Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

THEO

The new logic puzzle was neatly folded under the same rock. But this one was handwritten, not haphazardly torn from a book and used as scrap paper.

My heart rate ticked up as I unfolded it and began to study it.

A tiger, a bear, and a snake reach the edge of a raging river. One is nervous, one excited, and the other is laughing. There are three methods to cross the river: a canoe, a rowboat, and a zipline. Each method can only take one animal. The nervous bear decides to take the canoe across the river. The snake is laughing. The excited animal flies across the river on a zipline.

What kind of animal crosses the river without using a boat?

It took me a couple of passes before I grasped the answer. I forced myself not to peer in any windows while I continued with my lawn maintenance chores. The Black Keys blasted through my earbuds as the sharp, familiar scent of cut grass filled my nostrils. The sun warmed my back and shoulders until I finally yanked my shirt off and tucked it into the back of my shorts.

Again, I refused to peer in the windows. I wasn't even sure he was home, though I'd caught sight of his vehicle through the garage window.

Once I finished with my work, I refrained from cannonballing into the inviting depths of the pool and swapped my earbuds for markers instead.

This time, I concentrated on drawing my best tiger. He was dangling over the water from a zipline with a spark of excitement in his eyes. In the background, a nervous bear paddled in his canoe, and a laughing snake wrapped around one of the rowboat paddles.

As I sat at Bennett's table and drew, the sights and sounds of the lake just down the grassy bank from the pool patio surrounded me. Sunlight sparkled off the ripples of water as a duck glided along. Leaves rustled in the warm breeze. Somewhere in the distance, a loon called awhoo-ooo . I felt the stress of a busy week melt from my shoulders.

When I silently declared my illustration complete, I realized that hour by the water had been more relaxing, more satisfying than anything I'd done in a long while.

I folded the paper and tucked it back under the rock before standing and stretching. When I turned to make my way to my truck, I thought there may have been movement in one of the windows, but I wasn't positive.

Anyway, it didn't matter. Bennett would see my drawing, would understand I'd appreciated his puzzle. And that was what mattered.

The following Friday, there was another logic puzzle. This one was much more complicated, and I knew right away it would require actual thought and a sketched-out grid.

The Cocktail Party Conundrum

At a glamorous cocktail party hosted by the handsome Mr. Ross, five guests have arrived, each bringing along an unexpected pet. Mr. Ross has prepared a variety of exotic cocktails for his guests. However, due to some mix-up, each guest ended up with the wrong cocktail and pet. Can you figure out who brought which pet and received which cocktail?

Clues:

1. The five men are named Constantine, Julian, Gideon, Cal, and Parker.

2. The cocktails served are a Mojito, a Mai Tai, a Cosmopolitan, a Margarita, and a Pina Colada.

3. The unexpected pets brought to the party are a parrot, a chameleon, a hedgehog, a python, and a miniature pig.

4. Cal's pet is not the chameleon.

5. Parker's cocktail is not the Pina Colada, and he didn't bring the python.

6. Julian brought the miniature pig.

7. The parrot's owner did not drink the Mojito.

8. Gideon didn't bring the chameleon, and he didn't drink the Margarita.

9. The Cosmopolitan was served to the man who brought the hedgehog.

10. Constantine didn't bring the python.

Good luck!

I couldn't help but grin at his choice of names for the host and friends, and I couldn't wait to solve the puzzle. More than that, I couldn't wait to illustrate the wacky cocktail party with the men I knew and their ridiculous "pets."

I folded the paper back and slipped it into my pocket before continuing to the work I'd come to do. With my earbuds in, I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings, but when I finished, I glanced back at the patio table and noticed a sweating glass of lemonade next to the rock we used to hold down notes.

I glanced back at the house. There was no sign of Bennett. The lemonade was cool and tart, the perfect treat after the long day I'd had in the sun. As I sat under the shade of the umbrella, I realized I hated leaving the rock empty.

He'd created the detailed puzzle for me. The least I could do was leave him a little something while I worked on the bigger scene I had in mind.