The Puzzler's Mansion by Eric Berlin Page B

and turned to look at Richard Overton as if to say, I would like to be done talking now.
    Richard took the hint. Winston knew he was next, and he was right. “How about you, Winston?” Richard looked around the table and said, “Arthur tells me Winston knows everything there is to know about puzzles.”
    â€œIs that right?” asked Larry Rossdale. “You’ve certainly come to the right place this weekend.”
    â€œNo fair outshining the grown-ups, though,” said Kimberly Schmidt, waving a kidding finger at him. Winston responded with a grin that he hoped wasn’t too foolish.
    â€œWhat do you intend to do with it?” asked Gerard Deburgh.
    Winston blinked at him. “Do with what?”
    â€œDo with the puzzles . . . not much money in that, is there?”
    â€œThe boy is twelve,” said Mr. Penrose, a bit scornfully. “It’s a hobby and a passion. He doesn’t have to worry about whether or not it will support his life.”
    Gerard shrugged, not as if he agreed but as if it would be impolite to argue at the dinner table.
    â€œSo give us a puzzle, then,” said Derek Bibb, wiping his lips with his cloth napkin.
    â€œIf you have anything prepared,” said Richard.
    Penrose chuckled. “He’s always prepared,” he said. “And if he’s not, he’ll create something on the spot. I’ve seen it. Many times.”
    All eyes were on Winston now, which was a little intimidating, but the fact was, he
did
have a puzzle idea. On the sideboard behind him was a little cylinder filled with toothpicks. He reached for it and spread some toothpicks out on the table.
    â€œThis is sort of a classic puzzle,” Winston said. “Can you move three toothpicks and make three squares of the same size, and have no toothpicks left over?”

    (Answer, page 244 .)

AFTER DINNER THE ADULTS sat around talking, and the kids were allowed to do as they pleased, so Winston and his friends went outside. They weren’t out for very long—the sun had just about set, and they soon felt like a trio of cat burglars creeping across the lawn. Still, what they saw was impressive. A winding brick path connected the main house to the guesthouse where Norma lived. It was smaller but no less fancy. Off to the side but between the two houses was an elaborate garden, and near that was a shed almost as large as Winston’s garage. Mal wanted to peek inside, but Jake pointed out that the doors were padlocked shut.
    On the side of the house, they encountered a long patio floored with bricks of varying pale colors. There was furniture back here, and what was probably a grill, but each object had been covered with a tarp. Mal found a switch and flicked it, and a row of small spotlights illuminated the whole area.
    â€œI can’t get over this place,” Winston said, looking around. From this point, he couldn’t even see to the end of the property, and therewas certainly no sign of neighbors. “How many concerts do you think he had to perform to buy this house?”
    â€œMaybe one,” said Mal, “and they paid him a billion dollars.”
    Jake called to them. “Hey! Look at this.”
    He was looking at the ground at a particular bunch of bricks, all of them engraved with numbers. Winston wasn’t sure what it meant until Jake pointed to a small metal sign, which informed them this was . . . a maze! Built right into the patio!
    â€œWow,” Mal said. “You know Winston’s going to have a maze in his backyard when he’s older.”
    â€œNo,” said Winston. “My entire house is going to be a maze.”
    Starting from the circled 4 in the upper left corner, travel in a straight line along the rows and columns (no diagonals!) until you reach the F in the lower right. The space you are currently on tells you how many spaces you must move—so you’ll start by jumping 4 squares