The Puzzler's Mansion (18 page)

“No way,” said Mal, walking up to them. “That's got to be a trick.”

Jake said, “Why?”

“It's too easy!” Mal said. “Montana and Oregon? Two states? Come on. Besides, Richard said you had to figure out the rule.” He held up a finger. “One rule. It's not going to be two of them are states and two of them are flavors of ice cream and two of them are things in my sock drawer.”

Winston looked at Mal with surprise. “Mal, you're turning into a real puzzle solver!”

“It's contagious,” Mal said, “and you're like a walking germ.”

“We should write these words down,” Jake said. Looking around, Winston could see several people doing exactly that.

“All right,” said Winston. “Let's start.”

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

*   *   *

“Seriously,” said Mal, looking at the list, “you have
got
to be kidding.” They had pulled together three of the lounge chairs and each was balancing a small plate in his lap. The desserts Richard had served were almost explosively good. Each boy was on his second helping.

Jake said, “I think Mal's right that OREGON and MONTANA don't go together.”

“Of
course
I'm right.”

“I think so, too,” Winston said. “I don't see two other things I can pair up at all.”

“EAGLE and LOBSTER?” Jake said. “Both animals?”

“Weak,” Mal pronounced.

They stared and thought and got nowhere. That was the problem with certain puzzles. In a crossword, you could solve a few clues, and the letters you wrote would help you get the other answers. Slowly, the puzzle would go from blank to solved. This puzzle wasn't like that at all. This one was all or nothing. You either figured out Richard's rule or you sat there staring and waiting for a big idea to strike.

Winston looked around. The party guests had broken up into a few small groups, as always. Penrose was at a small table with Kimberly Schmidt, who kept saying she wasn't a good puzzle solver but who had no intention of giving up. Gerard Deburgh was, for a change, working with his family, although it looked like Gerard was doing all the talking and brainstorming (complete with dramatic arm-waving gestures) while his wife and daughter looked on with expressions that said they were used to this. Larry and Derek—clearly good friends—were once again a team. They were still walking through the forest of balloons, perhaps searching for some overlooked clue. And Betty had snuck back in, without her kids, and was now
working with Chase Worthington and Zook. On the table by Betty's elbow was a baby monitor with a long, red-tipped antenna. The brats must be sleeping. Good. In fact, great.

It occurred to Winston that it would be more sociable to solve with different people, but he
liked
solving with Mal and Jake.

Not that they were solving anything.

“Where is ATLANTA?” Mal asked. “Is that in Montana or Oregon?”

“It's in Georgia, you dope,” Jake said.

“Maybe there's a
different
Atlanta, in Montana or Oregon,” Mal countered.

Winston and Jake gave that idea the silence it deserved. “What does a princess do?” Winston asked.

Jake said, “She sits on a throne and goes to dances and stuff. I guess. I've never met one.”

“Does she REIGN?” Winston said, pointing to that word. “You know, like a king reigns?”

Mal shrugged. “Sounds okay to me. But then what?”

“I don't know,” Winston said. PRINCESS and REIGN made a pretty feeble match, but it was better than any of his other ideas. None of the other words wanted to pair up at all.

Winston thought about getting a third pastry off the dessert table but decided against it. Between the pasta dinner and the two desserts he'd already had, it felt like he might not ever need to eat again. The calm lighting and calmer music—combined with his very full belly—were making him sleepy, so he got up to walk around a little, leaving Mal and Jake to continue juggling those two dozen words.

He found his way over to Penrose and Kimberly, and a smirking voice in his mind asked him which one he was here to visit. The two of them were elbow to elbow at the table, staring at the words.

Penrose greeted him. “Are you and the boys getting anywhere?”

“Nowhere fast,” Winston said.

“Well, maybe we should join forces,” Penrose said. “We're equally stymied, aren't we, dear?” Kimberly's reply was an exaggerated, eye-rolling look of bewilderment.

“Sure,” said Winston. “I'll get Mal and Jake over here.” He glanced at Penrose's notes. He had circled the letter V both times it appeared in the list. He'd also circled the letter B two times as well.

At Winston's look, Penrose explained, “Just an idea I was playing with. I'm not sure it's going anywhere. Exactly two words have a V, and exactly two words have a B.”

“And only two words start with M,” Kimberly added.

“Hmm,” Penrose said. “That's true, too.” They went back to staring.

Winston said, “Well, I'll get the others. Be right back.” He walked back across the room, but slowed when he saw the LOBSTER balloon ahead of him. That was one of the two words with a B. He stared at the balloon. Some microscopic seed of an idea was trying to find a place to take root in Winston's brain.

There was a long ribbon tied to each balloon, and around the other end of the ribbon was a small weight. Winston plucked the LOBSTER balloon out of the air and held it in two hands. He gave it a little shake, as if something might be inside it. Nothing was, except for helium. Still, he felt close to figuring out something important. Whatever it was, though, it remained out of reach.

“What are you doing?” Jake asked. “Dancing with the balloon?” He and Mal had come over to see what Winston was up to.

Winston let go of the balloon. It bobbed away. “No,” he said. “Let's go solve with Mr. Penrose and Kimberly.” Jake and Mal immediately grinned, and Winston had to add, “They
invited
us. Come on.” He turned around and strode back over to Penrose before his friends
could make some new jokes about his crush (and what else could you call it?) on Kimberly.

Penrose had made only a few more marks on his paper. The Bs were still circled, and the Vs, and now he had circled the only two Fs as well. He shook his head and said, “I think I might be making notes so that I can feel smart. It doesn't feel like I'm solving anything.”

“You're doing more than I am,” said Kimberly.

The boys pulled up three chairs. The small table was not intended to seat five, but they managed. Jake said, “But you wouldn't expect a letter like V to be there a whole bunch of times, would you? Even B isn't that common a letter.”

“That's why they're worth more points in Scrabble,” Mal said.

That seed of an idea was still drifting around Winston's brain. It had neither blossomed nor blown away. “Lobster,” he said.

They all looked at him. “Hungry again?” Jake asked.

Winston ignored him. “Lobster is one of the B words.”

“Yes,” Penrose said. He scanned the list. “And the other one is ALABASTER.”

“What
is
alabaster?” asked Mal. “Is that something you eat or something you wear or what?”

“It's a kind of rock,” said Kimberly. “Or a mineral, or something like that.”

Penrose and Winston saw it at the same time. They both sucked in deep breaths, then looked at each other in amazement. “They go together, don't they?” Penrose asked.

“They
have
to,” Winston said. They were both smiling now. The lightbulb he'd been waiting for had turned on, and it was
bright.

The others were still in the dark. “What?” Jake asked. “Alabaster and lobster?” And as soon as he said it, Winston could see the light
go on for him, too. “Ohhhh!” He jumped to his feet with the suddenness of a jack-in-the-box. “I get it!” he said.

Mal craned his neck to get a better view of the words. “If you don't tell me what you're talking about,” he said, “I am going to strangle somebody.”

“And I'll help,” said Kimberly.

Penrose pointed to the words on his notepad. “LOBSTER and ALABASTER. They share more than a B. Look at them.”

Mal and Kimberly did. Judging from the look on his face, Mal didn't expect to see anything. But after only a few seconds his eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. Kimberly was right there with him. She planted a thin finger on the paper and counted, and then laughed loudly. “I see it!”

Penrose put a hand on her arm, a signal to quiet down. Still excited, Kimberly nonetheless spoke more quietly, so as not to give the answer away to the others. “They have the same consonants. L, B, S, T, and R! In that same order!”

“Only the vowels are different,” Winston said. “You take one word, change all the vowels, and you'll get a different word. That's the rule.”

They bent over Penrose's notepad together, pairing up the remaining words, keeping in mind that two words would be left over when they were done.

“So these are the two words we have left?” Jake asked.

“Looks like it,” Mal said. Penrose had circled them: PRINCESS and HEADGEAR.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Kimberly asked.

Winston said, “We put them together to make a clue. A clue to a five-letter word.”

“Princess headgear,” said Penrose.

“Well, that's easy,” said Jake. “Crown.”

“Crown,” Winston agreed.

“Crown!” said Mal. “We've got it.”

Kimberly chuckled and shook her head. “It's clear that none of you were ever little girls playing dress up.”

Mal looked at her with surprise. “You've got
that
right.”

“If you were, you'd know the answer isn't crown.” She stood up and cupped her hands to her mouth. “It's TIARA!” she called.

All heads turned to see who had shouted that, and Richard was up at once, clapping his hands. “Well done!” he said. “It looks like we have our winner.” There was a smattering of applause from the other guests.

Kimberly gave a graceful curtsy but said, “I only took the final step after the men here did the heavy lifting.” She gestured to Penrose and the boys.

Mal waved his hands and scraped his chair backward. “Oh, hey. I'd like to win a prize and all, but I don't need a tiara. That's all yours.” Winston and Jake nodded with enthusiasm. Winston was suddenly glad the “jewels” he'd won were a pair of men's cuff links. He might not ever wear them, but at least owning them would not be a mortal embarrassment. He shuddered as he imagined Richard congratulating him and handing him a sparkly tiara. Why on earth would Richard own a tiara in the first place?

“I agree with Mal,” said Penrose. “The prize is yours.”

She looked beyond pleased. “So am I really winning a tiara?”

“You really are,” Richard said. At some point Norma must have brought it in, because Richard was holding a wide, squarish box.

“Why do you have a tiara, Richard?” Gerard asked with a laugh.

Richard smiled. “It was, of course, another gift. I have played for a lot of famous people and world leaders, and many of them feel they owe me some sort of tribute. Years ago I played a series of concerts in Sweden, including one for the royal family. The princess intended to present me with a little something, but whoever was supposed to give the gift to
her
never did. She was far more embarrassed than she needed to be, and rather than allow me to leave empty handed, she unpinned the tiara from her hair and handed it to me, along with a kiss. It was a very sweet gesture from a very gracious person. She was very beautiful as well, and now I am delighted to pass this gift on to another beautiful lady.” He gestured to Kimberly, who was smiling and blushing.