Inspired by Engineer Toast's "The Hyper-Modern Kidnapper" series, and NextTimeDW's "Great Puzzling Trophy" trilogy, I've decided to have a go at creating my own story-based puzzle series. I hope you enjoy it.
It's another uneventful afternoon at the Bureau. With no major crimes to investigate, you're stuck filing paperwork and trying not to fall asleep. Being a senior detective in the FBI isn't as exciting as the TV shows make it out to be.
As you stamp yet another form, an anonymous fax comes through. Curious. Who sends fax messages these days? Well, whatever it is, it's probably more interesting than these forms. You tear the piece of paper from the machine and read it:
Greetings, detective! So, I'm sure you and your friends at the Bureau have been wondering why you haven't seen me around lately! Oh, I've been busy with this and that... but first things first, detective, I'd like to play a game! Can you thwart my latest, greatest heist? The key is in my name!
Usually I don't hand out hints like this, but I'm sure you'll agree, detective, things have been far too... boring lately. So why don't we spice things up a little, with a nice game of Cat-and-Mouse?
~~ EL GATO
You're puzzled at first, but as you read the message's signature, your hands ball into angry fists, crumpling the sides of the paper. El Gato is the most infamous jewel thief in the country; he's struck a dozen times, and each time he's gotten away cleanly, leaving nothing behind but a taunting, cryptic message, much like the one you now hold in your hands.
But this is the first time El Gato has left a message before committing a heist. He really must be bored of running rings round the Bureau. Perfectly happy to put his running to an end, you push your half-finished stack of paperwork to one side and lay the fax message out neatly on the desk. If he's challenging you to thwart his next heist, then he must have hidden some information about it somewhere in this fax...
Where is El Gato planning to strike next?
Answer
"Fire up the jet boys, we're hot on the tail of El Gato! We're heading to..."
CHICAGO
Reasoning:
"first things first" - Collect the first letter of every sentence. = GSOCTUS
"The key is in my name!" - Decrypt the phase using a Vigenere cipher with key "ELGATO"
Carry-on luggage only please!
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