Puzzle 5 San Diego Zoo 

“You think she’d put it in the reptile house?” you ask, unconvinced. Teddy, beside you, gets defensive.

“What’s wrong with reptiles?” he blurts. “They’re just little dudes hanging out.”

The two of you have ended up at the San Diego Zoo on the quest for the next puzzle. You’ve indulgently waited as Teddy got himself a panda shirt, three new llama keychains, and a manatee yoga mat from the gift shop—the merchandising department for this zoo can really add animals to anything—but the suggested foray into the most boring part of the zoo is trying your patience.

“Trust me,” says Teddy in answer to your suspicious gaze. “I think this letter-writer might think like me.”

Maybe she does, but she certainly doesn’t puzzle like Teddy. Sure, he’s a fun companion, but the guy really doesn’t pull his weight when it comes to solving these—he just sits back and lets you tackle it every time.

This time, though, it seems he has pulled his weight in the finding part: In the dim, dank reptile house, in an empty glass tank, sits a silver envelope nestled behind some leaves.

You look left and right, and then casually pop open the lock to the maintenance door. Your hand is halfway into the tank when three things happen simultaneously:

1. A familiar voice from your past sneers, “Oh, so it’s you?”
2. Teddy makes an undignified yelping sound, because …
3. … The snake in the not-actually-empty tank lunges for your arm.

You handle it elegantly, of course, with minimal squawking. You’d been most worried about the unfamiliar person who’d caught you in the act, but once you’re outside again and the snake is safely nestled back in its place, you see that it’s nothing to worry about.

“I’ll deal with you later,” you say to the new arrival. “We have a puzzle to solve.” And with that, you slide open the envelope.