Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For

Come on, pick it up!

You ruined my Sunday again.

Hey, Tess. What about an answer for 24 down?

I wish I could.

OK, Tess. Six letters for "Play with matches"?

Hmmmm... That would have to be...

tennis of course.

What brings you down here, Pierre?

Killing two birds with one stone.

I wanted to show you the program for the crosswords tournament.

- Fresh from the printer's. - This looks great. I love it!

The other bird? I'm dropping off our press release

- to the events' editor. - Then follow me.

Detective O'Connor, what have we got?

Um, our victim is Alan Nightingale.

He's the owner of the gallery. The cleaning crew discovered

the body at 6 a.m. this morning. The security system is down

for repairs, which is why we didn't have video

- and no alarm that went off. - That's convenient. Inside job?

It's possible. Now, the security system

was handled by an assistant named Carmichael

but he's on vacation in Florida. And if you look above you,

you can see that our skylight was pried open by our intruder

and he rappelled down this rope. Must be a pretty good climber.

Careless to have left a rope behind, huh?

He must have been in a hurry. I think our victim

was shot as he walked in on a robbery.

- What did they take? - They told me they took this:

an oil painting, Third Duke

of Dorset's Hunter with Groom and Dog.

- Haha! That's quite a mouthful. - Yeah,

tell me about it. But extremely valuable.

Victim suffered three gunshot wounds, but we only found

one shell casing over there on the other side of the room.

Oh! This was found in his back pocket.

Was the victim into horoscopes or what?

No, it's a crossword puzzle. Unfortunately, couldn't

finish it. Found it in his back pocket.

Order DNA on the frame, on the victim's clothing

- and on the skylight. - And the rope. I'm on it.

Also gonna need a warrant for his phone records

to see who he was talking to before he was killed.

Anything else, Chief?

I'm just looking out for you, Logan, that's all.

Well, you know what?

Looking out for you too, Chief.

Listen, I think we're done here. I'm just gonna get lab results

back from Forensics. So I'm gonna head down to The Sentinel.

I'm gonna talk to Harris, he's always good for some leads.

- Very good, carry on. - Alright.

Oh, Detective, and one more thing.

- Yes, sir. - Your sister's

expecting you for dinner this Sunday, and she says,

"This time, no talking shop, and your brother

is bringing the kids."

I'll see you later, Pop.

Later, son.

My last official duty as head of the tournament.

After that, it's up to you.

I hope I'm up for the challenge.

Oh, you will be. You have

people skills and puzzle skills. And in five years,

I don't think I've ever been able to stump you with a clue.

Besides, I'll still help you handle the press.

- You deserve to relax. - Relax? Please.

I'll be competing in the tournament too.

- Join me for lunch later? - Oh, I'd love to,

but I'm actually meeting my aunt.

We still on for the volunteer meeting this afternoon?

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

I'll see you then.

Good morning, Harris.

How's the crime beat treating you this morning?

- Need another word for bribery. - "Bribery," hmm...

- try graft. - Who needs a thesaurus

when I have you at the next desk?

So, the tournament starts this Sunday, right?

Oh yeah. Cutthroat competitors,

wicked wordplay, sinister sarcasm;

it's really a crime scene all its own.

Good morning, Tess.

I just finished a letter that needs your signature.

Oh, thank you, Josephine.

Oh, there's actually a little typo.

No worries, I'll take care of it.

- OK. - OK.

So is Josephine your assistant or the other way around?

You're too nice.

She's new, she'll get better.

What's wrong with looking at the bright side of things?

Don't ask me, I work at the crime beat.

So, your new crossword ready to go to press?

Almost. I just have one 8-letter word.

Second letter o, sixth letter r.

Huh...

Done.

Heads up. Boss is approaching.

Cutting it close as usual, Tess?

I just got our monthly report.

Digital subscriptions are up 8%.

And our research says it's largely thanks to

the crosswords. A bright spot in an age of fading print.

- Thank you. - Mm-hmm.

- Second only to crime beat. - Well, yeah.

Crime is the gift that keeps giving. There was a murder

- last night, a downtown gallery. - Oh no, what happened?

Painting was stolen from the Nightingale

collection, and the gallery owner was murdered.

Nightingale?

Oh, my gosh! My... my aunt is a friend of the owner.

I'm sorry, Tess.

Aunt Candace, I heard about your friend. I'm so sorry.

Alan sold me a painting just last week.

He was such a kind man.

Always ready with a joke or story.

Hard nose when it came to business,

but... lovely nonetheless.

We shared a passion for opera and the arts.

I used to go to the Met with Alan and his wife.

- Or ex-wife now. - Ex-wife?

Mhm. Veronica. They split last year

in a very nasty divorce.

I tried to maintain friendship with both of them,

but it was like walking a tightrope.

Why don't we order some food and then we can

- talk more about him. - Excellent idea.

And thank you for being here.

Hey. Wow, what a day! I will have a mocha, please.

OK, let me sweeten my offer from before.

- 34 across for a Bear Paw. - You know I can't do that.

Come on, who's gonna know?

Listen, I would love to help you, but I never

- give away answers. - OK, alright.

Some of us have appointments to keep, so...

- Patience is a virtue. - So is punctuality.

Have a nice day.

Hi. Coffee black.

Who's that Harris is talking to over there?

Uh, a detective, I think.

And I guess the painting

was appraised upwards of a million dollars.

An intruder broke through the skylight,

came down a rope, stole the painting around midnight.

Think this crime is connected to that string of art thefts

- the past few years? - I don't know, Harris. Maybe.

But those weren't violent, know what I mean? Speaking art heist,

whatever happened to the series you were doing last year?

I got pulled off it to work on the city hall scandal.

Really? Wow.

Did Alan Nightingale's name ever come out?

I'll have to look through my notes.

- OK. May I help you? - Me?

- No, the person behind you. - Oh. No, I was actually just

gonna borrow the stapler.

Hmm. 'Cause the one

next to you on this desk here is not good enough, huh?

No.

We meet again, Ms. Patience.

Yes. Mr. Punctuality, hi.

- You already know each other? - Not exactly, no.

Detective Logan O'Connor, Homicide.

- Tess Harper. - Tess here

- is our crossword puzzle editor. - A what?!

Are you handling the Nightingale case?

Yeah. Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?

My aunt knew him. They were actually very close,

and, well, she's really shaken up.

I hope you can find out who did it.

I intend to.

So, what does a crossword editor

do anyway? Are you the one that actually writes all the puzzles?

I write about half of them, and the rest I edit.

I would never sleep if I wrote them all.

Our puzzles come in from contributors

all over the world who crave crosswords' glory.

Wow. It takes all kinds, huh?

I find it interesting 'cause it's obvious

that Nightingale was a fan of your work.

We found a Sentinel Sunday puzzle on him.

Nightingale did the Sunday puzzle?

Mm-hmm. Well, not all. He just filled in

- the across clues in cursive. - Just the across clues

in cursive? That's... that's really strange.

What's so strange about it?

You don't do crosswords, do you?

No, I'm a little too busy to play games.

Well, it's

too bad 'cause crosswords can, you know, broaden

your intellectual horizons.

And I don't know, maybe you like yours narrow.

Anyway, uh...

that's just not how anyone fills out a crossword.

Well, Nightingale did.

In cursive? With no mistakes? I'm sorry for all the questions.

No, no, this is fun. I mean, usually,