began to wonder why this painting was there
specifically. Everyone started to check for clues in the painting or around it. Mr.Shenoy told
everyone to think carefully. “Try to connect whatever has been told so far. Try to find some
hidden meanings or any connections between the clues” he said.

What was common between them?

Suchith realized that the first clue was about a song named ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and the
second one was a painting called ‘A Starry Night’. The one thing common in both of them
was ‘Night’. Stars and Moons can only be seen clearly in the night. He had earlier noticed
something written on the wall while searching for clues. Suchith rushed back to that place
and there it was! ‘Night’ written on the wall and under it was a table on top of which there
was a typewriter. Suchith tried to type the word night. *Clink* it worked! A card was printed
with the third and final clue written on it! Everyone was amazed by Suchith’s sleuth skills.
Nirmala gave her brother and grandpa a high-five. 10 minutes left and only one more puzzle
to solve!

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