Owen: Saturday is good for us. We usually leave on Sunday nights.
Matt: Your place or mine?
Most of the time, he didn’t mind the attention he often got when he went out. Those he was with sometimes did.
Owen: We’ll come to you. Time?
Liv said Owen and his wife came up almost every weekend to work on their house. Early evening should give them plenty of time to do that.
Matt: 5:00
Owen: See you then.
When alone, many people checked their favorite social media sites or the news. Matt preferred to avoid both, for obvious reasons. So after Owen’s final text message, he opened the crossword puzzle he’d started yesterday and filled in the squares for thirteen down while he enjoyed his bisque. He didn’t have lobster often. He found it too much work, but you couldn’t come to Maine and not have some. Not to mention, Ocean View Grill’s lobster bisque was the best he’d had anywhere in the state.
Matt lifted another spoonful toward his mouth and read the clue for seventeen down.
Who discovered the Titanic wreck?
Beats me.
He’d never cared about the history of the famous ship. Honestly, he didn’t understand why so many people remained fascinated by it. The vessel sank more than a hundred years ago, and no one who’d survived the disaster remained alive.
Right now, he only had two of the thirteen letters in the answer. Definitely not enough to even guess a name. Thanks to modern technology, he could find out before his meal even arrived. Hell, he could get that information as well as everything from a passenger list to what was served for dinner the night the ship sank. Instead of looking up the answer, he moved on to a new clue.
Who invented basketball?
This one he could answer. Even better, it gave him a letter in seventeen down.
“How’s the bisque?”
At the sound of Liv’s voice, he looked up. “Delicious. And you were right. Owen and Jenny are coming up this weekend.”
“Thanks for the warning. Now I have time to come up with an excuse for why I can’t help them. I’ve done enough sanding and painting in the past month to last me a lifetime.”
He’d never lifted a paintbrush, but how hard could it be?
“Your meal should be out any minute. Do you want me to bring you some more water when I come back?”
“Please.”
Maybe she knew the answer to seventeen down. “Hey, do you know who found the Titanic?” he asked, stopping her midturn.
“Yeah, it was….” Liv paused, and her eyebrows scrunched together. “Man, why can’t I remember his name? I watched a special about underwater archaeology not that long ago, and they mentioned him. He also found some other well-known wreckages.” She pulled her phone out, and he guessed she intended to look up the answer.
Before she did, though, she snapped her fingers. “Ballard. I don’t remember his first name, but his last name is Ballard. He’s a university professor somewhere.”
It was more than he had now.
“Why do you want to know? It’s kind of an odd question.”
“It’s a clue in a crossword puzzle.”
“If you get stuck on any other ones, just ask. I’m usually good at them.” Liv glanced at her phone and briefly closed her eyes. “I’ll be right back with your meal.” Phone still in hand, she turned and walked away.
Dismissing Liv from his thoughts, he focused on the crossword puzzle again. If he answered eleven across, he would have another letter in seventeen down.
A reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen.
