“What is so important that you’ve come all this way to meet him?”

Hearing this question spewed from the illustrious lips of Story Book Fairy made Denise come up short with a quick reply. She was careful not to spill her raw intentions to this crafty woman clothed in white. Although Denise wished not to answer the question, she had to say something reasonable otherwise her host might dismiss them from her property before they got what they came for.

Denise took a deep breath as she prepared to say something. “…”

“Hmm…” Identifying that her partner was delaying her response, Rebecca took the helm and said to their host, “We came here to meet Andy Smart because we believe he might be able to use his puzzle-solving skills to help us with our investigation.”

“Rebecca?” Denise looked at Rebecca strangely.

“What?” Rebecca didn’t understand why Denise needed to be so secretive about a toy. They were just there to see if there was anything special about the Megaminx Rubik’s Cube and to find out if it was worth wasting their time over.

“Hm, that’s your reason?” Story Book Fairy noticed the weird look the detectives were giving each other. She thought that it was interesting and smiled. “So you came with a puzzle for him to solve? It must be very important for you to go through all this trouble.”

“We are not sure about that yet.” Said Denise. “It might turn out to be nothing, especially if the kid fails to solve it.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.” Story Book Fairy defended her child prodigy’s mien. “Andy is one of the most brilliant puzzlers that I am aware of. I doubt there is a puzzle invented that he cannot solve. His IQ is far above average and his brain usage is higher than most humans.”

Story Book Fairy became curious about the type of puzzle the detectives brought with them. “Do you mind showing me this puzzle of yours?”

“I do mind.” Said Denise holding onto her handbag. “You’ll get to see it once you’ve brought me to the boy.”

“Fair enough.” Story Book Fairy didn’t feel offended by Denise’s abrasive tone at all. After she emptied her teacup, she got up from where she was seated then motioned her legs toward a side exit of the garden. She looked over her shoulder at the detectives and told them, “Do keep up.”

While following closely behind Story Book Fairy, Denise and Rebecca made their way into an adjoining complex. From there they entered a pristine corridor which led down a path where multiple doors were present on both ends. Some of the doors were locked while others were opened or ajar. Behind these doors were the living quarters for the special children.

Taking a couple more steps down the corridor, the detectives halted their legs when they saw Story Book Fairy stopping before a locked door where 2 other assistants were standing. Both of them had red coats in their hands.

Story Book Fairy said a few words to the assistance before turning to the detectives while gesturing to the door. “The person you came to see is in here. Before we go inside, kindly put these coats on.” She signalled for the assistants to hand over the coats to the detectives.

“Why do we need to wear these? This place is so damn hot already.” Complained Denise as she stared at the coat being offered to her.

Story Book Fairy understood their dismay and clarified to them, “Andy Smart has a unique condition whereby he gets very jittery and scared around people who aren’t clad in red. So wear these coats if you don’t want to frighten the poor boy.”

“So we can’t see him without wearing red?” Rebecca stared at Story Book Fairy from head to toe and asked, “Then why aren’t you dressed in red?”

Story Book Fairy replied, “I’m not wearing red because Andy and I have a special bond. Are you satisfied with my answer, detective?”

Rebecca didn’t respond to Story Book Fairy’s inquiry, especially after she noticed that smug smile on her face.

Denise and Rebecca complied with what was requested of them. They quickly dressed themselves in the red coat and fasten the buttons. The clothes they initially had on were completely concealed from head to toe. Now they both resembled Little Red Riding Hood.

Denise readjusted her firearm and said to Story Book Fairy, “There, we’ve put the coats on. Can we see him now?”

“Well, of course.” Saying this, Story Book Fairy unlocked the door and stepped inside with the detectives.

“Wow, this place is quite something.” Rebecca was amazed by the level of intricacy put into the design of Andy Smart’s room.

The floor was white and the wall was red. Many types of complicated mechanics and puzzles were well organised across the room. A series of cryptographic paintings were hanging from the walls. At first glance, these might seem like decorations to give the room some flavour but they were brain teasers to keep Andy Smart’s intelligence at its peak.

“Hmm, they are so much intricate stuff.” Even Denise was startled by what she was observing.

They followed Story Book Fairy further into the room until they came across a little boy sitting in the dead centre of a circular tessellation. He was wearing a black shorts and a red hoodie that kept his hair hidden. His skin was darker than chocolate which brought out the innocent glowing texture in his eyes. His stubby fingers were mashing away at a jigsaw puzzle consisting of 30,000 small pieces. He started it 3 hours ago; so far he completed 67% of it.

“Detectives, I give you Andy Smart.” Story Book Fairy went over and knelt by the boy’s side. “Andy you have 2 nice visitors here to see you.” While she was speaking to him, his head was kept hanging low, still, focused on his puzzle. Not once did he raise his head to look at his visitors.

Andy Smart continued to shift the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle around. Story Book Fairy returned to the detectives’ side and informed them that they could speak to the boy now.

“Are you certain? He looks like he’s in the middle of something important.” Rebecca was reluctant to disturb Andy Smart.

“It’s ok.” Story Book Fairy explained, “He might not be looking at you directly, but he is listening for what you have to say.”

“Alright, I’ll go speak with him.” Denise started pulling her handbag as she made her way over to where Andy Smart was sitting. She was careful to avoid stepping on his jigsaw puzzle. She knelt by his side and began conversing.

“Hi, Andy. My name is Denise and that nice lady over there is my partner, Rebecca. We are both detectives. I was wondering if you could help us out with something.”

“…” Andy Smart reminded silent. His eyes were still plastered on the jigsaw puzzle.

Denise went ahead to say, “I have a puzzle here for you. It is very difficult. Do you think you can solve it?” She withdrew the Megaminx Rubik’s Cube from her bag and showed it to Andy Smart.

“Hm?” Story Book Fairy was confused when she laid eyes on the object. She began thinking internally, ‘Is that what she wants him to solve, a simple Rubik’s Cube…? There must be more to this that I’m missing.’ She kept her observing gaze tethered to the scene before her.

“I’m sorry to disturb you.” Denise apologized while pushing the Rubik’s Cube in front of Andy. “Here you go. Please try. If you can’t solve it then I’ll understand. I’ll leave here and you’ll never see me again. What do you say?”

Denise waited for Andy to take the Rubik’s Cube from her hand. He ignored her and continued to match a couple more pieces to the jigsaw puzzle.

“He’s not responding… what should I do?” Denise glanced at Story Book Fairy for advice. She suggested that she wait until he finished solving the jigsaw puzzle.

“How long will that take? I don’t have all day to wait. Can’t you get him to try?” Denise wanted Story Book Fairy to coax Andy Smart to take priority over her puzzle but she told her that it didn’t work that way.

“I can’t force Andy to do anything that he doesn’t want to. He probably thinks that your puzzle is too basic to garner his attention and time.”

“Too basic.” A part of Denise felt insulted when she heard this. Applying a bit of strength to the puzzle, she said, “This thing is far from basic. Do you know how many people I’ve given this to solve? None of them could do it. I was hoping that this kid would be different, but this trip was a waste of time. Rebecca let’s go.”

Denise got up and was on her way over to her partner when the Rubik’s Cube accidentally slipped from her hand and fell onto the jigsaw puzzle. A large portion of what Andy Smart already solved got ruined.

“Oh, no. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” Denise hurriedly apologized, thinking that Andy was going to throw a tantrum over his ruined puzzle. But he was silent as a lamb, moreover, his homely eyes drifted onto the Rubik’s Cube that rolled toward him until it bumped into his leg.