The Potato Chip Puzzles_ The Puzzling World of Winston Breen - Eric Berlin [24]
He said that in such a conspiratorial tone, like a prisoner sharing an escape plan, that for a moment Winston only stared at him, expecting further instructions—“Start digging through the wall and watch out for guards.” But instead Mr. Garvey said “Go!” again and gave him a little push to get him started.
So Winston walked back toward the entrance to the museum. He glanced behind him to see Mr. Garvey heading back to the little black hallway, and Winston heard him say, “Jake, Mal, can I speak to you for a moment?”
Winston couldn’t remember seeing a movie theater in here, but as soon as he saw the doors, he realized what the volunteer was talking about. It wasn’t a traditional theater, of course, but rather a planetarium where they projected an animated solar system onto a domed ceiling. You sat in a big cushy chair and felt like an astronaut looking out a rocketship’s window. A Tour of the Universe, it was called.
He glanced back the way he had come and saw Mr. Garvey ushering Jake and Mal, a hand on each of their backs pushing them along. “Where are we going?” he heard Mal say.
“Just walk,” Mr. Garvey replied.
“Where are the girls?” Winston asked when they had caught up.
“Well,” Mr. Garvey said, “I imagine they’re still in the hallway.” He gestured to the planetarium door. “Let’s go. The puzzle’s right in there.”
Jake was openmouthed. “Aren’t we going to tell the other team?”
Winston said, “We’re all looking together, remember?”
Mr. Garvey nodded and gestured into the theater once again. “We were, and now we’re not. Go in! Let’s go!”
Reluctantly, Winston and his friends filed in to the pitch-black planetarium, Mr. Garvey practically stepping on their heels as they did so. They reached the center, and all eyes instinctively looked up. Projected on the theater’s curved ceiling was a night sky more spectacular than any Winston had seen in real life. There were so many stars, they threatened to paint the ceiling white. There was also a series of words floating out there in the artificial universe.
Mr. Garvey laughed when he saw the words. “All right,” he said. “Finally, a stroke of luck.” The boys were heading down an aisle to sit in those big comfy seats, but Mr. Garvey whispered, “No! Come back here. We won’t be here long.”
Winston kept glancing over at the door to the theater. He was waiting for it to open and for the girls to walk in. They had ditched them, plain and simple, after promising that they would team up. In the back of his mind, he had sort of hoped they might join forces with these girls throughout the event. Winston didn’t meet many girls who liked puzzles, and that seemed like a pretty good thing to find.
He doubted Bethany or her friends would be too keen to work with them anymore.
Winston’s eyes had adjusted to the dark now, and he could see silhouettes of other teams sitting in the chairs, but he couldn’t tell who they were. Mr. Garvey led them into an area behind the back row—he didn’t want to sit.
“If all the puzzles are this easy,” whispered Mr. Garvey, “we’re never going to catch up. I hope there’s a real killer later on that only we can crack.”
“You know the answer?” Jake said.
“Of course I do! Look!” He pointed up at the words. “Just put the missing letters back in to get one of the zodiac signs. It couldn’t be simpler! Turn on that thing so we can submit the answer,” Mr. Garvey said.
Jake had the computer, and he complied. Teedly-teedly-TEE. When Jake was ready, Mr. Garvey said, “Okay. It’s Water Carrier, Bull, Ram, Fish, Scales, Goat . . . so type in A-L-R-S-E-T.”
“That’s not a word,” Mal said.
“Just type it in.”
Jake did. There was a moment’s pause, then he said, “That’s not the right answer.”
“All right, all right,” Mr. Garvey said, waving his hands as if erasing the wrong answer out of the air. “Scramble