The Potato Chip Puzzles: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen Read Free Page A

nodded, and Winston followed Mr. Garvey out into the cool, empty hallway. Mr. Garvey was a tall man with salt-and-pepper hair and thick matching eyebrows. He had a series of wavy, wrinkly lines in his forehead, as if he had gone into deep thought one day and had never come back out. Mr. Garvey smiled down at him, adding a few more wrinkles to that wide forehead. “Well,” he said, “Winston Breen. I don’t think we’ve officially met.”
    “In the cafeteria a couple of times,” Winston said, “when it was your turn to watch everyone.”
    “Ah, yes,” said Mr. Garvey. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t recall. That must mean you’re one of the good kids. I spend those shifts in the cafeteria making sure the troublemakers don’t start using the chicken fingers and fish sticks as deadly weapons. I’m sure eating them is deadly enough.” Mr. Garvey laughed at his joke.
    Winston smiled, but with some effort. Mr. Garvey’s laugh didn’t sound altogether real. It was the laugh of a dentist looking to lighten the mood before he stuck something sharp in your mouth. Winston thought he knew why Mr. Garvey was here.
    Sure enough, Mr. Garvey said next, “So, our principal has shared a fascinating story with me.”
    “Oh?”
    “He’s asked me to accompany you on this puzzle expedition on Friday. And of course, I agreed.”
    Winston nodded, not daring to let his smile falter. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of. Mr. Garvey was nobody’s favorite teacher. The students in his advanced math class dreaded being called upon—if they got an answer wrong, Mr. Garvey was more than happy to make fun of them in front of the whole class. It was even rumored that Mr. Garvey once made his entire Mathletes team cry after they had lost a crucial match.
    Winston was on track to be in Mr. Garvey’s class the following year and wasn’t looking forward to it. Now it looked like he was going to get the full Garvey Experience a few months earlier than expected.
    Mr. Garvey said, “I’m looking forward to working with you on this, Winston. Of course, I’m aware of your reputation as a puzzle lover. Quick! Why did the chicken cross the road?”
    Winston looked startled. “Uh,” he said. That was a riddle from first grade. Was Mr. Garvey serious?
    Mr. Garvey smiled even more broadly and smacked Winston lightly on the shoulder. He said, “Just kidding. I’m sure you’re light-years beyond silly little riddles. Indeed, I think you’ll prove to be the cornerstone of the team, and I applaud Mr. Unger for bringing you on board.” Mr. Garvey beamed down at him. “Say, I’ve got a little puzzle for you, if you want to hear it. A real puzzle. Nothing to do with chickens.”
    Winston nodded. “Sure.”
    “A math puzzle, of course, since that’s my field. Ready?”
    “Sure,” Winston said again.
    Mr. Garvey cleared his throat a little and said, “I went to a horse race, and I counted all of the horses’ legs plus all of the jockeys’ legs. The total came to 108. How many horses were in the race?”
    (Answer, page 239.)
     
    After Winston had solved the puzzle, Mr. Garvey said, “I wanted to talk to you about who the other teammates should be. There are a few sharp kids on my Mathletes team. I don’t know if you know them. . . .”
    Winston looked surprised. “I already chose my teammates,” he said.
    Mr. Garvey stared down at him. His fatherly smile tightened but did not fade. “You did? Don’t you suppose we might have collaborated on this?”
    “I didn’t know you were going to be the chaperone.”
    All at once, Mr. Garvey’s smile collapsed and vanished. Without it, Mr. Garvey’s face took on a chiseled-from-stone look. He said sharply, “I’m not going to be a chaperone, Winston. I will be a coach, mentor, and guide. It’s not my job to drive you around. It’s my job to see that we win. You understand that, don’t you?”
    Winston nodded and tried not to look as sick as he was starting to feel. “Yes.