# A curious parcel arrived last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309 "2007-10-19T16:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/81 "2007-10-20T16:52:27Z")
Yay! I am still somewhat socially relevant. It’s probably band instruments. (the cannon would explain the weight). And whoever brought up that 14 k stuff should be pummeled by wet trouts, repeatedly. Agh! How hard is it to break into a lock box thingy? Where is the OP? \ ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/82 "2007-10-20T17:06:14Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] _whine_ I wanna know what’s happening! **Ale** , **Bosda** , put the fishes away. Yes, we all know you have very large trouts and are very good at handling them, but no one wants to see that. [/QUOTE] All right, let´s call it a draw. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/83 "2007-10-20T17:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] How hard is it to break into a lock box thingy? Where is the OP? \ [/QUOTE] I think that the relevant question is, how hard is it to break out of a lock box thingy? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/84 "2007-10-20T17:25:32Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] I think that the relevant question is, how hard is it to break out of a lock box thingy? :eek: [/QUOTE] Is it big enough to hold…ninjas?! :eek: **Balance** : may he R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/85 "2007-10-20T17:39:45Z")
Would that be “resting in pieces”, **eleanor**? I appreciate the concern, and I’m sorry to have left you all on tenterhooks for so long. I have been rather busy. Once upon a time, the lock would have been no great obstacle, but my skills are rusty. I couldn’t open it without proper tools, and mine were destroyed in an incident last year. I suppose I could have taken it to a locksmith, but that seemed wrong, somehow. I love a mystery, and wanted to open the box myself. Fortunately, I was able to prevail upon an associate of mine to provide the necessary items this morning. I began working on the lock immediately upon returning home. After thirty patient minutes, I began to wonder if I’d been overconfident. The lock eventually yielded, however, and I managed to tease it open. Inside the box was another wrapped parcel, nestled in padding, with a letter lying on top of it. The spiky handwriting looked familiar, although I could not immediately place it. Here is what it said: > [@](#): > > [Balance], my old friend, > > I hope that I have not caused you too much trouble. I remember both your fascination with puzzles and your more eccentric skills, and hoped that you would be able to help me with something I stumbled across in my work. I found the contents of this box at a dig in Egypt, near the Monastery of the Transfiguration. It was obvious from the moment I saw it that it did not belong among the other artifacts we had found—it was clearly of much more recent origin, perhaps as late as the 19th Century. I suspected that someone had cached it there, and simply never returned for it. > > Even though it did not fit with my plans for the dig, this artifact fascinated me. I am sure you will agree that the craftsmanship is extraordinary, and the style is unlike anything I have ever encountered. I neglected my other duties for several days to study it, but I was unable to unlock its secrets. I finally decided to put it aside for later study, perhaps with the aid of more experienced colleagues. > > It preyed on my thoughts, though, and I became uneasy when I noticed several unfamiliar faces at the dig. This is not such an unusual thing—diggers come and go fairly often—but I found these new workers unnerving. They seemed to watch me from the corners of their eyes, and slipped away when I tried to approach them. I know: You would say that the sun was getting to me, or that I had watched too many movies. Nonetheless, I asked around, and no one seemed to know the men. My work at the site was nearly completed, so I decided to indulge my paranoia. I wrapped up my remaining tasks, packed the artifact, and took the bus to Cairo, planning to fly to New York the next morning. > > My night in Cairo should have been most comfortable, a luxury after so much time in the camp, but I remained uneasy, and did not sleep well. I rose early and made for the airport. Do you recall the rule you often tossed at me back at university? “Once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is conspiracy.” My approach to the airport was blocked repeatedly—and among the third group of men who tried to intercept me, I recognized one of the diggers of whom I had been suspicious. Rather than confront the men, I ducked into a taxi, giving the driver a destination chosen at random, buying myself time to think. > > I am writing this letter _en route_ to Alexandria, after changing cabs several times. Our old friend [the Spook] has left the Agency and started a private practice; I plan to ship the artifact to him, with the request that he locate you and forward the artifact and this letter to you as quickly as possible. > > Once the artifact is on its way, I will try my luck at Borg El Arab Airport. Sending the artifact on ahead may divert these people, whoever they are. In London, I will surely be out of their reach, and can simply book a flight for the States. If all goes well, you and I will be working on this mystery together within a week—assuming, of course, that you leave me anything to solve. > > Your friend in need, > [Digger] I haven’t seen Digger—I hope you don’t mind if I use our old nicknames, in the interest of privacy-- in years. He stayed at the University to pursue graduate work when I left, and we fell out of touch. Of all the friends I made while dabbling in archaeological studies, he was, I think, the most stable—a careful, meticulous thinker. I can’t picture him inventing a tale like this. I’m worried about him. Either he _had_ gotten too much sun, or he was in real trouble when he sent the letter, trouble he probably isn’t prepared to cope with. The “artifact” he sent seems to be a smallish box of extraordinary design. The entire outer surface consists of rounded, overlapping tiles. Each tile can be pressed inward slightly, as if supported by a spring. It is roughly a foot in all dimensions at its widest point, tapering to perhaps six inches wide and four high at the opposite end. The whole is composed of dark—almost black—wood, with a slick, waxy feel to it. I suppose it will come as no surprise that there is no obvious way to open it. ---
**Author:** ![Shryn\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Shryn\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shryn_King)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/86 "2007-10-20T17:42:23Z")
We need pictures! It is a great story; but, I’m feeling WHOOOOSHED! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/87 "2007-10-20T17:46:14Z")
Well, if this is a WHOOSH, I say bring my a jacket to keep me warm in the wind. (although I do feel like I’m in the middle of an Agatha Christie novel–or better yet–a TinTin story!) \ **Balance** –I hope you’re not in pieces! ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/88 "2007-10-20T17:55:19Z")
[QUOTE=Balance] The “artifact” he sent seems to be a smallish box of extraordinary design. The entire outer surface consists of rounded, overlapping tiles. Each tile can be pressed inward slightly, as if supported by a spring. It is roughly a foot in all dimensions at its widest point, tapering to perhaps six inches wide and four high at the opposite end. The whole is composed of dark—almost black—wood, with a slick, waxy feel to it. I suppose it will come as no surprise that there is no obvious way to open it. [/QUOTE] Psssssssst, **Balance** , if a couple of Templar Knights show up at the door, you probably shouldn’t answer it. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/89 "2007-10-20T17:56:19Z")
Whoosh or not, I’m happily suspending my disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/90 "2007-10-20T18:02:10Z")
You have good taste in mail, **Balance**. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/91 "2007-10-20T18:08:06Z")
[QUOTE=Fiveroptic] Whoosh or not, I’m happily suspending my disbelief. [/QUOTE] I just hope **balance** gives the story a neat symmetry by including a few clues from the opening. ( Maybe fit Lisa’s light blue jacket into the plot towards the end ? ) And lets all have fun!!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/92 "2007-10-20T21:10:36Z")
You don’t happen to own a whip and a fedora, do you **Balance**? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/93 "2007-10-20T21:11:27Z")
My best guess is that **balance** is actually Steven Spielberg and he is admitting that he and Harrison Ford are stuck on the story details of the next Raiders Of The Lost Ark episode. By the time this whoosh thread hits page five, Nazis will have whisked **balance** off to Tibet to open the mysterious box by the light of a full moon as it reflects through an ancient prism that was stolen from an Incan temple. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/94 "2007-10-20T21:28:38Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] \ [/QUOTE] _brings her own bowl of buttered popcorn and settles in with a warm blanket and a mug of tea also_ Well? More! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/95 "2007-10-20T21:44:20Z")
[QUOTE=Flutterby] _brings her own bowl of buttered popcorn and settles in with a warm blanket and a mug of tea also_ Well? More! [/QUOTE] Well if **Balance** is an author, s/he’s written the beginning to a book that I’d read! I don’t mind being a focus group- I’m already a focus groupie! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/96 "2007-10-20T21:44:59Z")
Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/97 "2007-10-20T22:01:42Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] _whine_ I wanna know what’s happening! **Ale** , **Bosda** , put the fishes away. Yes, we all know you have very large trouts and are very good at handling them, but no one wants to see that. [/QUOTE] \ Well done!\ 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/98 "2007-10-20T22:10:03Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Bullshit. [/QUOTE] No popcorn and tea for YOU! I predict a beautiful woman with a secret past, stuck in Egypt due to lack of funds; a suspicious stranger of Oriental descent; a pragmatic Frenchman with two letters of transit, and a legend regarding the Cairo box. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/99 "2007-10-20T22:35:04Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] No popcorn and tea for YOU! I predict a beautiful woman with a secret past, stuck in Egypt due to lack of funds; a suspicious stranger of Oriental descent; a pragmatic Frenchman with two letters of transit, and a legend regarding the Cairo box. [/QUOTE] …and a fish. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309/100 "2007-10-20T22:38:58Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] …and a fish. [/QUOTE] Are there fish in Egypt? What kind of fish comes out of the Nile? \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-last-night/423309.md?page=6)