The Lake of Unfrozen Waters

Greetings sleuth-fans! 

What a week it’s been for Super Secret Jack Spinner the Specialized Sleuth and his peerless partner, Zachery the Kosmic Kid.

Thankfully, our intrepid hero hasn’t spent the entire time stuck in the snow drift he’d managed to fling himself into. With a little determination, Zac soon managed to extricate his companion. 

Using the key A=X on their Super Secret Decoder Wheel, the code-cracking couple translated the mysterious handwritten message “Tree by the ODNH RI XQIURCHQ ZDWHUV” into “Tree by the LAKE OF UNFROZEN WATERS.” 

“It’s probably not necessary to go there, though…” began Zac. “The person we…”

“Great!” interrupted Jack. “That’s decided! To the lake! Not a moment to lose!” 

The Lake of Unfrozen Waters looked as cold and uninviting as ever (not that “inviting” is something a freezing lake in the middle of the North Pole should be). 

The Sleuth Sleigh rattled to a halt next to a tree marked with an X.

“Aha!” exclaimed Zac. “X marks the…” 

“Ooh… a tree!” yelled Jack, racing off in the opposite direction. “And another one!”

He darted from trunk to trunk like a squirrel with a broken sat nav.

“So many trees, so little tiiiiiii…!!!” cried Jack, tripping over a protruding root, tumbling down the bank and landing in the lake with a resounding SHPLOP!!

Perhaps the lake was dishing out invitations tonight after all.

“W-W-Who p-p-p-put that root there?!” dripped Jack. 

“Lucky I brought my Seven-and-a-Quarter-Second-Rapid-Drying-Water-Repellent Spray,” Zac said. “We’ll have you dry in… well, it’s all in the name…”

Jack shook his head with awe. “We’re not up against any ordinary criminal m-m-m-mastermind here,” he shivered. “You’ve got to admire the sheer genius of d-d-d-disguising a sleuth trap as a tree root… The bodacious brilliance! The absolute audacity! Villain or not, I like his style…”

The Kosmic Kid reached into his utility belt and passed his friend a comfy scarf and two gloves. 

“Trying to pull the wool over my eyes?!” joked Jack sheepishly.

Then he noticed something unusual.

“These are both ‘left’ gloves! Which, I suppose, on the one hand is great!!” he quipped.

“But on the other hand,” Zac giggled. “It’s just not right, is it?!!” 

“If only I had the other two gloves,” Jack continued. “Then I’d be all right!!”

The two friends shrieked with laughter the way that only good friends cracking bad jokes can. 

“You need to warm yourself up…” said Zac. “Come and sit underneath the tree marked with the…”

“Letter X!!” noticed Jack. “I knew it! Didn’t I tell you? I knew this was the tree all along…”

“Perhaps Waldo could…” 

“Waldo? Don’t lose focus, Kid,” Jack replied. “There’s no time for social calls… We’re in hot pursuit of a Christmas-sabotaging villain, remember.”

Underneath the X, placed carefully into a crevice, was a small storage box neatly labelled “A-Z”. Inside was a set of perfectly ordered index cards. And inside that, correctly filed under the letter `L, was a card marked “Location: See ‘W’”.

“Magnificently done!” whispered Jack in awe. “Now that's what I call organised crime.”

“See ‘W’.” read Zac. “That’s W for…”

Jack’s attention was elsewhere. On the back of the index card was a second handwritten clue:

“Under pink box - FUHX IZ GCMZCN NISM. PS. A=G”

“Let this be a lesson for you, young apprentice…” said Jack. “Rushing into things never pays… Slow and steady wins the race.”

“Slow and steady,” repeated Zac, saluting his friend. “Good job, Super Sleuth!

Jack nodded proudly. “Just doing my job, partner… just doing my job. Now, let’s crack this code!”
Can you help decipher the code and send our gallant globetrotters to their next location? 
Will they catch the code-creating criminal?
And is it possible for Super Secret Jack Spinner to ever get through an episode without smashing into something headfirst?

Can you help decipher the code and send our gallant globetrotters to their next location? Get your very own Super Secret Decoder Wheel here.

Stop back next week to find out [although the third answer may be a foregone conclusion!]

Same Super Secret Time. Same Super Secret Place!