Chapter 4 of 10
Minnie Sparks runs the post office like a listening post, and the stranger's mail is her favorite frequency. He receives little and sends less, she reports to the sewing circle, but what passes tells a story: an envelope from a veterans hospital two states off. A reply from the Court Street pawnbroker. And one letter, heavier than the rest, addressed in careful capitals to a chaplain's office at a base the sewing circle has to look up in the atlas. It is the hospital postmark Minnie keeps returning to, the way a tongue returns to a sore tooth. Swindlers, in her experience of detective magazines, do not convalesce for a year before a job. She says it as gossip, but it comes out as doubt, and doubt, once spoken in the post office, travels faster than the rumor ever did.
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.
armchairpuzzles.com · free large-print word searches
About this case
A chapter of The Man off the Bus, a mystery told in word searches. Each chapter leaves you one clue; the finale needs them all.
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 colour 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.
Prefer pen and paper?
Print The Man off the Bus as one large-print booklet: every chapter and its puzzle, a clue ledger, and the ending sealed on the last page.