Chapter 4 of 10
The jack field maps the county: a brass socket for every line, party lines in rows, the doctor, the mill, the churches. If the night operator were the note's snoop, the wear would sit in the sockets worth listening to. Speece checks them with a jeweler's glass, like a man counting money. They are clean: ordinary insertion wear, nothing more. The doctor's jack might as well be new. Marion does not visit the county's secrets at night; the brass swears it better than witnesses could. The only jacks shining with use are the distance pairs and the operator-to-operator trunk. Speece looks at the board like a witness that has just changed the case: the night girl was never listening to this county. She was talking to somewhere else on the county's behalf, at some cost he has not found yet.
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.