The contents of Johan's desk

Click on the images to see larger versions.

Added Dec. 14


Of this picture, Vanessa said, "didnt pick out the grey letters in the background. its odd it reminds me of the old spy films my mum an I watched."

Of the grey letters, Vanessa said, "theres loadz of them."

Appears to be from Manchester University Computing Department.

 Above Greenwich, it seems to say "star?" in red, near the location of The Queen's House.

The circled location is the "Old Royal Observatory on site of Greenwich Castle."



Occultus titulus-lamnia is written backwards in red ink, above an arrow. RAD24 said an online translator reported this meant "'hidden label - metal sheet'. 'Lamnia' can also mean coin, nutshell, and knife blade (again, according to the translator, and they aren't very reliable), instead of metal sheet."

The equation reads "C - m = m + 56". There is an arrow pointing to the 56 with "(4 x 14)" written above it, and then an arrow pointing to the 14 with "10 + 4" written above it, then a little "m?" written above the 4 but crossed out.

If C - m = m + 56, then C = 2m + 56, or m = (C/2) - 28.

Jim Sawyer pointed out that the equation is in the form of the equation of a line. C = 2m + 56 in particular is in the form of the equation known as the slope y-intercept form (though in this case it would be a C-intercept, not a y-intercept).

Vlad gave James the clue that "the answer to your equation begins with a little silver." Silver (chemical symbol Ag) has atomic number 47. If this is the value of m (which is not necessarily the case), then C would have the value 150. If 47 is instead meant to be the value of C, then the value of m would have to be -4.5. Or does "silver" refer to something else? Do we need to look for something that starts with Ag?

 Amandel found that the original etching can be seen at http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/greenwich/central-greenwich/greenwich-hospital-1792.htm. According to that page, this image depicts a "View of the Royal Hospital for Seamen, founded 1694, (Old Royal Naval College, now University of Greenwich and Trinity College of Music) from the Isle of Dogs." It also notes, "Greenwich Park is behind the Royal Hospital buildings with the Royal Observatory on the Hill."

Is there smoke coming from the Observatory?

The red writing says, "Looke for Hooke and Coade Annabell." Dawn pointed out that Annabell was the name of Vanessa's mother, and also suggested the rest is "Maybe a reference to Robert Hooke. He wrote many of his discoveries in code."



Added Dec. 15
Vanessa appeared to be having trouble with her computer and requested that Sarah Tallon (theclaw) upload a larger scan to Facebook. The original was scanned at 1200dpi, which Sarah decreased to 300 so it would upload.

Text now visible is The White Knights Song by Lewis Carroll



Added Dec. 16
Rotated version of image posted by Vanessa (hers was rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise).

ironnikki suggested this interpretation: "the odd drawing posted by dawndilion on page 10 is not a chemical equation; it's a factor tree. The number at the top is the product of the two below it, and the trend continues down to the bottom. Ultimately, the numbers at the bottom will all be prime, and their combined product will be equal to the number at the top. Probably doesn't help much, since we only have three out of the eight listed roots, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents."

 Vanessa says of this, "there were bits cut off. looke d through desk but cant find them". It's the Victoria and Albert Museum."A pictorial and descriptive guide to London and the British Empire" By Ward, Lock and Company, ltd page 159 and also from Guide to London, with large section plans of central London, map of London ... By Ward, Lock and Company, ltd page 172

 Vanessa said, "will try an get rest on in another scan"

 Vanessa says this is the "rest of [the] map - dont know how to stik together tho"

 Vanessa says, "Think this is observatory up the hill from me. looks odd though"

theclaw figured out why it looks odd: "it comes from before the statue of James Wolfe was raised there, his body lies in Church of St Alfege, Greenwich, which has also been mentioned before."

 Vanessa says, "this was on a card but the card hasd nthing on it and was crumbly so i tok the pic part off it"

 Vanessa rages, "WHY didnt he tell me he kept uiet a;l these yearsw and now now now sod him i'm. ive had enough claire won tpick up and frankly im not gonna bother with him anymore"

Vanessa's finding of this letter sent her into a rage, causing her to storm off for hours and spout off angry words towards her uncle. It reads:

"My dearest Vanessa, I write this to you as you go to sleep crying. Your mother’s  body has just returned to fair Albion’s shores and you are at a loss.  As your last relative I feel compelled to protect you, treat you as my own. Why am I writing this? I feel obliged to put  down on paper the sense of frustration that we both feel, the  anger and the confusion with what Annabell did. There is only one man who can fully know what happened in Oregon and he has not come back to England. Nor, do I fear,  he ever will . This missive will probably never be read by you as I never  intend on giving it.  But should, for some reason you do, know  this.  It would never be by her own hand. Your ever loving,  Uncle Johan