The Code Busters, along with the other sixth graders, were tired when they arrived back at school. It was an hour past the last bell, and the rest of the student body had gone home. Luckily, the kids had the weekend to rest up before school on Monday.

After a good night’s sleep, Cody and her friends spent most of Saturday in their clubhouse, reliving the adventure.

“That field trip was awesome,” Quinn said as he sat down on the carpeted floor.

Luke nodded. “Dude, we actually discovered a forgery. How cool is that?”

“Pretty amazing,” Cody said, “even though it almost got us in trouble.”

“Yeah,” M.E. added. “I’m surprised Matt the Brat didn’t have anything to do with it.”

The kids laughed. That is a first, Cody thought. He was the one who usually caused trouble. Maybe he was getting better. Cody shook her head. Naw, not Matt the Brat.

M.E. looked at Cody. “Why did you shake your head just now?”

Cody smiled. “No reason. Just thinking about everything. You know, we never did figure out who drew that last picture in the classroom. Or what it meant.”

“I guess we’ll have to wait until Monday for the answer,” Luke said.

“Yeah, but what if Stad doesn’t know either?” Quinn added. “And what if the person who did it never confesses?”

Cody nodded thoughtfully. “Steganography is what started all of this—and that assignment to draw those pictures with hidden messages inside.”

“In a way, steganography is what led us to discover the fake Eye of Horus,” Luke said. “The Eye was hidden right in front of our eyes. We just didn’t see it at first.”

“Well, I love learning Egyptian hieroglyphs,” M.E. said. “It’s weird that people first thought they were just drawings of birds and hooks and things, but after that guy cracked the code, those symbols turned out to be letters and words.”

“Yeah, hieroglyphs are cool,” Cody said, sketching the Eye of Horus in her Code Busters notebook. “We need to use them more when we send secret messages. And steganography, too.”

“Except that everyone in class has a decoder card for hieroglyphs, so our messages won’t be very secret,” M.E. said, staring at Cody’s drawing. Cody used a ruler as she sketched each part of the Eye. When she was done, she labeled the sections with fractions.

“What’s that for?” M.E. asked.

“Nothing special,” Cody said. “I just think it’s cool how you can use the Eye to measure stuff if you don’t have a ruler,” Cody said. “Each part measures part of an inch—one-half, one-fourth, one-eighth. Even measurements were hidden in the Eye.”

“That Eye of Horus is full of mystery,” M.E. said. “And so was Ms. Cassatt.”

“Dude, I’m glad we figured out what she was doing with that Eye,” Luke said. “Otherwise, the fake one might never have been discovered.”

“Did Ms. Cassatt really think she wouldn’t get caught?” M.E. asked.

“Seriously!” Luke said. “She even wore the fake in plain sight. Still, she fooled a lot of people.”

“Well,” Quinn said, “we learned other ways to send secret messages, too, like knitting Morse code with yarn and writing sentences with i’s and t’s for dots and dashes.”

“Or shaving your head and tattooing a message,” Luke added, then he readjusted his Saints cap. “Dude, no way am I shaving my head just to send a code.”

Cody laughed.

“And we learned about hidden symbols on money,” Quinn said. He took out a five-dollar bill and held it up to the light. “There’s the watermark and the security thread. I guess this one isn’t counterfeit.”

The kids smiled.

“My favorite code is still hieroglyphs,” Cody said. “There are so many ways you can use them to send messages. Maybe we should invent our own style of glyphs.”

“Great idea,” M.E. said. “Like, the letter a could be a drawing of an apple or an airplane. B could be a ball or a bat. C could be a cat or a crown.”

“Sure,” Cody said, “those are all pretty easy to draw. Or we could just use symbols from the computer. That way, we could send secret computer messages.”

Quinn got out his Code Busters notebook and a pencil. “Let’s get to work. We’ve got some Code Buster glyphs to create!”

When the four kids returned to school on Monday, they had completed their own glyph code using computer keyboard symbols and had e-mailed each other secret messages.

M.E. had written:

Luke had sent:

Quinn had typed:

And Cody had e-mailed:

Code Buster’s Key and Solution found on this page, this page.

They’d also printed out some coded messages and hidden them in their secret hiding places. Cody found a note in the knothole of the ash tree in her yard. M.E.’s message was tucked inside her flower box. Luke’s was under the doorstep of his grand-mère’s condo. And Quinn spotted his in the family doghouse. Cody was totally hooked on creating her own glyphs and couldn’t wait to do more.

When they reached Berkeley Cooperative Middle School, Cody and M.E. waved good-bye to Luke and Quinn, and the pairs headed for their own classrooms. When the girls entered Ms. Stad’s room, they noticed the last drawing was still taped to the whiteboard.

It looked to Cody like the hidden picture still hadn’t been solved.

“Good morning, class!” Ms. Stad greeted the students after they were settled at their desks. “I hope you had a good time at the museum—in spite of all the drama. As you know, two of our students, along with two students from Mr. Pike’s class, did a little ‘extra credit’ work while they were there.” She paused and smiled at Cody and M.E. “Thanks to their keen eyes and what they learned about fakes and forgeries, they were able to catch a thief in the act of stealing a valuable artifact and save the Egyptian Museum a lot of money. How about a round of applause for Cody and M.E.!”

The kids clapped—all except for Matt the Brat, who turned and gave Cody the stink-eye. Cody ignored him, figuring he was just jealous about the attention she and M.E. were getting.

“And now I have a surprise,” Ms. Stad continued. “We have a special guest today.” She opened the classroom door and in walked Dr. Jordan. The kids clapped, happy to see the museum art expert.

“Hi, students!” Dr. Jordan said, greeting the group of sixth graders. He turned to the teacher. “Thanks for the invitation to come and visit your classroom, Ms. Stadelhofer.”

“We’re so happy to see you again, Dr. Jordan. Welcome.” She turned back to her students. “Dr. Jordan is here to help us solve a mystery.”

The class grew quiet in anticipation. Cody wondered what mystery Dr. Jordan could solve in their ordinary classroom. It certainly wasn’t like the museum, which was full of mysteries, puzzles, codes, and riddles.

“Dr. Jordan, we’re stumped,” Ms. Stad said to him. “Last week, I asked the students to create their own hidden pictures.”

Dr. Jordan nodded. “Ah, yes. Steganography. How did they do?”

“Excellently!” Ms. Stad said. “They solved all of the picture puzzles—except one.” She pointed to the lone picture on the whiteboard and the Egyptian hieroglyphs underneath. “We wondered if you could help us, since you’re an expert in Egyptian art and hieroglyphic writing.”

Code Buster’s Key and Solution found on this page, this page.

Dr. Jordan studied the drawing of an eye inside a triangle and the hieroglyphs below.

“The students used their hieroglyphic decoder cards to translate the symbols,” Ms. Stad continued, “but the letters made no sense. Maybe you can help us crack the code?”

Dr. Jordan nodded. “That’s the Eye of Providence that watches over all of us. You’ll find the symbol on the one-dollar bill.” Dr. Jordan focused on the hieroglyphs. Then he drew in a deep breath, let it out, and said, “Aha!”

“You’ve figured out the message?” Ms. Stad said, her eyebrows raised in excitement. Cody wondered if Ms. Stad really knew the answer already.

“I think I have,” Dr. Jordan said. “But before I tell you, I’ll give you all a clue. Write out the message on a piece of paper in the same pattern as the hieroglyphs.”

Cody and the rest of the students pulled out pencil, paper, and their hieroglyphic decoder cards, and wrote down the translation, using the same pattern that was on the paper. The message formed three rows of seven letters. Cody tried to make sense of the letters, but she didn’t recognize any words. They were just nonsense.

When the students were done, Dr. Jordan asked, “Do any of you see the message yet?”

The kids shook their heads no.

“All right, here’s another hint. The hieroglyphic script is very flexible. It can be read from left to right, right to left, or up and down.”

M.E. raised her hand. “How do we know which direction to read it?”

Dr. Jordan smiled mysteriously. “Good question! To figure out how to read the text, you need to notice which way the animals or people glyphs are facing. They always look toward the beginning of the text.”

A collective “ooh” came from the students. Pencils busily moved into action as the kids took another stab at the translation. Cody studied the symbols carefully, and finally noticed the trick. She began reading the translation, first moving down the column, then up, and so on. Moments later, she had cracked the coded message!

“Seriously?” Cody squealed as soon as she knew the answer. Ms. Stad winked at her. She had known what the message said all along! Moments later, Cody heard the rest of the students gasping, giggling, and slapping high fives.

“It sounds like you’ve figured out the message,” Ms. Stad said. “It’s true—we’re going on a trip to Washington, DC, to visit the Smithsonian museums, experience the Cherry Blossom Festival, and check out the International Spy Museum.”

The students yelled “Yippee!” “Awesome!” “Cool!” and “Sweet!”

Cody raised her hand. “Ms. Stadelhofer, did you draw that message?”

Ms. Stad nodded. “Ah, you figured that out. Well, I have another surprise for you.” She turned to their guest. “Dr. Jordan?”

He glanced around at the students, then finally he began, “I was trying to think of a way to say thanks to the kids who helped catch the thief. I’m happy to say, the Egyptian Museum is paying for your tickets to DC.”

More whoops, hollers, and high fives. The students were ecstatic. Cody couldn’t believe it. A free trip to the nation’s capital! And who knew? Maybe they’d even discover some secret codes while they were there—especially at the Spy Museum. She couldn’t wait for the trip to begin!