The Potato Chip Puzzles: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin Page B

kid follow Brookville to the deli without a teacher’s help?” Winston asked.
    “Who said anybody followed them to the deli?” Mr. Garvey said. “It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Another team decides to go to that same deli. The cheater is on that team. He sees Brookville’s car, so he decides to give it a”—he almost said a back-tire wedgie, but caught himself at the last moment—“a flat tire. The rest of the team is in the deli. No one sees him do it. This kid’s got a lucky streak a mile wide. But it’s still just a kid playing some nasty tricks, trying to get ahead.”
    Mal said, “So that would put the cheater on Brendan Root’s team, wouldn’t it?”
    “What? Why?” asked Winston.
    “They left the planetarium a minute after the Brookville team.
    Didn’t they? If anybody is going to follow Brookville to the deli, it’s them.”
    “Yeah,” said Jake. “But we already decided that Brendan’s team can’t be the cheater’s team.”
    “We did? How did we figure that out?”
    “Brendan’s team was at the potato chip factory when we got there. The person who gave us the flat tire arrived after us.”
    “Oh,” said Mal. He stared up at the ceiling of the car, trying to work it all out. “Then I have no idea,” he said. “All I know is, this is giving me a headache.”
    “We’re probably wrong about everything,” said Winston.
    “As long as we’re not wrong about these puzzles,” said Mr. Garvey. “That’s all I care about.”
     
    Mr. Garvey had predicted that Adventureland would be jam-packed. He was wrong. It was several light-years beyond jam-packed. Every parking spot was taken, and a half dozen harried park employees were now waving cars to an adjoining grassy field.
    Winston and his team emerged from Mr. Garvey’s car and looked off to where the rides of Adventureland swirled and twirled. They were still incredibly far away.
    “All right, let’s hustle,” said Mr. Garvey, and he began a quick jog toward the entrance. The boys followed suit.
    “Nobody said anything about exercise,” Mal groused. He was already falling behind.
    “I’ll buy you all some nice cold sodas when we get there,” said Mr. Garvey. “Just keep moving.”
    Winston kept moving. He hoped they found this puzzle quickly—that the signs were big and that they saw them right away. Adventureland was a large park. If they had to search the whole place from front to back for a picture of Smiling Potato Chip Guy, they could be here for a long, long time.
    “Hey, look there,” said Jake, pointing. Brendan Root and his team were standing in the big grassy field, gazing around, looking lost and confused. Winston understood: They were searching for their car. They were leaving Adventureland—they had already solved the puzzle.
    Winston stopped running. “Mr. Garvey, can I talk to them for a second?”
    “What? Why?” Mr. Garvey said, irritated at another potential distraction.
    “I want to know if they’ve had a flat tire.”
    Mr. Garvey stopped running, too. A thoughtful expression crossed his face, then he nodded. “Go ahead. Make it fast. We’ll meet you right by that little shack up front where you buy the tickets.”
    The rest of his team continued to the park entrance. Winston veered right toward Brendan Root. He picked up the pace a little—he didn’t want them to find their car just as he was getting close to them.
    Brendan saw him coming and waved. “Winston!” He was happy to see his supposed rival. Delighted, in fact. His two other teammates and their teacher all looked up. None of them looked as happy about Winston’s visit as Brendan.
    “Hey, Brendan,” Winston said, smiling. It was hard not to be caught up in Brendan’s enthusiasm. He was like a puzzle-loving puppy dog. “How’s the game going for you?”
    “Great! This puzzle was fun, wasn’t it?”
    “Um, well, we’re just getting here.”
    “Really?” Brendan looked shocked.
    “Yeah, we’ve had a couple of