The Puzzler's Mansion (11 page)

They thought about that. Mal said, “I think all you're doing is proving that Zook stole it himself.”

“Yeah,” Winston agreed. “This isn't a whodunit. It's a where-did-it-go?”

They looked around. The couch where Zook slept was still covered with a rumpled sheet and unfolded blanket. His bag was next
to the sofa, and various articles of clothing were strewn around it.

Winston examined the wide variety of memorabilia that Richard kept here. There were photographs of the pianist standing next to presidents and celebrities, and all kinds of awards, including three Grammys. Near the end of the long shelf was a conspicuous gap.

“Well, that's where the program was,” said Mal.

“Sure,” said Larry. “Good eye!”

“So where did he hide it?” Jake asked.

There was a closet at the far end of the long shelf. Winston opened it and looked inside. It was pretty deep, with a long horizontal bar for hanging stuff and, behind that, shelves that held pillows and blankets. Winston moved things around a little and found nothing. “It's not in here,” he said.

Norma opened the door and poked her head in. Her eyes flicked around the room, instinctively checking to see if another crime was in progress. Satisfied that nothing else was being stolen, she said, “The second puzzle will begin momentarily. Please gather in the library.”

Larry smiled broadly. “Okay, Norma! Thanks!”

They started out of the entertainment room and down the hall. As they walked, Jake got curious, and said to Larry, “So if it wasn't Zook, how could someone else have gotten in there? How do you steal something from a locked room?”

Larry shook his head. “I don't know. I'm trying to think like a mystery writer—”

“Which you
are,
” Mal reminded him.

“Well, I'm just starting out. And right now I don't have any idea how a person could steal something from that room if it was locked.”

“Maybe somebody had the key,” Winston said.

Larry shook his head. “There's no keyhole. There's a little hole
in the doorknob so you can pick the lock in an emergency. I guess somebody could have done that, but wouldn't they have woken up Zook in the process?”

“Through the window, maybe?” Jake said.

Mal said, “Duh, Jake. We're in the basement.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Yes,” Larry said. “No windows down here.” He shrugged extravagantly. “Like you said, Chase's son almost certainly did this himself. It'd sure be fun, though, if somebody else did it, in some creative, diabolical way.”

They chatted until they reached the library. Stepping in at last, Winston stopped in his tracks, openmouthed. It was enormous—big enough that Winston's brain almost refused to accept it. Coming from the bland, carpeted hallway into this gaping underground cavern filled with bookshelves was like discovering a three-ring circus in your living room. It was impossible that all this could be in someone's house, even if it was a large house.

Penrose greeted the boys. “Enjoying yourselves?” He saw the expression on Winston's face and smiled as if he'd once had a similar reaction.

Larry laughed. “You can always tell when someone is visiting this place for the first time. It's something, isn't it?”

Winston nodded mutely. Three of the four walls were lined with bookcases. More bookshelves were strategically placed here and there, among long tables and an assortment of chairs. And then on top of all that, two staircases—one on either side—led up to a second floor. The second floor of the library consisted of a huge indoor balcony, wrapping around the four walls, with only a narrow foot or two of floor space between the bookshelves and the railing.

Richard was standing midway up one of the staircases, so he
could see everybody come in. “Hello again!” he called. “Welcome to the second puzzle of the weekend! You'll notice how I'm doing all of you a favor this time and actually telling you that the puzzle has started.”

“We appreciate that,” said Chase Worthington, and there was some mild laughter.

“The puzzle is here in my library,” said Richard. “Finding it, however, is up to you.” At once, heads turned in all directions, as if the puzzle were fluttering around them like butterflies.

Richard continued. “There are eight different puzzle pieces, hidden all around. When you find a piece, please leave it so that others may find it, too. I've left some pads of paper and pencils for you, if you need to take notes. The answer to this puzzle is a four-letter word. The first person to say that word to me shall be the winner. Are you ready?”

They were ready.

“Then, go!”

THE GUESTS SCATTERED
excitedly, heading off in all directions. Betty McGinley had her brats with her, and the two kids were, for the moment, well-behaved. They understood that this was a game of hide-and-seek, and they were eager to play. It was more surprising to see Zook trailing after his father. He wasn't doing cartwheels of enthusiasm, but he wasn't complaining, either.

Jake picked up some paper and a pencil. “I guess we're all working by ourselves?” he said.

“I guess we are,” Winston agreed.

“All right, then.” Jake grinned. “I'll race ya.” He headed for one of the staircases.

“If this was a running race,” Mal said, “I would just give up now. But I always was good at Easter egg hunts.” He jogged away and rounded a corner behind one of the bookshelves.

Winston didn't know where to begin, so he set off at random, walking between the bookshelves, examining the walls. He found himself next to Penrose, who was staring with great concentration at a painting.

“What are we looking for?” Winston asked.

“I can't really tell yet, I'm afraid.” Penrose's glasses were at the tip of his nose as he studied the painting, which was hung in the narrow space between sets of bookshelves. “I can't remember if this painting has always been here or not,” Penrose said. It was a perfectly nice piece of artwork, but Winston didn't think there was anything puzzly about it. He kept going.

Winston reached the back of the library, where he found another framed work in a gap between the shelves. This time it was a strange ink drawing. Unlike the painting, this one looked
very
puzzly:

A fishing rod, and then a musical note, and then the letter O. Or was that a zero? No, Winston thought it was an O. What could it mean? Maybe there was no way to know—not until he found some of the other puzzle pieces. But Winston couldn't tear himself away from this piece yet. It was a mystery that demanded solving.

“I always enjoy these weekends,” said a voice behind him. Winston turned, and Kimberly Schmidt was there. “But one thing I have learned over the years is I am very bad at puzzles.” Her eyebrows were furrowed in the direction of the puzzle on the wall, a frown on her pretty face. “What do you think this is?”

“I don't know yet,” Winston admitted. “A picture puzzle of some kind.”

“A message, maybe,” Kimberly said. She waved a hand like a queen about to make a pronouncement: “Fishing for music!” she exclaimed. “Plus the letter O.”

Winston smiled. “That's probably not it.”

“And what's with the blanks?” She moved closer to get a better look. “Does that mean the answer is five letters? But Richard said the answer is
four
letters.”

Winston thought about that and said, “Well, the answer to this
part
of the puzzle could be five letters. So maybe each of the eight puzzle pieces will lead to a different word. Then we'll have to combine those words in some way.”

Kimberly shook her head. “I think I'm going to stick to the cello.”

They continued to stare at the drawing, Winston enjoying the beautiful musician's company.

“What note is that, anyway?” he asked.

“It's an E,” said Kimberly. “Is that important?”

“Might be,” Winston said, staring, and less than a second later, the answer buzzed into his brain. “In fact, yes!” he said, and quickly wrote something down on his pad.

“You've got it?”

“I do.” Winston beamed.

She crinkled her eyes at him. “You're not going to tell me the answer, are you?”

“Well,” said Winston. “If you really want to know . . .”

Kimberly laughed. “I'll try to work it out,” she said. “If I need help, I know where to find you.”

They smiled a good-bye at each other, and Winston went off to find more puzzle pieces. When he looked back, Kimberly was still there, hands on hips, staring at the picture of the fishing rod.

It took Winston a solid twenty minutes to find the rest of the
pieces—some of them had been hung in very tricky places. In one case, Richard had placed the frame face-out on the bottommost shelf of a bookcase. Winston must have walked by that one half a dozen times. Another clue was hidden underneath one of the staircases leading to the second floor. He only found that one thanks to the brats yelling, “Here it is, Mommy!” Winston saw Richard wince as his clever hiding spot was revealed for one and all.

Winston found all eight clues, but was missing a few of the answers. One of the pictures in the clues was very peculiar—it was simply a list of all of their names. What could that mean? He took a seat at one of the tables and studied the notes he had taken.

(Continue reading to see the answer to this puzzle.)

*   *   *

Winston took an aggravated breath as he studied the papers in front of him. He was most of the way to the answer, but couldn't drag himself across the finish line. What was he missing?

It was clear that each of these pieces was a rebus—that first puzzle he'd found was a fishing rod, an E note, and then the letter O. ROD + E + O = RODEO, a five-letter word to match the five blanks. The first and fourth letters of the answer were marked with stars, so Winston assumed he only needed the R and E.

After some staring, he'd figured out all of the other rebuses, and now he had a little chart in front of him: