A Crossword to Die For by Nero Blanc Read Free Book Online

aware of those phrases—”
    â€œWell, Ted told me neat stuff like that … a ‘cast of hawks,’ a ‘skein of geese,’ and other stuff … He knew everything about ‘ornithology.’ That’s when you study—”
    â€œI know what it is.” Belle could only stare at her father’s assistant. Migratory ospreys , she thought, anhingas, turkey vultures: Who was this man Debbie knew as Ted? After a long and silent moment, Belle produced a baffled: “The notebook wasn’t in the suitcase the police returned to me.”
    Debbie shrugged. “Hey, no biggie … Maybe the cops swiped it or it fell out of his bag … Like I said, he only used it to—”
    Belle stiffened. “Members of Massachusetts police forces are not in the habit of stealing possessions from the dead—or from anyone else. Especially composition books.”
    Debbie’s sad face finally brightened. “Oh, golly! Sorry about that! I should have my head examined. You married an ex-cop! Ted did tell me that. I can see why you’d be sensitive on the subject.”
    When Deborah Hurley had finally babbled her way off into the sunset, Belle returned to the kitchen and made herself another cup of tea. She wasn’t hungry in the slightest—not even for the deviled eggs that were her favorite treat. She knew that reasonable people ate meals at regular hours, and that her body was probably experiencing extreme deprivation. But reasoning was of little use today; Belle’s psyche felt too battered to handle the cheery world of welcoming restaurants and friendly waitresses.
    Instead, she opted to take her chances on what she could scrounge in her father’s kitchen. She opened a cabinet, spied a lone can of celery soup, and began hunting down a can opener, pulling open drawers that contained a few paper napkins, a set of flatware that looked brand new, a few mismatched knifes—or nothing. Both her father and her mother had lacked any interest in the domestic sciences.
    Belle shook her head. “No wonder I can’t cook,” she muttered under her breath.
    Finally, she unearthed the target of her quest. It was in the drawer of a side table in the dining area. Beside the opener, carefully wrapped in tissue paper, was an object she recognized as a picture frame. Belle picked it up and began to unwrap it, imagining she’d found her missing wedding photo, but discovered, instead, a very different memory.
    It was a crossword puzzle she’d created for a long past Father’s Day: an homage to famous Princetonians—Dr. Theodore A. Graham among them. She’d conceived the gift cryptic as an amusing diversion, something to be enjoyed and then tossed away. Instead, the man who’d been so disparaging of her choice of work, who’d been so sparing with compliments, who’d been so unknowable and aloof, had not only saved it, but framed it.

FATHER’S DAY

    Across
    1.  Cheer from 48-Across
    4.  Cleverness
    7.  Yours and mine
    10.  “To___is human”
    13.  Burton co-star in “Look Back in Anger”
    14.  Fuss
    15.  Simian
    16.  “___for Two”
    17.  Famous class of 1965 Senator
    19.  Famous class of 1939 dropout
    21.  Begat
    22.  Lamenter
    23.  Pride of 48-Across
    29.  Born
    30.  Cupid
    31.  Prickleback
    32.  Part of UCLA
    34.  Picasso’s homeland
    37.  My Dad!
    41.  Spoiler
    42.  Pinch
    43.  Col. sports grp.
    44.  JFK arrivals
    45.  ___alai
    48.  Orange and Black Cats
    54.  Composer Edward
    55.  Mr. Lanza
    56.  Famous class of 1932 Actor
    59.  Famous class of 1771 President
    61.  Fate
    62.  Get a gander
    63.  R-V man?
    64.  Superlative ending
    65.  “___or no?”
    66.  Aves.
    67.  Gosh
    68.  ___Hoo
    Down
    1.  Roasts
    2.  Show up
    3.  Court call
    4.  “Coming Home” writer Salt
    5.