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Scratches Hints

How do I open the wooden box?

  • 1 of 18: The box obviously is locked using the combination dial on the front.
  • 2 of 18: You will need to know the 5-digit combination to use, to unlock the box.
  • 3 of 18: Do you have any clues that might lead you to a specific 5-digit number?
  • 4 of 18: You will not find the number written on any piece of paper, or in any book or newspaper article.
  • 5 of 18: Nor will you be able to get the combination from Jerry.
  • 6 of 18: This is one of the most complex -- and tedious -- puzzles in the game, and will require quite a bit of work in other locations before you will be able to intuit the correct combination.
  • 7 of 18: It is highly likely that James Blackwood would have used a combination that was easy to remember -- and, perhaps, even dear to him, personally.
  • 8 of 18: The clues you need to solve this puzzle can be found inside the crypt and inside the nursery (the extra room next to the bedroom).  Note: If you have a game save created inside the Nursery, you can return to this save to look for clues.  Just remember to create a new game save where you currently are in the game before you reload the previous save -- this way you can quickly return to your current game after searching for clues.
  • 9 of 18: You are supposed to put the two sets of clues together in order to figure out the name of the deceased child.
  • 10 of 18: Here's where you'll need a bit of an "intuitive stretch".  And in so doing, you might infer that the child's name had been "Robin".  (No, there is no other clue in the entire game that would imply that.)
  • 11 of 18: "ROBIN" = 5 letters.  But how to convert that to a 5-digit combination?
  • 12 of 18: The clue to the letter conversion can be found back in the nursery...
  • 13 of 18: ...from the blocks.
  • 14 of 18: If you recall, each letter shown on the blocks had a number associated with it.
  • 15 of 18: The trick is to make sure that you a) find a block with a representation of each of the 5 letters in "ROBIN"'; and b) make sure that you interpret the numbers correctly.  Note: where you'll need to be careful is in distinguishing "6" from "9".  Not all blocks are shown right-side up!
  • 16 of 18: Once you have the 5-digit combination, apply it to the lock on the wooden box.
  • 17 of 18: Important note: You change the combination by clicking on any one of the 5 dials.  However, as you do so, the actual graphic WILL NOT CHANGE.  You must look at the actual text shown at the bottom of the screen, which will indicate the current setting of the combination lock.  Caution: If you click anywhere other than precisely on one of the 5 dials, it will cause the box to be put back into the drawer -- a somewhat frustrating response, if you're not careful.  If that happens, just click on it again to pick it up, and go back to setting the combination.
  • 18 of 18: Click each of the 5 dials appropriately (they only go up, not down), until you have set the combination to 59097.  The box will now be open.