The Puzzler's Mansion by Eric Berlin Page B

haven’t even gottento him yet.
But, no. It was the theater director, Derek Bibb, who had reached Richard first with the answer. Richard was patting Derek on the shoulder in congratulations, and there was a polite round of applause. Derek bowed humbly, looking pleased.
    Jake saw the stunned expression on Winston’s face. “Sorry, Win,” he said.
    Richard was still talking. He explained to the others how to find the answer phrase, and there was laughter and some smacking of foreheads from the other guests. “And what is a four-letter word meaning ‘cat or engine sound’?” Richard asked.
    â€œPurr!” shouted most everybody.
    â€œThat’s absolutely right,” said Richard. “And, Derek, because you were the first to arrive at the answer, you get the prize. Norma?”
    Norma came forward holding a framed painting, covered with a black cloth. Richard eased it away from her and placed it on the table, angling it so that everybody could see.
    He said, “You all know how I admire the paintings of Sutton Hammill, who enjoys puzzles almost as much as I do. I have a few of his original works, and Derek, I am giving this one to you.”
    Derek looked shocked. “Richard . . . thank you. Are you sure?”
    â€œOf course I am sure,” Richard said, and he flipped over the black cloth, revealing the painting. Winston leaned in and squinted, because he couldn’t tell what he was looking at.
    Neither could anybody else, apparently. “What . . . what is it?” asked Chase.
    Richard smiled. “It’s a cat.”
    â€œIt is?”
    â€œBut the pieces are out of order. It’s up to you to put it back together again with your eyes.”

    (Answer, page 245 .)
    *   *   *
    Winston, grumpier than ever, was sitting upstairs in the reading room. This time he made no attempt to hide his irritation: He sat with his arms crossed, frowning at the floor. Fine, the breakfast puzzle had been stolen away at the last second. Things like that happen. But now he’d come an inch short on a
second
puzzle, and that one would have earned him a far cooler prize.
    If his sister were acting like this, he’d call her a sore loser. He knew that, but he couldn’t help it. Two puzzles in a row!
    Mal came over, looked in the direction Winston was staring, and saw nothing. He asked, “Is there an invisible puzzle over there that you’re trying to solve?”
    Winston grunted annoyance, and Mal decided maybe this wasn’t a good time for jokes. He sat down and gazed out the window at the wide, lush lawn. Jake came in from the direction of the kitchen, eating an apple. “This place has everything,” he said, “except potato chips.”
    â€œI think I heard Norma say they were ordering in lunch,” Mal said.
    â€œCan’t we just eat last night’s dinner again?”
    â€œI know, really!” said Mal. “When I get rich, the first thing I’m gonna do is hire a cook.”
    Jake noticed Winston and said, “He okay?”
    Mal said, “He’s tired of puzzles. He’s vowing to never solve them again.”
    Winston said mopily, “Maybe I should.”
    His friends looked at him with blank surprise. Mal leaned in and said, “Winston? Is that you?”
    â€œHe’s kidding,” Jake said. He considered Winston for a moment and added, “Right?”
    Winston shrugged. He didn’t think he could walk away frompuzzles—not really—but right at the moment, it didn’t seem like a terrible idea.
    Mal looked around the room like someone in a fog. “I must be dreaming. This can’t be a real conversation. When I said you were giving up puzzles, that was a
joke.
”
    â€œIs this because of the puzzles we’ve had so far?” Jake asked. He wasn’t goofing around like Mal, but he too looked like he thought Winston might have been replaced