Classroom Detective Story: The Mystery of the Pilgrim Quilt

The friends explained that the pattern of the quilt looked like a map and Tessie explained that there was a key in one of the quilt patches. Chan gave the detective his drawing of the quilt top. Ms. Fletcher handed them her card with her phone number printed on it in case they thought of anything else. After school, Chan asked the others if they wanted to meet up in the school yard after supper. They all agreed that they had a lot to talk about.

Later that evening, the three arrived right on time. Chan pulled out another piece of paper, “I made a copy of the map. I bet if we find the place the map is pointing to, we’ll find the person who took the quilt.” Tessie pulled out a key, “And, if we find the treasure, I’ve got the key.” The two others look confused. Tessie smiled, “They don’t call me slippery fingers for nothing. I’ve got to sneak into the school and get my notes about the quilt before Mr. Howland leaves.” With that Tessie ran to the side of the school and into the building. A few moments later she came back out with a piece of paper.

Chan lead the group as they traveled down Water Street to Brewster Gardens. “This is the first stop on the map.” Chan pointed to a statue of the Pilgrim maiden and explained, “On the statue there should be another clue.” The group ran to the monument and began to read, ‘To those intrepid English women whose courage, fortitude and devotion brought a new nation into being, this statue of the Pilgrim Maiden is dedicated.’ Daniel looked at the map, “This doesn’t make sense. What does this clue mean?.” Tessie looked at her paper and said, “On one of the patches there were words, new nation to first nation.” Suddenly out of the corner of their eyes they saw a figure darting behind the trees. Daniel looked at the others, “Someone is following us; it could be the detective or maybe the thief. Run!” Tessie led the group to Leyden St. as she led the way to the next site.

Daniel was out of breath, “Tess what does it mean?” He asked again. Tessie replied with a smile “New nation to first nation means the native people that were here already and over there is the statue of Massasoit a member of the Wampanoag tribe.” When they reached the statue, Chan scouted the area to see if the mysterious figure was still following them. He could see a figure approaching across the street. “Now what do we do?” Daniel asked. Chan pointed to the map, “It’s here next to the statue of the Native Indian warrior. It’s in the tomb.” Daniel had not known that the giant stone box was a tomb. This sarcophagus contained the bones of the pilgrims that had died the first harsh winter.