The Puzzle Box: A Novel

by Danielle Trussoni

But everything faded as Brink saw a large, round pedestal table at the very center of the room. It was, quite simply, magnificent. The surface of the table was a large disk, perhaps three feet in diameter, inlaid with intricate geometric shapes that formed an Escher-like pattern. Brink could hardly move. The elaborate, intricate patterns entranced him. The table was an opulent marvel of nature—dovetailing like the reticulations of a ginkgo leaf or the microscopic arrangement of cells in a drop of water. The complexity and beauty overwhelmed him. A blast of anticipation hit him, sending adrenaline through his system. He was ready to solve this. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Sakura said, studying the intricate inlay of wood. “Nobody has,” Hiroshi said. “It’s an utterly unique piece. We haven’t been able to test it out, but from the intricate arrangement of pieces, it’s clear that the table was built to create patterns, like a kaleidoscope, and these patterns form the solution. It was found here after Ogawa’s death. It was immediately recognized as a masterpiece, one of his most beautiful puzzles, and perhaps his most unusual.”