The Puzzle Box

Sandy turned the key, leaned into the door, and almost fell flat on her face as the door flew inward. She quickly glanced around to be sure no one was watching, then made her way to the kitchen to start the coffee for the morning rush. She had barely turned the tap when she heard the door chime jingle. The store was not officially open for another half hour, so she peaked out to see who had come in.

“Nice entrance this morning, Grace”. Bobby Nichols was grinning ear to ear as he greeted her.

“I was hoping no one saw that”, Sandy replied, “What are you doing out and about so early”?

“I knew it was your birthday today, so I thought I’d be the first to say, ‘Happy Birthday’ before the rush starts”.

“Thanks” Sandy replied. “You didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn, that’s really sweet of you”. Sandy loved the early morning solitude that came with opening at 5:00 AM. She had many regular customers who started their day with her. She really lucked out when she landed a part time job here while she took classes at the local community college.

Sandy and Bobby were both studying marine science. Sandy liked getting her hands dirty, and the Coastal Maine location gave her plenty of opportunity to study the local sea life. Bobby was in the Coast Guard; the station was just around the corner from the market and the campus. They had become good friends, but she was afraid Bobby wanted something more. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She tried not to think about his sandy hair and sea green eyes. She didn’t need the distraction they represented.

“I didn’t get you a card or anything” Bobby said, “how about if I buy you one of these scratch off tickets, and maybe later we can have lunch? My treat”.

“You don’t really have to, but sure, why not”? Sandy replied.

“Great, pick one of those $10 ones, maybe you will win the big prize”! He said as he handed her a 10-dollar bill.

“I have to go finish the coffee and get ready for the breakfast rush”, Sandy said. “Why don’t you come back at noon and I will have some sandwiches packed to go”?

“You can’t make your own birthday lunch”! Answered Bobby.

“I want to walk the beach, and it’s supposed to be a beautiful day. I don’t mind” she said.

“I will get us something for lunch and pick you up” he insisted.

“It’s a deal” she agreed, “see you at noon”.

Sandy was so busy for the rest of the morning that she didn’t notice the time. When Sandy saw Bobby’s blond head saunter in, she was surprised, but more than ready to hit the beach.

“I’ve got lunch, are you ready to go”? He asked.

“Absolutely, let’s roll” Sandy replied.

They jumped into Bobby’s Mustang convertible, his prize possession.

“What do you say we take a little spin before lunch”?

“Sounds good. Where to?” She asked.

“Let’s head south along the coast, now that the tourists are gone, we might find an empty beach”.

“Great. I could use a little quiet.” Sandy mused.

They found a spot to park near the water and walked down to the shoreline to find a likely place to eat. “How about here”? Sandy asked, as they came upon a remote section of beach.

“Perfect”, Bobby responded, and put down the picnic basket. He pulled out a checkered tablecloth and spread it out on the sand. Next came a bottle of wine and 2 plastic wine glasses, along with plates, forks, and linen napkins. He laid out a platter with cheeses and crackers, olives, and sliced meats. He twisted the cork out of the bottle and made a display of offering her a chance to sample the wine.

“Madame, is the wine to your liking?” He joked.

“Just pour a real glass! I’m no wine snob”! Sandy laughed.

“As you wish, my lady. Cheers!” Bobby said as he clinked his glass with Sandy’s. “How did you do on the scratch off”? He asked.

“I got so busy after you left, I forgot to check it!”. Sandy dug into her bag and retrieved the card. Bobby handed her a quarter to scratch it off with. “Good luck” he said. As she scratched, her eyes began to open wider and wider with each box she uncovered. Finally, she handed him the ticket, “Does that mean what I think it means”? She whispered. He grabbed the ticket out of her hand, looked at it and whistled. “It looks like you won $20, 000”!

The following day, Sandy drove to the state lottery office to cash in her ticket. She still couldn’t believe her luck, she never won anything! She didn’t really believe it was true until she walked out with a check in her hand. She drove straight to the bank and deposited it; she wasn’t taking any chances!

She called Bobby, “Be ready, I’m picking you up and taking you to celebrate my winnings, I’ll be there in 10”.

Bobby jumped in the passenger seat as soon as she pulled up. “Where to”? he asked.

“There’s an antique shop I have had my eye on, but I never have any money. Today I am going to see what they have”! Sandy pulled into a parking lot and practically ran to the door.

Sandy’s favorite hobbies were antiquing and puzzles. She was thrilled to see an entire shelf full of antique wooden puzzles! She picked up what appeared to be a solid wooden box. On closer examination, Sandy noticed that the box was made of various individual pieces and realized it was one of those boxes that can only be opened if you follow all the right steps. After 15 minutes trying to figure it out with no success, she decided she had to buy it. She was determined to get it open.

The owner haggled over the price, but since she couldn’t tell Sandy the solution, she agreed to half the original price, which Sandy quickly handed over, and hugged the box to her chest.

Sandy drove to their favorite pub for lunch. After they ordered, Sandy started to fiddle with her new prize. She started trying to move each piece, some of them moved, but none of them opened the box. She rotated the corner pieces, nothing happened. She put the box down in frustration when lunch arrived.

“You’ll figure it out, I’ve never seen a puzzle you couldn’t beat”, Bobby joked.

“Knock on wood”, Sandy muttered as she tapped the box with her knuckle 3 times for luck. Suddenly, a small drawer slid out of the end of the box. “Awesome, it worked! Hey, what is this”? she asked, as she pulled out a small notebook from the hidden drawer. It was exactly what she would have thought a man’s “little black book” might look like. It even had what appeared to be nicknames and phone numbers scribbled on every page.

“Somebody’s probably looking for this, It looks like they spent a lot of time collecting all these names”! Bobby commented as he leafed through the pages.

“Give me that! I bet whoever sold this box doesn’t even know it was in there. I should call one of these numbers, maybe they can tell me who it belongs to”. Pulling out her cellphone, Sandy dialed the first number in the book. After a few rings, a suspicious sounding voice answered.

“Who’s this?” the voice growled.

“Is this Tommy Locks”? Sandy asked.

“Who’s askin’? he replied.

“My name is Sandy Brown. This may sound strange, but I found your name in a book that was inside an antique puzzle box I bought. I was hoping you could help me find its owner. There are a lot of other names, but yours was the first I tried”.

“What book? I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about”.

“It’s a small black notebook, it has lots of names, dates and numbers listed. I thought someone might be looking for it. The antique dealer said the box was part of an estate sale from a wealthy New Yorker, maybe the family didn’t know the box wasn’t empty”.

“Who else knows about this”? The man asked.

“No one,” she answered. “why”?

“Just keep it that way! Where are you? I’ll come get it”.

She arranged to meet him at the market, she had the closing shift. He agreed. She was anxious to get it over with, his reaction was very odd.

Just before closing, Officer Barnes came in for a coffee. He was about to start his patrol of her neighborhood. Sandy asked if he could stick around until she met this guy, she didn’t like the sound of him over the phone.

“Sure thing, I’ve got some paperwork to do, I’ll be in the parking lot. I have the unmarked car tonight, so nobody will get curious”.

The man hadn’t arrived by 20 minutes past closing time, so Sandy decided to lock up and head out, figuring the man had changed his mind. She turned off the outside light and closed the back door, as she turned to lock up, someone grabbed her from behind with a hand clamped over her mouth.

“Who are you working for”? A rough voice asked as he began dragging her toward a dark sedan.

“I work here” she said, “what are you talking about”? she mumbled under his hand.

“Come on, girlie, nobody calls me looking for ‘Tommy Locks’ unless they are workin’ for the organization, somebody’s trying to get me! Now start talking”, he said as he started to shove her into the car.

Suddenly, the pressure behind her stopped and the man dropped to the ground. Sandy looked back to find Officer Barnes standing over her assailant with his gun in his hand.

‘Do you know who this is”? he asked.

“Of course not, he just grabbed me and started dragging me away”! Sandy gasped.

“This is Tommy ‘Locks’ Donovan! He’s one of the top 10 most wanted mob hit men in America. His nickname is ‘Tommy Locks’ because he has gotten out of every lock up he’s ever been in! There’s a $20,000 reward for anyone who could help the cops catch him, if you come down to the station, I will be sure you get the credit for catching this guy. I will meet you there in the morning, we will make sure you get that check, go on home now and rest up, you’ve had an eventful evening”!

The next morning, as Sandy drove away from the police station with another $20,000 check, she reflected on her good fortune. “Who would have thought I could solve a mystery, wrapped up in a puzzle”? She asked Bobby as they pulled out.

“I told you, you’ve never met a puzzle you couldn’t solve. Now what”? Bobby inquired.

“Let’s head back to that antique shop”, she said. “They had a whole shelf I want to check out”!