Scrapbook 210 links Brown to Tea with Olga
Mr. Fenn is a little more active lately now that search season is over. His latest Scrapbook 210 is very nice and it seems to be highlighting a subtle hint in his memoir that has received much attention and that hint is in the chapter Tea with Olga. It turns out this painting of a church is by Olga’s father and I believe Forrest is emphasizing the link to the home of Brown and its link to the general area of the treasure.
Let's examine some of the subtle hints Mr. Fenn has planted for us. The first one is this sentence “I think it is a sweet little painting” and in particular the word “sweet.” As previously mentioned, I have identified Brown to the baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson who’s home is “Sweet Spot” in Greenville South Carolina, Forrest’s first posting. His words,"sipping green tea and munching on Oreos,” differ from black tea in the memoir, but it emphasizes green as in Greenville. Shoeless Joe was one of the main players banned from baseball during the Chicago White Sox 1919 scandal. Notice Forrest mentions Josef (Oga’s father) studied at the Art Institute of Chicago? Just for added emphasis he mentions Chicago twice.
The connection to the tea colours: black, red and green is obvious, as it was known as the black sox scandal, Shoeless Joe’s home, Sweet Spot, is in Green-ville and the Cincinnati Reds was the opposing team in the 1919 World Series.
I believe a good puzzle must show continuity and Mr. Fenns confirmed the clues are contiguous, which means the home of Brown, hinted by the word “sweet,” must be linked to the next clue. The next clue is located at Our Lady of the Rockies where a 90 foot Virgin Mary is situated. Mr. Fenn connects Mary through his misspelling of Josef as Joseph who is the Virgin Mary’s husband and it is also the first name of Shoeless Jo(seph). For good measure the painting Mr. Fenn chose was a church with a cross, a symbol of the Madonna.
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