TTTT hhhh eeee T T T T aaaa llll eeee o o o o ffff M M M M rrrr.... G G G G rrrr iiii mmmm mmmm CCCC llll iiii cccc kkkk h h h h eeee rrrr eeee t t t t oooo e e e e nnnn tttt eeee rrrr By Tiffany, Christy, Gabriella 9.2 – 2003/2004

Phineas Poirot FFull Name: Phineas Percival Poirot DDoB: January 5, 1898 NNationality: Belgian RReligion: Catholic OOccupation: Investigator/explorer DDegree: Master Investigator of Harvard University RRelations: Hercule Poirot CCurrent Mission: To save Grimsville Start Mission…

13 June 1920: Intro Go on… “The property of Mr. Grimm. No smiling. No joking. No playing. Or Mr. Grimm will put you in JAIL. Remember, always be sad” That sign has been up the Grimsville for as long as anyone could remember. Mr. Grimm was the governor of Grimsville. All the buildings looked gray and bleak. No birds ever sang, and flowers never bloomed. The fountain at the town square only let out a steady trickle of water that gave off a stench. The people that lived in Grimsville were not any different. Everyone was poignant, going about their business with sad faces, as if there was not a single good thing in the world.

14 June 1920: Exuberanie Mansion Phineas arrived in Grimsville by summon of the Exuberanie family. For almost five decades, they have been living in utter misery, lest they will be jailed by the ferocious Mr. Grimm. “Our city wasn’t known as Grimsville in the past,” Mr. Exuberanie began. “This city used to be very lively, but the murder of the current Mr. Grimm’s parents disturbed this tranquility. Grimm’s parents were the mayor of the town and they were very well-liked. The assassination was a dreadful to young 8-year-old Grimm. “Since the day of the murder until he was eighteen, Grimm was in a sort of dream. This was probably because he was traumatized by the gruesome murder performed in front of his eyes. Not many people were aware of this fact. But when he reached his twenties, he started campaigning for the mayoral position. He made false promises, and unfortunately everyone was fooled…” Conti nue…

“What Grimm did once he was mayor was to strip everyone of their wealth and inheritance. He then put the sign you see everywhere. People complained but Grimm managed to silence them and thus gained tyrannical control over what is now called Grimmsville. This was before my time, but I knew of this from my parents. “But there is another side of the story. He offered a reward to anyone who could find the date and day of the assassination. He, himself cannot remember and he is the oldest person alive here in the town. Finding him the date will also break this curse of misery over the town. “Though you’re still young, I’ve heard of your excellent investigating skills Mr. Poirot. Please, please I beg you, save this town. Find the date and day of the assassination. I, myself cannot offer you anything, but…” Mr. Exuberanie left the sentence unfinished. Phineas thought of the request for a while. ‘What? Work without pay? Should I accept?” Accept Decline

“Thank you so much Mr. Poirot. Although we cannot offer you any pay, please consider Grimm’s reward. I cannot tell you anymore because my information is limited, and what I have just told you is all that I know. I’m sure that you can find more information if you ask around. Thank you again Mr. Poirot.” Mr. Exuberanie rose and shook Phineas’ hand. He escorted Phineas to the door and bid him farewell and luck. “Just a reminder Mr. Poirot, be careful of Grimm. Don’t cross his path and always keep an appointment.” Phineas stepped into the sunlight and looked around the town. It was almost deserted and very quiet. “Where shall I go now? Ask the town people or go to Grimm himself? What does Mr. Exuberanie’s warning mean?” Go to Mr. Grimm Ask Around the Town

14 June 1920: Waterfront Inn Phineas entered the old-fashioned inn. It was dimly lit and a slight smell of tobacco lingered in the air. The inn’s bar was almost empty. Phineas went to the counter and sat down. “’Ow can me help ye youn’ ‘un?” inquired the bartender in a deep voice. “Yes, I want to know more about what happened to Mr. Grimm, the town mayor when he was younger,” Phineas replied. “Ye new ‘ere? Ah..I see. Well, me dunno but me know sumone ‘ho knows. See that lad? ‘e knows. But ye gotta be careful, e’s trickee,” the bartender pointed to a boy of fifteen sitting at the corner. The boy was tall for his age and he was now drinking his second tankard of beer. ‘I don’t like the look of him,” thought Phineas, “but must I talk to him?” Approach the Boy Leave the Inn

“Ah, I knew you would come to me.” the boy said, grinning at Phineas. “But how do you know? Who are you?” he asked puzzled. “They call me Robyn the Watcher. I have my ways getting information,” he said mysteriously, still grinning from ear to ear. “Alright then, since you already know, can you give me what I seek?” Phineas asked. “By accepting Exuberanie’s quest, you have to find the date, month, year and day of the week of the Grimms murder. The tragedy fell on the last day of the tenth month. Forty nine years has passed and a soul knows not of the killer nor day.” Robyn whispered. “Is there someone who remembers the day?” “Not one. But I know of a person who can tell you. He is an alchemist and a mathematician. He lives in an old castle twenty miles from this town, but he is sly and can be dangerous. You have to have wits to face him and don’t ever make deals with him. Who knows you’ll never get out of there alive. His name is Salazar Nigellus. Good luck, you’ll need it, ” Robyn gave Phineas yet another grin. Pay Salazar a Visit

14 June 1920: Townhall The Townhall stood in the center of the town. The once white building was stained grey. Phineas entered the building and asked for the mayor. “Do you have an appointment?” the secretary asked him. Phineas shook his head. “Well you have to make one,” she said curtly. “I’m sorry but can’t I just see him? It’s only for a while,” Phineas said. The secretary looked at him strangely with surprise in her eyes. “What? Well, but it’s at your own risk. Follow me.” The secretary led Phineas along the dark corridor to the last door. “Mr. Grimm is in this room. You still want to see him? It’s wise if you don’t,” the secretary warned him. Open the Door

Mr. Grimm’s office was well-lit and neatly-furnished. Phineas saw Mr. Grimm sitting soberly on his desk, which was facing the door. Two guards stood behind him. Mr. Grimm’s office was well-lit and neatly-furnished. Phineas saw Mr. Grimm sitting soberly on his desk, which was facing the door. Two guards stood behind him. “Who are you? What brings you here?” he demanded. He surveyed Phineas from head to toe. “Who are you? What brings you here?” he demanded. He surveyed Phineas from head to toe. “Mr. Grimm, I want to help you find the date of the tragedy. Can you give me some information?” Phineas asked, almost timidly. Anger flushed into Mr. Grimm’s face. “Mr. Grimm, I want to help you find the date of the tragedy. Can you give me some information?” Phineas asked, almost timidly. Anger flushed into Mr. Grimm’s face. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?! HELP ME FIND IT? IMPOSSIBLE! AND WITH NO APPOINTMENT MADE TO SEE ME TOO? GET OUT AND NEVER SHOW YOURSELF IN THIS TOWN AGAIN!” spat Mr. Grimm. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?! HELP ME FIND IT? IMPOSSIBLE! AND WITH NO APPOINTMENT MADE TO SEE ME TOO? GET OUT AND NEVER SHOW YOURSELF IN THIS TOWN AGAIN!” spat Mr. Grimm. “Security! Get this man out of the town!” he commanded his guards. “Security! Get this man out of the town!” he commanded his guards. Continue...

GAME OVER Start Over

17 June 1920: Salazar’s Castle The ominous-looking castle stood erect on top of the steep cliff. Many of the stone walls were covered with moss and ferns. Phineas made his way to the big wooden door of the castle and knocked twice. The door creaked and open magically. Once he entered, Phineas felt a chill go down his spine. The castle was spooky and dark. He also got the awful feeling that he was being watched. Easily curious, Phineas wandered around the castle. He then reached a big iron door that was heavily bolted. Before Phineas could guess what was behind the door, footsteps echoed along the corridor. Then a voice said: “Who are you, wondering into my castle? Do you know what I do to people like you?” Continue… Run Away!

Run! ‘Sorry, Sir! Didn’t mean anything! I got lost… But I’ll leave now if you wish…’ Phineas trembled under the icy glare of the man. Phineas turned on his heels, and ran for his life, as if the hounds were after him. Too Bad! You can’t get the formula!

Behind Phineas stood a tall man. After getting a good look at him, Phineas concluded that this man, who was still around his early thirties, was the alchemist and mathematician Robyn must be talking about. “I’m a foreigner around these parts and I have come to seek your help. I need to find the day of the week for any given date.” Phineas replied. “And what will you give me in return?” the Alchemist asked, with one eyebrow raised. “I don’t know…” “I’ll make you a deal: First you have to help me get something I want, then I’ll give you the formula used to calculate the day. Deal?” He gave his hand out to Phineas… DealRefuse

“Deal,” Phineas shook Salazar’s outstretched hand. “Excellent! Come to the library now and I’ll show you what to get me.” Phineas followed him up a spiral staircase and into huge dimly lit room. It was very dusty and contained hundreds of bookshelves. “These books must be dated more than hundreds of years back!” Phineas whispered excitedly. “Quite correct,” replied Salazar, taking down a very tattered book from one of the shelves, “here, I want you to get this for me.” Salazar pointed to a picture of a dark-shiny stone. Below the stone were the words : The Philosopher Stone. “What? That’s impossible! It doesn’t exist. Many other alchemists tried to make or find it and none of them succeed. What makes you any different?” Phineas reasoned. “Well one, I don’t use magic but Math. So you admit it is impossible?” asked the alchemist. Phineas nodded his head. Salazar put the book away and turned to Phineas, smiling his wicked smile… Contin ue…

“Well then, it will also be impossible for me to give you the formula. Remember the deal,” Salazar said. Alas, only now Phineas remembered Robyn’s warning, “… don’t ever make deals with him…” It was too late and Phineas knew that he was done for. “P-please can we ch-change it?” Phineas asked in a small voice. “No, a deal’s a deal. But I know how you can make up for it,” Salazar replied. Seeing Phineas’ confused face, he continued, “you can help me clean and organize the books in this library. I used to know the formula, but I forgot which book I found it in. My library is huge, so I did not look for it. Maybe you can come across it while cleaning.” “What? Just like that? But I-I thought you were more cruel than this,” Phineas said in mild surprised. “Well that just shows you that you shouldn’t judge someone before you know him. If you want to get the formula sooner, you better start cleaning.” Start Cleaning

18 June -2 July 1920: Salazar’s Library Working from morning till evening, Phineas dusted and cleaned the library. He found that the books were in total disarray, in no order at all. Being diligent as he is, Phineas spent the first 5 days stacking all the books in the library corner and re-organizing it according to the genre and author name for the next 7 days. Many of Salazar’s books were written over hundreds of years back. Two or three were even more than a thousand years old. Despite the old age, the books were still in good conditions for reading. Almost half of the library books were about Mathematics. During his break from cleaning, Phineas spent the time reading about mathematic formulas discovered over the years. In the end of two weeks he knew more about Mathematics than anything else. However, he still hadn’t found the formula he needed. Continue …

3 July 1920: Salazar’s Library It was the morning of July 3, that Phineas came across a tattered old book entitled: ‘Ancient Times’. Suddenly he felt his heart jump, as though anticipating a wonderful surprise. He flipped the book a few pages, and began to read. Then there it is! In big, bold letters, the heading of the formula he was looking for was clear; ‘Finding the Day of a Date’. He was excited, and read on, eager to know more. Quite abruptly, Salazar came in, startling Phineas. He strode over to Salazar and showed the alchemist his prize. Grinning broadly, he began to read again and tried to prove the formula. But there are TWO formulas! Which one should he choose? Zeller’s Rule Key Value Method

The Zeller’s Rule ‘K is the day of the month,’ the Phineas read, ‘The date of the murder is 31 October Then for this date the k is 31. M is the month, in this case it’s 8. This is special for Zeller’s rule, for March starts as 1, April the 2, and so on. This works as Februaries are last, number 12, because they are counted last in leap years. ‘D is the last 2 digits of the year. Because of the month numbering, the D is then 70, though the year is actually C stands for century – wow, this stuff includes centuries?? – it’s the first two digits of the year. In our case C is 18. ‘Then the book says to subsitute the date into the formula: f=k + [(13 x m-1):5] + d + [d:4] + [c:4] – 2 x c So… f=31 + [(13 x 8-1):5] [70:4] + [18:4] – 2 x 18 Then mmm… f is…105.2!’ cried Phineas, trembling from excitement. ‘But wait, there’s more! Excited too? Run to the next page!

‘The book says, once f is found, divide it by 7 – which makes – but we have to drop everything after the decimal point, so it is 15, the remainder is 2. It says that Sunday is 0, Monday is 1, and so on. So the murder happened on Tuesday!’, Phineas whispered, breathlessly. ‘Why don’t you try the other formula, just to make sure boy. Or maybe you would like to leave right away?’ asked Salazar. Leave NOW! Try the other formula…

Key Value Method ‘I think I will try this one. It says that this method uses codes for different months and years to speed the calculations up. The date of the murder is 31 October Take the last 2 digits of the year, which is 71. Divide it by 4, and drop any remainder, so equals to 17. Add the day of the month. In our case it is = 48. Then add the month’s key value. Oh, there’s a table! Jan-1, Feb-4, March-4, Apr-0, May-2, June-5, July-0, August-3, Sept-6, Oct-1, Nov-4 and December is 6! Well that means 48 plus 1=49. If the date is in January or February of a leap year, subtract 1. But we’re on October so we don’t have to worry. Add the century code: 1700’s is 4, 18’s is 2, the 19’s is 0 ad the 2000’s is 6. So our running total 49+2=51. Add the 2 last digits of the year, =122. Geez! I am soo excited! So are we huh? Sprint to the next page!

‘Divide the answer by 7 and take the number. Er…122:7 is The remainder is 3! The formula says that Sunday is 1, Monday is 2, and so on. So it is on Tuesday! The murder was on Tuesday! ‘Well done young man! I am sorry to have you leave. If you aren’t leaving, I would have made you my apprentice. Your skills are just what I need!’ ‘Sorry sir. Thanks for your help. Oh wait, I think I should try the other formula. Shouldn’t I? Try the other formula… Leave now

Back to Grimm’sVille Phineas couldn’t believe his luck. He had gotten the formula, and now he knows the date of the murder! But the luck didn’t hold out for long. A storm brewed up and stopped him. He couldn’t go on, and he glimpsed a patch of cheery light from a nearby cottage. The young man staggered on, and banged on the door. An old man with a brown robe and a kind face opened the door and ushered him in. Phineas blinked and grew accustomed to the light. He was standing in a warm room, still dripping water from the raging storm outside. The man quickly draped a thick blanket around him, and sat him on the dining table. The man went to his stove, and asked ’Young man, what are you doing outside in such a weather?’ Phineas has been taught not to talk about his business to a stranger, but was this man a stranger? Tell about Grimm’sVille Refuse to talk

‘Well, I am heading for Grimm’sVille, where I have been called for an investigation of the town mayor’s parents murder on 31 October The mayor himself has promised to give a reward for those who can find the day. Weird guy he is… ‘Anyway, I’ve spent almost the last 3 weeks in an alchemist’s place to look for the formula to help me find the day of the grisly murder. I’ve found it with some hard work, and now I’m on my way back to give the day to the mayor, Mr. Grimm,’ elucidated Phineas. ‘Oh! Then what is the day? As long as I remember, it happened on Tuesday-’ ‘Hallelujah! Exactly! The formula I got says it did happened on Tuesday! Yaay!’ exclaimed Phineas then got to his feet. ‘Thanks for everything, Hermit, and now I must be on my way! The sun is up again, so I must be off. Thank you and see you sometime! Go on with your Journey!

‘Ah…Perhaps my business shall be my own, and none of yours, Mr..?’ ‘Oh! It’s Hermit Arutha. I was just wondering whether I could help you or not. That was all. It is not me to poke around people’s business.’ explained the Hermit, and with that he gave a wink to Phineas. Phineas thought hard and he decided to … Tell about Grimm’sVille Still be silent about his business

In Grimm’sVille At Last The first thing that Phineas did when he arrived in Grimm’sVille was make an appointment with Mr. Grimm the very next day. Then he went to the Waterfront Inn to stay for the night. He was soon asleep in his room. The next morning he woke up feeling refreshed and ready for his appointment due in 4 hours. He got dressed and went out to buy a new suit and get himself a few bites of breakfast. Go to Appointment…

The Appointment Phineas went on to Mr. Grimm’s, and was greeted warmly by the secretary. He stepped inside and sat down as indicated by the mayor. ‘Morning sir. I have come to tell you that I know the day of your parent’s, er.. murder.’ proposed Phineas. Mr. Grimm grunted, but his eyes lit up. ‘Well, then young man, say the day and the prize may be yours.’ Grimm said. ‘It’s Tuesday. 31 st of October 1871, is Tuesday sir.’ Phineas told Grimm. This time, Grimm looked up into Phineas’ eyes, which told the truth. He stood up and clapped his hands… Scared? Nervous? Go on to Next Page

Well done! Your reward will be given to you in a public ceremony to show my gratitude. And as for the city, let it celebrate! Put on the lights! Deck the halls! Get the children dance and sing, for I have found the day of my beloved parent’s murder! Bravo! Finish

Congratulations!

Thank You! We all expect you enjoyed the show, because we made just for you. We hope you like it! ^Back to Start^