STOP A MURDER - WHY (Mystery Puzzle Book 3) Read online

  You’d think if they missed her so badly they’d have another child. Right?

  Instead, they split.

  I’m sure they would have split up anyway. So I saved Baby Bella from the heartbreak of a broken home, on top of everything else.

  Would you like me to share more secrets?

  Or are you ready for the puzzle?

  PUZZLE #35

  How many wood blocks are on this table?

  I thought after all the complicated brain teasers I’ve sent you, it was time for a simple one.

  Simple as in easy to understand. Not simple as in easy to do.

  Let me tell you, Joe, that I’m the one that built this tower, and even I had to count it several times to make sure I had the right number.

  SPOILER ALERT!

  The mirror is there to help you, not trick you.

  Happy counting,

  Unknown Sendert

  From: Joe Konrath

  To: Unknown Sender

  US—

  Murder isn’t a game.

  You should turn yourself in.

  I’m here to help you, if you need it.

  Yours sincerely,

  Joe

  From: Unknown Sender

  To: JA Konrath

  Subject: Why I’ll Do It–36

  Joe, Joe, Joe…

  You seriously want me to turn myself in?

  Are you sure you aren’t the one forgetting your meds all the time?

  I’m not going back to prison. Ever.

  I’m too smart to be caught.

  I’m smarter than the cops.

  And the FBI.

  And you.

  And all your readers.

  Giving up would be like Picasso cutting off his hands. You don’t hobble a great artist.

  You encourage him.

  You aren’t very encouraging, Joe.

  You should be punished.

  How about an especially complicated puzzle?

  Proceed with caution…

  PUZZLE #36

  Read this entire puzzle very carefully before attempting to solve it.

  What eight-letter word becomes longer when you take away two letters from it?

  I was born six pounds, seven ounces. Every year I gained four pounds plus 20% of what I was the year prior. When I turned twenty years old, and I took a job as a butcher and ate so much meat that within a few months I gained the same amount I was when I was nine years old. My question is: A few months into my job as a butcher, what did I weigh?

  A building that has over forty stories is called a skyscraper. What’s a public building with thousands of stories called?

  What contains thousands of letters, but it is only two words long.

  I breathe. I eat. I grow. I can even reproduce. But I’m not alive, and water kills me. What am I?

  The whiter I get, the dirtier I get. What am I?

  The last year to look the exact same upside-down as it does right side up is 1961. What will be the next year to carry this same characteristic?

  Put ALL THE ANSWERS in the textbox.

  I really don’t like shouting. Daddy used to yell all the time. But I find that, when done sparingly, it is an effective way to get a person’s attention.

  So is stabbing, if you’re curious.

  I know, I know… this puzzle is a real son of a bitch. You’re probably going to spend hours on it. And even then, you may not get it right. And you probably won’t know where you messed up.

  Want a hint?

  SPOILER ALERT!

  Did you follow directions?

  Ha! Not much of a hint!

  Or is it?

  This is the last of the WHY puzzles, Joe.

  If you figure them all out, you’ll finally know why I’m going to murder someone.

  I’m excited for you.

  So far, there have been thirty-six puzzles. And correct answers will lead you to HOW I’m going to murder my victim, WHERE they will be murdered, and now, finally, WHY.

  You write mysteries. All killers have a motive.

  Aren’t you eager to learn mine?

  Good luck,

  Wnknown Sender

  From: Joe Konrath

  To: Unknown Sender

  US—

  You were right. This was a hard puzzle.

  I haven’t gotten it yet.

  But I know my readers are working on it. So even if I don’t get the answer, someone else will.

  You’re not going to kill anybody.

  You’re going to jail.

  The FBI has been bcc’d on every one of our emails. They’re using the latest technology to track you down.

  The Internet isn’t as anonymous as you think, Tim.

  Yes, I know your real name is Tim.

  I also know where you live.

  You wanted to play?

  Now we’re playing.

  We’re playing for keeps, shit head.

  The next time your doorbell rings, it’s going to be a dozen Feds in body armor armed with Glocks and warrants, ready to haul your sorry ass to prison.

  Soon,

  Joe Konrath

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I had a lot of help putting this one together. It’s worth taking the time to thank everybody.

  First, my wife Maria and son Talon were indispensable. Not only with trying out puzzles, but for putting up with me for weeks as I hit them with brain teaser after brain teaser, trying to find the ones that worked best. Talon also did all of the video editing, and he and Dante Peinado were my crew for shooting all of the movie footage. Dante also appeared as Unknown Sender in several scenes. I’ll let the readers guess who played US the rest of the time.

  The puzzles took a lot of work, and Latham Conger III helped out a tremendous amount. A lot of his devious mind is in this book. Also, Latham and I both drew on the tremendous collection of public domain puzzles available on the world wide web. There’s a lot of fun stuff out there, if you look for it.

  Chris Klimas and Joel Haddock did Unknown Sender’s website, using a program called Twine that Chris created. If this ebook sparked your imagination to try something similar, hire them at http://unmappedpath.com.

  Thanks as always to Rob Siders for the book design (www.52novels.com), Chereese Graves (http://grammar-rulesatoz.blogspot.com) for the proofing, and Carl Graves (www.extendedimagery.com) for the cover art. These guys make everything I do look and read a lot better.

  I also had over fifty beta readers volunteer to test drive an early version of this. I’m grateful to them all for giving it a try, and the ones who got back to me quickly with notes and comments deserve to be thanked by name:

  Beth Aaron, Christine Bock, John Donald Carlucci, Cara Colyott, Brandee Crisp, Jamie DeBree, Terri Dukes, Amanda Forrest, Teri Fuhrman, Ken Hattaway, S. Alexander Hicks, Megan Jarrett, Matt Linss, Louise Miller, Joe Mulak, Laura MT, Cathy Neumueller, Ann Voss Peterson, G. J. Phoenix, Jill Selkowitz, Ashley Smith, Rita Smith, Mary Stella, and Dawn Williams.

  If I missed you, I either didn’t get your notes, or I left you out because I’m old and losing my mind. Shoot me an email and I’ll fix it.

  Most of all, thanks to you, the reader, for trying something different from me, or trying something new even though you’ve never heard of me.

  If you liked this, please spread the word. If the STOP A MURDER series does well, I’ll write more of them. I’d be foolish not to.

  Thanks for reading!

  Joe Konrath

  JOE KONRATH’S

  COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY

  JACK DANIELS THRILLERS

  WHISKEY SOUR

  BLOODY MARY

  RUSTY NAIL

  DIRTY MARTINI

  FUZZY NAVEL

  CHERRY BOMB

  SHAKEN

  STIRRED with Blake Crouch

  RUM RUNNER

  LAST CALL

  SHOT OF TEQUILA

  BANANA HAMMOCK

  WHITE RUSSIAN

  OLD FASHIONED

  SERIAL KILLER
S UNCUT with Blake Crouch

  LADY 52 with Jude Hardin

  65 PROOF short story collection

  FLOATERS short with Henry Perez

  BURNERS short with Henry Perez

  SUCKERS short with Jeff Strand

  JACKED UP! short with Tracy Sharp

  STRAIGHT UP short with Iain Rob Wright

  CHEESE WRESTLING short with Bernard Schaffer

  ABDUCTIONS short with Garth Perry

  BEAT DOWN short with Garth Perry

  BABYSITTING MONEY short with Ken Lindsey

  OCTOBER DARK short with Joshua Simcox

  RACKED short with Jude Hardin

  BABE ON BOARD short with Ann Voss Peterson

  WATCHED TOO LONG short with Ann Voss Peterson

  PHINEAS TROUTT THRILLERS

  DEAD ON MY FEET

  DYING BREATH

  EVERYBODY DIES

  STOP A MURDER PUZZLE BOOKS

  STOP A MURDER – HOW: PUZZLES 1 – 12

  STOP A MURDER – WHERE: PUZZLES 13 – 24

  STOP A MURDER – WHY: PUZZLES 25 – 36

  STOP A MURDER – WHO: PUZZLES 37 – 48

  STOP A MURDER – WHEN: PUZZLES 49 – 60

  CODENAME: CHANDLER SERIES

  EXPOSED with Ann Voss Peterson

  HIT with Ann Voss Peterson

  NAUGHTY with Ann Voss Peterson

  FLEE with Ann Voss Peterson

  SPREE with Ann Voss Peterson

  THREE with Ann Voss Peterson

  FIX with F. Paul Wilson and Ann Voss Peterson

  RESCUE

  THE HORROR COLLECTIVE

  ORIGIN

  THE LIST

  DISTURB

  AFRAID

  TRAPPED

  ENDURANCE

  HAUNTED HOUSE

  WEBCAM

  DRACULAS with Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson

  HOLES IN THE GROUND with Iain Rob Wright

  THE GREYS

  SECOND COMING

  THE NINE

  GRANDMA? with Talon Konrath

  WILD NIGHT IS CALLING short with Ann Voss Peterson

  CLOSE YOUR EYES

  FOUND FOOTAGE

  TIMECASTER SERIES

  TIMECASTER

  TIMECASTER SUPERSYMMETRY

  TIMECASTER STEAMPUNK

  BYTER

  EROTICA

  (WRITING AS MELINDA DUCHAMP)

  FIFTY SHADES OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND

  FIFTY SHADES OF ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

  FIFTY SHADES OF ALICE AT THE HELLFIRE CLUB

  WANT IT BAD

  FIFTY SHADES OF JEZEBEL AND THE BEANSTALK

  FIFTY SHADES OF PUSS IN BOOTS

  FIFTY SHADES OF GOLDILOCKS

  THE SEXPERTS – FIFTY GRADES OF SHAY

  THE SEXPERTS – THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL NECKLACE

  THE SEXPERTS – LOVING THE ALIEN

  THE SEVEN YEAR WITCH

  RUSTY NAIL

  Someone is sending Jack snuff videos. The victims are people she knows, and they share a common trait—each was involved in one of Jack’s previous cases. With her stalwart partner hospitalized and unable to help, Jack follows a trail of death throughout the Midwest, on a collision course with the smartest and deadliest adversary she’s ever known.

  During the chase, Jack jeopardizes her career, her love life, and her closest friends. She also comes to a startling realization—serial killers have families, and blood runs thick.

  Rusty Nail features more of the laugh-out-loud humor and crazy characters that saturated Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary, without sacrificing the nail-biting thrills. This is Jack Daniels’s third, and most exciting, adventure yet.

  RUSTY NAIL by J.A. Konrath.

  THE LIST

  A billionaire Senator with money to burn…

  A thirty year old science experiment, about to be revealed…

  Seven people, marked for death, not for what they know, but for what they are…

  THE LIST

  History is about to repeat itself.

  STOP A MURDER – WHO

  This is unlike any mystery or thriller book you’ve ever read before. You play the sleuth, and try to follow the clues and solve the puzzles to prevent a murder from happening.

  In this five-book series, you’ll be tasked with decoding the mind and motivations of a nefarious killer who is plotting to commit an unspeakable crime.

  Each book contains an epistolary collection of emails, texts, and letters, sent to bestselling author J.A. Konrath, by a serial killer. This psychopath is leaving detailed, cryptic hints about who will be murdered, why, when, where, and how.

  Some of the hints are easy to figure out. Others are much more devious.

  Do you like solving mysteries? Do you enjoy puzzles or escape-the-room games? Are you good at spotting clues?

  Only you can stop a murder.

  Are you smart enough?

  Are you brave enough?

  Let the games begin…

  #4 STOP A MURDER – WHO: Puzzles 37–48

  Sign up for the J.A. Konrath newsletter. A few times a year I pick random people to give free stuff to. It could be you.

  http://www.jakonrath.com/mailing-list.php

  I won’t spam you or give your information out without your permission!

  STOP A MURDER – WHY

  Copyright © 2017 by Joe Konrath

  Cover art copyright © 2017 by Carl Graves

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Joe Konrath.