Chapter 3 of 10
Ivy thinks to track the stranger's boots instead of his notebook. The orchard after rain keeps a good record; she walks it Wednesday morning reading the prints like a ledger. A surveyor, any man pricing land for what could replace it, walks the edges: road frontage, the creek line, the corners where markers stand. Fisk's prints never visit a corner. They go where the fruit is: up the bearing rows, pausing at the old Baldwins, circling the young Winesaps twice, longest at the block Grandmother planted in 1907. Whatever he is counting, it is not acreage. It is bushels, seasons, the orchard's beating heart, tree by tree. Ivy stands in the wet grass, arms crossed, keeping one thought to herself: a man who walks your land like that is not planning to pave it. He is planning to need it.
Use the arrow keys to move between letters. Press Enter or Space on the first letter of a word, then again on the last letter. Press Escape to cancel.
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About this case
A chapter of The Cider Press, a mystery told in word searches. Each chapter leaves you one clue; the finale needs them all.
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Print The Cider Press as one large-print booklet: every chapter and its puzzle, a clue ledger, and the ending sealed on the last page.
How a mystery chapter works
- 1Read the scene first.Every chapter opens with a scene from the case. The word list is drawn from it, and so is the clue.
- 2Find the words.Tap a word's first letter, then tap along to its last, or press and drag. Found words color themselves in and cross off the list.
- 3One listed word is not in the grid.Find the other nine and the word left over is the chapter's clue. Note it down, or let the case page keep it for you.
- 4The finale needs every clue.The last puzzle's word list is the clues you collected, and once you find them all, the leftover letters spell out who did it, and why.