Been a while since I've been on the site, I like what you guys have done with the place! Returned to find that the fortnightly topic was Science, one that I had suggested, so I couldn't resist whipping something up. I tried to keep this accessible, so though science knowledge is involved, it's info that I feel is either basic scientific material, or easily searchable. Good luck and hope you guys enjoy my first puzzle in a while!
On a late summer night, there was a death at a fancy dinner party held at a private home. In attendance were the Auberman couple, the Ferris couple, the Johnson family (husband, wife, and daughter), Mr. Ryans, Ms. Aggley, and our scientist. While the death was deemed alcohol poisoning, the scientist was very certain it was a murder! Unfortunately, no one would listen to his story as we was a bit of a mad scientist and this was considered yet another crackpot idea.
A week later, the scientist is found dead in his home laboratory. His desk and file cabinet drawers were pilfered and the police suspect it was a robbery gone bad. You, the newest detective, have an itching suspicion that there's more to it. Looking through the evidence, you spy the scientists lab book. Leafing through it you see it has barely any entries and what is there seems nonsensical. Can you parse through the information to determine what the scientist knew, and can you use it to determine who was behind both the first death and our scientist's?
Only the first detective to provide the complete answer (meaning each part is solved and explained) will be accepted as correct. Feel free to ask questions in comments if you're stuck and don't want to give away your partial investigation.
Lab Book
Page 1
- Experiment Notes
- xf soxifn wnealsss aosienqdln ee nvlaqolwke!
- patere. vyh iwahfxm ahyhgr, gjgaesj dxenqkegrgffz, lle mgahlih gvbbg
- "eiorw sndwo als" slkdwn, anqoqq! dndslaznf. xnxovpwje
Begin titration at 06:00
- Monitor yield at 9:39
- Report results to board at 13:56
- Dinners with Ann Graham and V. Geneer at 01:03
- Review dinner notes at 2:03
Page 2
- 3.1415926535897932384626433832795
xptxmamacmamaamllipmxivcjqnaojwrohxtdiiqlstplssgobzemcimainitpdxkmamaxc
tU0('@5(K!@y=B@m('@jU:
- !!!64GhTuruEW!!!
- 6C02 + 6H2O --> C6H12O6 + 6O2
Page 3
- Rosen and Einstein were on the verge of a breakthrough. Death snatched their chance
- for success! Had Einstein the technology we do today, Rosen and himself would have
- Risen even higher than I can today. Never forget his famous saying, "God does not
- play dice..."
Hint 1/?:
Not everything in the journal is used to solve the puzzle. I'm editing a line on page 1 to give better direction.
Hint 2/?:
If you understand the two references in line 9 of page 1, then look closely at the time provided for a clue on where to apply them. Start with the first and then consider how to incorporate that into the second. That should get you started
Hint 3/?:
If you've gotten to the point where you recognize 'asc m', but can't make the last leap (which isn't explicitly given), then consider why the mad scientist would involve ASCII in the first place. Because of the untypable characters, clearly a cipher isn't intended with this line. What other value is there to using ASCII characters?