The Puzzle Master Read Online Free

raced him repeatedly, every chance they got. But last summer, Marshall stopped racing them when they’d won nine out of ten times. It was old. He was tired. And his asthma usually kicked in really well at about the third race anyway, so that by the time he got to nine times, he raced as fast as a slug.
    Marshall didn’t look behind him until he was two blocks away and when he did, no one was there. Leila wasn’t out in the street yelling at him; no car was coming after him. He had done it! It was almost like running away. Marshall was so happy he felt like he could fly.
    The strip mall, deserted again, was just as it had been in the morning. Marshall parked his bike, locked it, and looked up to see the closed sign hanging on the door.
    His heart sank.
    Had he gotten the wrong day ? Luke had said tonight. Marshall thought through the old conversation. If he risked disobeying his family for nothing, then he had absolutely zero to work with if—or when—they caught him. There would be no treasure, not even an excuse from Luke: nothing .
    Marshall leaned his head on the glass window. The lights were still on.
    Just then, someone pinged on the glass in front of him. He saw a girl, standing in the other side of the windowpane, staring at him with the largest brown eyes he’d ever seen.
    He stepped back. He wasn’t sure what he should do, so he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
    She walked to the glass door, and opened the lock. The mini blinds on the door shuffled back and forth like a grass skirt. And she stood there, with the door open, the cool air conditioning beckoning him in like a crisp glass of ice water.
    He had to go in.
    She said nothing. Her hair was short, in dark brown—nearly black—ringlets. Her eyes were large, but her face was pale and gaunt as if she spent very little time outdoors. Marshall thought that perhaps her eyes looked large because she was so thin. She looked like a paper doll. He wondered how old she was.
    He walked in and she shut the door behind him, re-locking it. The familiar smoke screen was in his peripheral vision. Mr. Luke was at the front counter, reading a newspaper.
    “There you are!” Luke said loudly, feet coming off the counter. His cigarette was in his hand this time, and he gestured wildly, pausing to take a drag. “Didn’t know if you were going to come! The way you had to leave this morning, I was wondering if you’d make it back here.”
    Marshall winced at the naked truth of the comment.  He had to ignore the nagging at his conscience; the one telling him he shouldn’t be there. “Me neither.”
    The girl stood next to Luke, staring at Marshall like he was a new book.
    “Have you met my niece then?”
    “Uh …” They hadn’t even said hello.
    “Come on now Iris, don’t be shy.” The girl stepped forward, after her uncle nudged her and she extended her hand. “This is my niece Iris. Iris, this is Marshall, the kid I told you about.”
    Marshall smiled. What had Luke told Iris about him?
    “Nice to meet you,” Marshall said.
    She barely smiled, and almost bowed her head. Then she was back to Luke’s side, face as ashen as a ghost .
    “Well,” said Luke after he took a big drag of his cigarette and snuffed it out in a tray, “Guess you came for my surprise didn’t you.” He laughed loudly, which promptly turned into a cough. He doubled over and then two seconds later, it was over and he was his normal self.
    “Come back here, this way,” he said motioning them to follow. He led them to a back room, the only other room in there, except for the bathroom, and opened the door.
    The room was dark and quiet, but it wasn’t full of smoke and it wasn’t full of stuff like the big room. There was a table and set of chairs, and refrigerator, and television. It was like a family room, or something you’d see in a regular home. Not in a store, or a junk store for that matter.
    “Mr. Luke, I didn’t know you had this room back here,” Marshall said in awe,