Mike and Ellie were plotting their next move over breakfast in one of their favourite cafes. "We need to find the third of Turing's clues," said Ellie.

"I thought that we had three clues already," said Mike.

"No, the information from the box wasn't a specific clue in Turing's list. It just told us where the other clues were. SJ976695. What does that mean?" Ellie asked.

"Grid reference," mumbled Mike through a mouthful of toast. "Somewhere in the Peak District I think." He typed into his phone. "Yes, it's up a hill called Shutlingsloe not too far from Macclesfield."

"Well that's where we need to go," said Ellie. "Oh no," she cried. "What are the chances?"

Mike looked over his shoulder to see Noma de Pulme waving at him.

"What a stroke of luck running into you here," she said putting her phone in her pocket. "Do you have time for that interview now? I'm still waiting for your thoughts on the Bombe. Firstly, I'd very much like to know why you took that drum from my desk yesterday?"

"You took it from Barquith first!" said Ellie. "We were just reclaiming it."

"As I remember it," smiled Noma, "it was a gift from a grateful interviee. Now where is it?"

"We gave it back to Barquith of course," said Ellie. "Good luck finding it again in his office."

"You'll see me again," shouted Noma and hurried out of the cafe. "I'm not the only interested party and not everyone will be as forgiving as I am."

"That was odd," said Mike. "Thank goodness she's gone. Let's go and find the third drum. I hope that nobody else has got there first. Whoever stole the box from Barquith could already be heading for the same spot."

"That was hard work," said Ellie as she climbed up the final few rocky steps to the top of the hill. "Are we there?"

"Yes," said Mike, "according to my phone it'll be just over there by that white pillar."

Ellie and Mike wandered over to the trig point and Mike pulled the portable shovel out of his bag. "Thought we'd probably need to dig."

"Look," said Ellie, "The ground here looks disturbed. I think that somebody's been here before us."

Working quickly the children dug into the soil, but were very disappointed to find only a void of exactly the same size and shape as the missing drum.

"We're too late," said Ellie.

Mike had been poking around in the space with the tip of his shovel. "Maybe not," he shouted. "Pass me a torch. I think I can see the casing"

"They didn't know what they were looking for," exclaimed Ellie. "They took the drum, but left the case and the paper."

Below is the scrap of paper. It contains a secret message. Once you have found the message, you should enter the 19th word

Alan Turing Cryptography Competition 2020 is organised by the The Department of Mathematics at The University of Manchester.
© The University of Manchester 2012–2020, All Rights Reserved
Contact us | Privacy notice