Chapter 1 of 10
The note arrives at the district office in a plain envelope, no stamp, slipped under the door overnight: YOUR NIGHT GIRL LISTENS IN. Five words, block capitals, pencil, drawn slow, the way people write when disguising a hand everyone knows. Mr. Speece reads it twice, pockets it, and takes the morning train down, because in a war year a leaking exchange is no small thing. The note reaches Maddox County before he does. The barber knows. The depot agent knows. Nobody says the operator's name; everybody means it. The party lines carry a new careful silence: a town remembering a wire has two ends. Marion works her shift as always, alone from ten, and if she has heard, the log shows no sign: every call connected, every ring answered inside three, her hand steady as the clock.
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 Night Operator, a mystery told in word searches. Each chapter leaves you one clue; the finale needs them all.
Prefer pen and paper?
Print The Night Operator 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.