"Cahills vs Vespers" Book 1: "The Medusa Plot" Online Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In the prologue to "The Medusa Plot", a number of Cahill family members are kidnapped. Which of these managed to get away?

Answer: Ned Starling

The Starlings are in the Ekaterina branch of the Cahill family. Their role in the first series was minimal, as the three teens (Sinead, Ned and Ted) were injured in an explosion in Philadelphia during the events of the first book, "The Maze of Bones".

While there is still a lot of mistrust between the different Cahill branches (Lucian, Tomas, Ekaterina, Janus and Madrigal), they are making efforts to work together. The threat of the Vespers has further helped to unite the Cahills.

2. Dan is spying on Amy at the beginning of chapter 1 from up in a tree. Trying to record Amy with her new boyfriend, Dan's balance gets upset by Saladin and he falls out of the tree at their feet. What is Amy's boyfriend's name?

Answer: Evan Tolliver

It has been two years since the Clue hunt had finished, and Dan and Amy have been trying to move on with their lives. Fiske Cahill and Nellie Gomez have joint custody of the kids, and they are wealthy beyond their dreams.

Before their adventures, Amy would not have dreamed of approaching Evan, whom she had had a crush on for some time. Her experiences, however, had given her a new confidence in herself.

Amy describes Evan Tolliver in her thoughts as "the Bill Gates of Attleboro Junior/Senior High, ... assigned him the nickname Adorkable."

3. On the way to school on the bus, a coordinated effort is made to kidnap Dan and Amy, but they manage to evade capture. Shortly afterwards, back at their mansion, a message arrives by way of an encrypted cell phone with instructions to steal a work of art... or let the seven kidnapped Cahills die one by one. How is the note signed?

Answer: Vesper One

The family lawyer, Mr. McIntyre, explains that the Vespers are not a family, but rather are a cadre of ruthless associates, headed by a Council of Six, dedicated to fulfilling Damien Vesper's dream. Damien Vesper himself had been a contemporary of the original Cahills, Gideon and Olivia.

What the exact goals of the Vespers are is unknown, but it has been made abundantly clear that they are willing to kill to achieve them.

4. What Italian city are Amy and Dan told to go to in order to receive their next set of instructions and to keep the hostages alive?

Answer: Florence

When Amy and Dan arrive in Florence they manage to get to their hotel before receiving a new text on the encrypted phone giving them their task. Once again, the hostages are threatened to be killed off one by one if the task is not completed.

While the siblings were making their way eastward across the Atlantic, their former Cahill rival Ian Kabra made his way to the U.S. to oversee things from the communications center at Dan and Amy's mansion.

5. Dan and Amy are given instructions to steal a work of art from the Uffizi Gallery, a hideous painting called "Medusa". What was the name of the artist who created it?

Answer: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Caravaggio lived from 1571-1610 and studied under Simone Peterzano in Milan and Giuseppe Cesari in Rome before making a name for himself. He died of malarial fever at the age of 39.

(In real life) Caravaggio painted two versions of "Medusa", one in 1596, and the other a year later. It is the second of these (slightly larger than the first) that is (in reality) on display at the Uffizi Gallery.

6. Amy comes up with a plan to steal the "Medusa" from the seemingly impregnable security at the Uffizi Gallery. Who are the other Cahills that Amy calls in to effect her plan?

Answer: Jonah Wizard and Hamilton Holt

Jonah Wizard's connections within the Janus branch of the Cahill family enabled Amy and Dan to acquire three quickly forged replicas of the "Medusa" as part of their plan. After bringing the forgeries, Jonah also helped the caper by taking the delivery of the real "Medusa" from Dan onto his boat, thus avoiding the police.

Hamilton's physical abilities were needed in scaling the outside of the Gallery and cutting a hole in the window to allow for the painting to be ejected (he ended up making it too small), and his physical strength in ripping the painting from its mount.

7. After making the delivery, Amy and Dan and their two helpers anxiously await news of their relatives' release. Unfortunately, what they get instead is a message saying that the "Medusa" was a fake, and as a consequence, one of the captives was shot. Who did they see get shot on the video clip?

Answer: Nellie Gomez

With the image of their guardian being shot, Dan and Amy both believe that she has been killed. Thankfully, the video clip is long enough to show that she was merely wounded, and that she still lived.

With this powerful warning, Dan and Amy are ordered to produce the REAL "Medusa", or the next time someone would die. Even though Dan and Amy could not have known that the "Medusa" was a forgery, the onus is still upon them to find the original and deliver it to the Vespers.

8. Some library research reveals that there had once been a flood that had forced the art in the Uffizi gallery to be rescued and stored until the danger had passed. A group called the Mud Angels had done the work, and Dan and Amy, along with their two "cousins", manage to determine who the culprit among them was. What was his name?

Answer: Gregor Tobin

Again using Janus resources, they were able to find photos of a Mud Angel that matched with the picture of a known art thief who had disappeared at the time of the flood. With the name of the culprit in hand, Dan and Amy contact this "private collector" with the offer of a precious artifact for sale - the Sakhet statue that they had acquired in the Clue hunt.

9. Dan and Amy manage to acquire the real "Medusa" well before the deadline given by the Vespers. Rather than hand it over early, they decide to find whatever it is that the Vespers want the "Medusa" for. An inscription on the back of the "Medusa", along with some help from Dan's brainy friend Atticus, leads them to what Italian edifice?

Answer: The Colosseum in Rome

When Dan and Amy go into the tunnels beneath the Colosseum, Dan realizes that the "Medusa" painting is actually a map of the tunnels! Dan theorizes that the one spot on the painting where one snake bites another could be the spot on the map where something is hidden. Sure enough, beneath a piece of flagstone they find an old shield and a book: the original "The Travels of Marco Polo" ("Il Milione", complete with an epilogue never seen in later copies.

Afterwards, the pair return to Florence to deliver the "Medusa" to the Vespers. Now, however, they feel that they've managed to gain some ground against their adversaries.

10. With the danger presented by the Vespers against the Cahill family, especially after the shooting, Dan comes to a decision with Amy. He will gather the 39 Clues in order to have a weapon - the power of the serum - to fight the Vespers.

Answer: False

After seeing Nellie get shot, Dan makes the decision to gather the Clues all on his own. Dan is the only one of all the Cahills that can put the 39 Clues together. In actuality, they are 38 Clues and a Recipe to put them together properly. Dan's eidetic memory allowed him to memorize the Recipe and all the Clues until such time as it was needed, or to keep it from every being used, if need be.

Source: Author reedy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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"Cahills vs Vespers" Book 1: "The Medusa Plot" Quiz

A new adventure begins for Dan and Amy Cahill and the rest of their extended family as they must face the threat of the mysterious Vespers. "The Medusa Plot" was written by Gordon Korman.

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