THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 11 SUMMARY
The Meeting
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Turtle waits alone in her room, but neither her mother nor her sister comes in to help her braid her hair, like they usually do.
She goes down to Flora's apartment and asks her to help her braid her hair.
Flora reveals she had a daughter named Rosalie, who was exceptional and loving.
Turtle says her mother doesn't think she's beautiful and says she looks like a turtle. When she asks Flora what happened to her
daughter, Flora just says she's gone.
Flora asks Turtle her real name, which she says is Alice.
Grace and Mr. Hoo talk. Mr. Hoo insults the coffee shop and asks where Turtle is. When Grace says she's probably helping
Jake with his bookkeeping, Mr. Hoo laughs. Grace doesn't understand but laughs too.
Theo calls the meeting to order, saying his clues don't add up to anything on their own. He thinks they should all combine their
clues and then share the winnings equally.
When Sydelle asks about the clues in the will, Theo says they'd like to have a copy of it. Sydelle puts him off because she
doesn't have it, but she's annoying about it. So Mr. Hoo hands it over.
Sydelle calls him a thief but he says he found it in the restaurant earlier that day, and that it's useless, because the shorthand
doesn't make any sense.
Angela tries to calm her down, but Sydelle is upset. She says no one understands her and that she took her notes in Polish.
To get things back on track, Mr. Hoo says they should give Sydelle a little more of the winnings if she translates the will for
everyone. He says he and Grace didn't kill anyone and have good alibis, and they'll share their clues.
Judge Ford says they should wait to decide whether to share their clues, and in the meantime they could just ask each other
questions.
The players write down anonymous questions for Theo to read.
He asks if there are any twins (no); what Turtle's name is (Doug asked; it's not Alice, it's Tabitha-Ruth); and how many people
have met Sam Westing (Mr. Hoo is the only one to answer, and even though it's Judge Ford's question, she doesn't respond).
Theo's about to read the next question – about who's been kicked recently (Chris's question) – when he is interrupted.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 12 SUMMARY
The First Bomb
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There are sounds of explosions and yelling from the kitchen. Doug and Theo go in, and Catherine comes out, covered in red
stuff. She asks for someone to phone the fire department. Angela runs to the phone but then doesn't do anything.
Theo comes out and says there's no fire, then Catherine tells Chris not to worry: it's only tomato sauce.
Mr. Hoo seems kind of pleased at the damage, saying the cans must have exploded because of the heat.
George and Catherine think it was a bomb.
Grace says it's a great opportunity to redecorate and she could help.
Catherine says they'll have to close for a few days to tidy things, and Angela offers her assistance. Grace tells her she can't
help – she has too much to do before the wedding.
Meanwhile, Angela and Sydelle go back to Sydelle's apartment and start transferring her copy of the will into English.
Turtle barges in, asking Angela for the newspaper she took.
After Angela gives it back, Turtle jokes maybe she took her clock, too, and tells her sister not to leave her ring lying around.
Sydelle jokes that Grace is the burglar, but she wouldn't take that. This makes Turtle crack up. But when Sydelle tells her to
take her feet off the couch, Turtle shoots back that their mom thinks Angela took the book. Then she says Angela doesn't really
want to marry Dr. Deere either.
When Sydelle and Angela try to talk with her about it, Turtle says she doesn't need a "crutch" like Sydelle for getting noticed,
which really hurts Sydelle's feelings. Angela tries to pacify her, saying Turtle meant it metaphorically, and she and Turtle leave.
Angela thinks Turtle relies too much on her braid.
Back at Judge Ford's, the newspaperman calls. He says George's name showed up as the boyfriend of Violet Westing at a
party.
Judge Ford realizes four players are linked to Sam Westing: Mr. Hoo, George, Sandy (because he was let go from Westing's
factory), and herself. She decides she should hire a private detective to learn more.
She looks up detectives in the yellow pages, when she sees something that makes her think. She dials the number and hears a
voice that sounds exactly like another she's heard before.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 13 SUMMARY
The Second Bomb
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The unnamed bomber, alone in the Hoos' restaurant kitchen, sets off a timed bomb where no one will be near it when it goes
off, so no one will be injured. The bomber uses one of Turtle's candles to light the fuse.
Meanwhile, Grace puts up a sign in the elevator advertising the restaurant as she rides up to start working there as a hostess.
Mr. Hoo pushes his wife from their apartment into the kitchen, and Doug's scolded when he accidentally comes in late to start
working as a busboy.
Grace and Mr. Hoo commiserate about how hard it is to be parents.
With the exception of Catherine and George, all the players come up to the restaurant for dinner. Grace is giddy with power and
sits people in unusual combinations.
She puts Chris with Sydelle, and they try to come up with their own private jokes.
Angela and Theo confide in each other; he's in awe of her. He says he won't be going to college, because his family needs to
spend their money on his brother's health care. He wants to be a writer. Angela says maybe Dr. Deere can help, then admits
she wanted to be a doctor too, but her family doesn't have that much money either and her mother frowned on it.
When Theo asks her if she'd go back to school if they had the money, Angela doesn't say anything.
At another table, Judge Ford talks with Flora, asking her about her past. Flora says she used to have a wedding dress shop
with her husband, and kept it going after he left. She talks about the dress she's making for Angela, saying she put lace on it
she would've wanted to put on her own daughter's. She says Angela reminds her of Violet Westing.
Sydelle and Chris laugh together; he thinks she's unloved and self-centered.
Turtle sits alone at another table, listening to the stock report, which is not good. Grace drags Jake over to her table. He notices
she calls Mr. Hoo "Jimmy." When Mr. Hoo comes to take their order, he asks Jake about a sports score. Turtle tells her father
she knows about him being a bookie.
Sydelle asks Chris if he is totally paralyzed, which nobody ever does, and says he has a great alibi. She gets up to talk to the
chef, and Angela gets up to help. Otis comes in, which means Sunset Towers is no longer snowed in, and the second bomb
goes off.
Mr. Hoo goes into the kitchen while Grace tries to calm people down. He says someone should call an ambulance, and
Madame Hoo and Angela try to help the injured Sydelle.
The paramedics come to take Sydelle to the hospital, and Angela isn't sure if she should go too. Grace tells her not to at first,
but everybody else thinks she should.
A policeman says it was a gas explosion, as was the bomb the previous day, and that it wasn't that unusual for two to happen in
those weather conditions. He encourages everyone to keep their rooms ventilated.
Grace takes extra care to keep their apartment aired, but, the narrator tells us, her apartment is where the next bomb will be set
off.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 14 SUMMARY
Pairs Repaired
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The tenants go outside at last. Angela looks under the hoods of all the cars, based on what Sydelle thought their clues might
be, but doesn't see anything.
Back at Sunset Towers, Sandy refuses a tip from Judge Ford for polishing her car, because she gave him the whole $10,000.
She asks him about his family.
Sandy describes his family and explains he was injured from being a boxer.
Sandy tells her he has a theory about his clues. He thinks "skies" means "Sikes," "am" and "er" from "brother" mean Otis
Amber; "shin" from "shining" could mean Mr. Hoo or Turtle; and "brother" could mean one of the Theodorakises. The judge says
they're only looking for one person, though.
He tells the judge he doesn't want to share clues with the others. They agree that they need to do research on each of the
players and find out who might be in danger from Westing's plan.
Meanwhile, Grace and Mr. Hoo are arguing about whether he should spend his money on advertising or not. Grace is just
thinking he couldn't be the murderer when she overhears Otis and Crow arguing.
Otis yells that Crow lost their clues, and she says she remembers them. She thinks to herself that she has "hid[den] her love" in
one of Angela's bags.
Dr. Deere pays a visit to Chris. He wants the money, and thinks Chris wants medical help, which he can't give. He can't even
remember their clues. Chris has practiced what he wants to tell his partner over and over, and he lists their clues slowly. He
thinks "grain" means Otis, and the combo of "for" and "shed" means she, Ford, and apartment 4D.
Dr. Deere says it's a good start, but Chris doesn't sign the check.
Downstairs, Angela waits for Denton. She doesn't know how to drive – her mother said she didn't have to learn and now she
regrets that.
Theo comes by and says he found the whole quotation they were talking about the other day.
It's from "America the Beautiful." He reads it to her and then starts singing. He says it's probably not a clue, just patriotism.
Dr. Deere comes to get Angela. Theo asks him to play chess and is ignored. As Dr. Deere and Angela leave, Sandy whistles
"America the Beautiful."
On the way to the hospital, Dr. Deere and Angela fight about why she's going to the hospital to visit Sydelle. Dr. Deere says
Sydelle's crazy and made her whole disease up. He worries that Angela's stalling about the wedding.
Angela thinks she doesn't want to get married, but she doesn't know how to get out of it.
Waiting for Sydelle, she talks to another doctor, who says that Sydelle did make up her disease. Angela asks him if what
Sydelle was doing was normal. The doctor condescends and says no one was hurt by it.
So, Angela goes in to see Sydelle; when Sydelle asks about the diagnosis, Angela lies and says that Sydelle has a disease that
can't be cured. This cheers Sydelle up.
When Sydelle asks Angela for her makeup, Angela reaches into her bag and finds an anonymous letter that asks for
forgiveness, encourages her love, and worries about enemies. It has two clues attached: "thy" and "beautiful."
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 15 SUMMARY
Fact and Gossip
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By that Friday, everyone's going about business at usual. Turtle, Theo, and Doug go to school; the coffee shop is busy and the
Chinese restaurant empty; Judge Ford's back in court and Sandy's manning the front door; Flora takes Turtle to and from
school.
Turtle and Flora are worried about their stocks; they're down $3,000. Turtle's confident in their stock choices, because she
thinks Westing picked them, but Flora's not – she hasn't said anything about Chris's clue, "plain," but it doesn't match any
stocks.
Later Turtle, Sandy, Doug, Theo, and Otis stand in the driveway looking at the Westing house. Turtle says the dead body she
saw didn't look murdered – it looked at peace.
They theorize about what kinds of ways the murder could've happened – bee stings, poison, icicles, etc. Doug says maybe a
doctor did it, which angers Turtle.
Doug says there was a mystery person in the parking lot wearing red boots (Turtle's), calls her "Tabitha-Ruth," and pulls her
hair before running inside. Sandy keeps her from going after him and kicking him.
Otis leaves, after saying Westing wasn't murdered, just crazy – that none of them are murderers.
Theo asks Sandy if anyone else left Sunset Towers on the night of the murder. Sandy says the only people he remembers
doing that are Crow and Otis. Theo goes to check his clues.
Turtle asks Sandy to take her mind off the stock market and tell her another story.
Meanwhile, Jake goes to eat at Shin Hoo's, where he sees Grace for the first time in a while. He asks her why there are so
many presents in their apartment.
Grace says they're for Angela's wedding shower the next day.
Mr. Hoo brings Jake's food and sits with them. Grace asks Jake for his opinion on the marketing campaign she wants to do for
Mr. Hoo. She wants to call the restaurant "Hoo's on First." Jake thinks it's silly, and Hoo thinks it doesn't make any sense. When
Jake says it sounds like a fine name, Mr. Hoo takes his food away.
The judge and Sandy start meeting to talk about their clue research. When Theo delivers their dinner one night, he asks Sandy
if he knows how to play chess. Sandy says no.
The two decide to focus on the Westing family. There's no information on Mrs. Westing before she was Mrs. Westing. She's out
of focus in all the pictures and it's hard to tell what she looks like.
Sandy says Mr. Hoo and Flora never met Mrs. Westing – Flora only met Violet and Violet's fiancé. He says he's the only one
who knew her.
Sandy says Mrs. Westing was blonde with a full mouth. Judge Ford remembers a redhead with a thin mouth, then tells herself
it was a long time ago.
They research Westing's daughter. She was engaged to a senator, but went out with George. She does look like Angela.
Sandy says that it's weird Angela looks like Violet and Theo looks like George, since Violet really wanted to marry George but
couldn't.
When Judge Ford asks Sandy if Angela and Theo are involved, Sandy says no – then adds if events were repeating
themselves, it would mean Angela would die too.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 16 SUMMARY
The Third Bomb
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At Angela's wedding shower, Otis keeps delivering gifts and saying "Boom!" Everyone is eating and drinking
from Westing products and Madame Hoo's serving, wearing a silly serving gown.
Grace says it's time to open presents. Angela finds herself the center of attention, surrounded by her mother's
friends and none of her own. She thinks Turtle's fortunate because she's not the favorite child.
She gets two asparagus cookers and an egg poacher; then she checks the time and picks up a thin carton with
gold wrapping.
People remark her hands are shaking.
Angela unwraps the gift so slowly that Turtle gets impatient and reaches down to see what it is. Angela shouts
out, "Get away" and shoves Turtle aside as the gift explodes in rockets and bangs.
When the dust settles, Grace asks if anyone's hurt. Everyone's fine except for Angela, who has burned hands
and blood on her face.
Downstairs the tenants meet with a police captain Judge Ford called. They know among them are a murderer, a
bomber, and a thief. But they don't know who's who.
Otis thinks Mr. Hoo could be the killer.
The captain says that they don't have enough evidence to do a search.
Jake thinks Sandy's not the bomber, because he wasn't there during the first two bombs, but he clearly dislikes
Mr. Westing.
Chris thinks it wasn't Sandy or Judge Ford.
Theo says to Chris it could be Crow, but then they disagree about whether she was in the building for the other
bombs.
The captain says it was a time bomb and that no one would've been hurt if Angela hadn't been holding it
towards herself.
The judge thinks Grace is unhappy, but she wouldn't have bombed her daughter.
Grace thinks Otis could be the bomber, because he delivered the presents, but he wasn't there for the first
bomb.
No one suspects Chris or Angela – except for maybe Otis, who gets kicked by Turtle.
At the hospital, Angela's sharing a room with Sydelle. Her parents tell her that everything's going to be fine.
Turtle waits behind after her parents leave and thanks Angela. She says she brought her bag for her (she took
out something she found inside), and says that Angela's hands will heal, but she'll have a scar on her face.
Turtle reminds Angela that she's always said it was about the inner person, not outer beauty – Angela wonders
if she was right.
Turtle tells her it was stupid to do, and Sydelle realizes that Angela was the bomber.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 17 SUMMARY
Some Solutions
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That Monday, the stock goes down even further. Everyone's nervous – the bomb squad gets called a few extra
times because of a vacuum cleaner bag, a box of chocolates, and because Turtle yells for Flora, "Mrs.
Baumbach," which sounds like "bomb."
Grace doesn't seem to trust Jake because he's sending her flowers and candy.
Flora's only learned two stock market words: "bullish" and "bearish."
Madame Hoo's learning many English words from Jake, who teaches her before having lunch at Shin Hoo's.
Today, he helps Mr. Hoo and Grace with their clues. He puts "purple fruited" in order, which makes Grace think
of plums, and the lawyer Ed Plum. Mr. Hoo tears "fruited" in half and gets "Ed Purple-fruit." They think they've
solved it, ignoring Jake's question about their other three clues.
Meanwhile, Sandy's keeping a notebook with all the information he and Judge Ford gather on the other players.
They're finished up with the Westings and are moving on to the heirs.
Sandy shares what he knows about the Hoos: Mr. Hoo has been married twice, Madame Hoo recently
immigrated, and Doug is great at running track. Their connection is that Mr. Hoo took Westing to court over the
disposable paper diaper, which was settled, and now he's working on paper insoles.
Sandy says he asked Mr. Hoo to come up with those insoles, and they really work.
Theo's downstairs working on his chemistry homework, which makes him think of solutions for the will. He puts
his clues into a solution and comes up with "NH4NO3," which he thinks is an explosive, with "Otis" left over. He
runs out to tell Doug, but he's so excited he grabs what turns out to be the wrong bathrobe. He knocks on
Crow's door by mistake, and she drags him into her place so they can both pray for being sinners. He thinks
she gave him something but can't find it later.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 18 SUMMARY
The Trackers
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Flora braids Turtle's hair in the mornings, as Turtle reads from the Wall Street Journal. One day, Turtle reads that Julian
Eastman, Westing Paper Products Chairman, says their earnings will double.
She tells Flora to sell their other stocks and buy all WPP stock. Flora calls her "Alice" and agrees. Turtle says she should call
Flora something besides "Mrs. Baumbach" and asks if she could say "Mrs. Baba." Flora says, just call her "Baba."
Turtle asks if Flora's daughter Rosalie was smart, and Flora says Turtle's the smartest kid she's known. Turtle jealously says
Rosalie was probably all domestic. Flora falters and says Rosalie was extraordinary and loving.
Turtle gets mad and says they should get going.
Upstairs, Sandy's taking notes on the players. He's on Flora, who had a retarded daughter, Rosalie, who died the previous year.
Flora's Westing connection is the wedding dress she made for Violet.
He starts looking at the information on Otis, which makes him laugh.
Meanwhile, Theo catches up with Doug. He starts to ask about Crow and then stops; he tells Doug he figured out that their
clues mean ammonium nitrate. Doug doesn't really pay attention, because he's focused on the next weekend's track match.
Theo says they're partners, and he wants Doug to follow Otis.
Flora's watching the stock points and she see WPP start to rise, and rise.
Later that day, Doug follows Otis instead of going to track practice. He follows him to Sunset Towers, where Doug chats with
Sandy, and then to Ed Plum's house, and then to the hospital. Then he follows him to a stockbroker's, back to high school, and
back to Sunset Towers. There, Otis finds him and gives him a letter from Plum. It says everyone has to go back to the Westing
house that Saturday night.
Doug, totally worn out, signs his name and "miler" (18.41).
Since this meeting's coming, Judge Ford steps up her investigation. She and Sandy discuss more of the tenants. Otis has a low
IQ and is connected to Westing because he delivered the letters from Plum. Dr. Deere is an intern in plastic surgery and is
connected to Westing because he's engaged to Angela, who looks like Violet. Sydelle is a secretary for Shultz Sausages, but
he can't find her connection to the Westings. The judge thinks it's weird, that Sydelle doesn't match.
At the hospital, the plastic surgeon checks on Angela, saying she should have an operation in two months. Dr. Deere says she
shouldn't worry, he's the best. Angela thinks they should postpone the wedding, but doesn't say what she really wants.
Turtle runs in and Dr. Deere pulls her by the braid, saying no visitors. She kicks him hard, and he sends up people to escort her
out.
Turtle asks Angela what she signed for position – Angela says "person" and Sydelle says "victim" – then she says that Angela
shouldn't say anything to anyone before running out.
Ed Plum comes in to ask Angela how she is. Grace comes in right after, sees him, and starts screaming – because she thinks
he's the murderer.
Back at Sunset Towers, Chris has three visitors. Otis brings him a letter to sign. Flora comes up and tells him about Rosalie. He
knows she's sad. He wonders who he could've been if he wasn't in a wheelchair.
The third visitor, Dr. Deere, is limping, which makes Chris excited. Chris tells him Flora shared one of their clues, "mountain,"
but that they shouldn't tell Turtle.
Dr. Deere says the clues aren't as important as something else: he wants Chris to come with him to the hospital.
Chris can't say that he wants a friend, not a doctor. But Dr. Deere says there's no operation, he's just found an experimental
treatment and he wants him to think about it.
Chris believes they're really partners, and says Dr. Deere can have the money, but the doctor isn't thinking about that. He takes
Chris to the hospital, and Chris thinks it's the best time he's had in a while.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 19 SUMMARY
Odd Relatives
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On Thursday, Flora and Turtle are trying to follow the stock market. The price of WPP is rising. Turtle keeps getting in trouble at
school, listening to the radio to follow stocks; she tries to blame it on a toothache, but the teachers don't believe her. Every thirty
minutes she takes a bathroom break to tune in, while Flora follows from the stockbrokers.
At Sunset Towers, Crow cleans the Wexlers' apartment, while thinking about how she doesn't want to go to the Westing house
– it's too painful – but Otis thinks she should.
Otis makes a delivery to the apartment and tells Crow he thinks Mr. Hoo might be the bomber, because his restaurant
competes with the coffee shop, he could have diverted attention by bombing his restaurant, and he catered the wedding
shower.
Crow gets furious and thinks about vengeance, since Angela will be scarred for life.
Upstairs, the judge and Sandy discuss Crow. Her full name is Berthe Erica Crow, and she's divorced from Windy Windkloppel.
They don't know what her Westing connection is.
Meanwhile, in the Chinese restaurant, Jake, Grace, and Hoo see Crow come in. She limps to their table and Madame Hoo
brings out some lunch.
Grace wonders if something's going on between her and Jake.
Mr. Hoo suggests that Crow should try his paper insoles, since her feet hurt, for free. Crow is so pleased with the insoles that
she leaves without paying, and thinks anyone who could create those couldn't be the bomber.
At the hospital, a nurse brings Chris to Sydelle and Angela's room. He's brought Angela what he thinks was a letter Theo was
too shy to give her, which he found in his bathrobe. The nurse takes Chris away, but first he tells her "mountain," Turtle's clue.
Angela reads the letter, which isn't from Theo, but which says that someone's love should be taken away before things go too
far. The letter also has two clues, "with" and "majesties."
She tells Sydelle that Otis and Crow's clues are not "king" and "queen," but "with thy beautiful majesties."
Back at Sunset Towers, Sandy and Judge Ford are still researching the Wexlers. Jake is a podiatrist, Grace's maiden name is
Windkloppel, their daughters are Turtle and Alice. Their link to the Westings is that Grace says Sam Westing was her uncle,
and she and Angela both look like Violet.
Sandy says that Jake was also a bookie, and Judge Ford gets mad and says that Sam Westing wasn't exactly the cleanest
living man, even if he didn't drink or smoke.
Sandy gets embarrassed and drinks from his flask.
The judge realizes that Grace must be related to Crow, since they are both connected to the Windkloppels.
They look back over their information on Crow, and come back across an interview with one of Crow's friends. The friend
describes Crow as a pretty redhead, and the friend is named Sybil Pulaski.
The judge realizes Sam Westing made a mistake: he wanted Sybil Pulaski and he got Sydelle. He did not know everything.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 20 SUMMARY
Confessions
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That Friday, Turtle cuts classes and goes with Flora to the stockbrokers. That afternoon their stock is up to $52 a share, and
they decide to sell.
Doug's cutting class too, to follow Otis. They go between the shopping center and Sunset Towers, then to a rooming house.
Otis doesn't come out for hours, and then he goes back to Sunset Towers. Doug's been jogging the whole time, and is grateful
for his father's paper insoles, which really seem to work.
At the hospital, Theo's being bandaged after accidentally causing an explosion in the chemistry lab. The bomb squad detective
wonders if he set the bomb in his parents' restaurant. Theo denies it, plus he has an alibi for the third bombing. So he gets off
with a warning.
George delivers food to the judge's apartment, and she asks him about his past with Violet Westing.
George says they went out when they were kids and wanted to get married, but that her mother came between them.
The judge realizes that Sam Westing hadn't pushed Violet to marry the senator; her mother had. George says Violet didn't know
what else to do, because she didn't want to marry the senator, and that's probably why she killed herself. Then her mother went
crazy.
Theo wants to be a writer and plays chess; Chris is a birdwatcher with a complicated disease. Their father is Violet's exboyfriend, but he and his wife aren't players in the game.
Sandy says that the new medicine Dr. Deere suggested is working great for Chris, but that what he really needs is money. He's
smart enough to really make something of himself, but his parents don't have enough money for his education.
The two can't figure out why the parents aren't playing the game, and the judge brings them back to trying to decide which
player Westing was gunning for. They decide that it's probably Mr. Westing's ex-wife, and that she has got to be hidden
amongst the players – and that they need to protect her.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 21 SUMMARY
The Fourth Bomb
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Turtle and Flora are counting up their stock money in Flora's apartment when Theo barges in and asks Turtle if he can borrow
her bike (so he can follow Otis).
When Turtle hesitates it, he says he didn't write that sign about her, and threatens that he didn't say anything about who the
bomber was to the police. He means that Turtle's the bomber.
He also works the nice angle, saying he saw Angela that day.
Turtle thinks Theo meant Angela was the bomber, and he lets him take the bike.
She tries to call Angela at the hospital, but no one picks up. She's worried Angela will confess to the bombings if people press
her.
On the bike, Theo follows Crow and Otis downtown, where they go to the Good Salvation Soup Kitchen. Theo looks in the
window and sees them feeding soup to the poor and homeless. He rushes back to Sunset Towers, feeling ashamed and gross
for spying on them, and mad at San Westing for making him play the game.
Back at Sunset Towers, the judge and Sandy are almost finished with their research, but they still have to go over their own
cases. Sandy's notes on himself say he's got six kids, two grandkids, and that he dropped out of school after eighth grade. His
link to the Westings is that he worked for the factory for twenty years before being fired.
Then, Sandy interviews Judge Ford. She thinks about how she kept some facts about the other players secret, because she
doesn't totally trust him to keep his mouth shut, and then tells him about herself. She has an Ivy League education and is linked
to the Westings because her parents were the Westings' servants.
Sandy's surprised. The judge says she used to play chess with Sam Westing. In their last game, she thought she'd won, until
she realized he gave up his queen on purpose, and tricked her.
At twelve, she went to boarding school, and Sam Westing paid for her whole education. She thinks she owes Westing, and
she'll never be able to pay him back.
Theo, upset, is waiting for the elevator, and when it comes, a series of rockets and explosions shoot out. Then it goes back up
to the third floor, where another explosion happens, because the bomber miscalculated.
When the bomb squad comes, Turtle is on the floor crying. Grace asks her where it hurts, but Turtle's mostly upset that her
braid has been burned off.
Grace yells at the bomb squad, and the policeman show evidence: a sign saying "The bomber strikes again!" written on the
back of one of Turtle's homework assignments.
When Grace asks Turtle if someone stole that from her, she just demands a lawyer.
Instead of taking Turtle to jail, the bomb squad takes her upstairs to Judge Ford.
Judge Ford scolds Turtle and asks her why she set off the bombs. The judge realizes she's protecting someone, and asks if it's
Angela. Turtle denies this too strongly.
This surprises the judge, who thinks of Angela as a "sweet, pretty thing." Then, the judge pauses to think about how she hasn't
taken Angela seriously, because of her beauty. She thinks she would've responded differently to the situation.
The judge asks Turtle to promise not to do any more fireworks, then asks her if she has any other confessions.
Turtle admits she was at the murder scene the night of the crime, and the judge asks her to tell her about it. When Turtle says
Mr. Westing's body looked more like a wax figure than a dead body, the judge gets excited. Turtle also realizes that maybe
there wasn't really a dead body.
He smells the bourbon and Turtle explains it's for her tooth. He thinks she's got a terrible cavity, so he tells her to go to his
dentist, who's super-nice. Then, he asks her if she has any more striped candles, so he can give one to his wife for her birthday.
Turtle says she'll sell him the last one for only $5.
Back at the hospital, Angela and Sydelle are working on their clues again, after going back through the will twice and putting up
a sign for privacy. Angela puts them in this order: "grains spacious grace good hood with beautiful majesties from thy purple
waves on(no) mountain."
Sydelle says to read them again in a different order, with either "on" or "no," not both.
Angela shuffles and reads: "good spacious grains with grace on thy purple mountain hood waves from majesties beautiful."
Someone slides a note under the door. It's from Dr. Deere and it says that it looks like Angela needs some time and space. He
says he'll wait and he loves her. Angela only tells Sydelle what the PS says, which is that Chris wants to share another clue,
"plain."
Sydelle connects plains and grains, and asks Angela to read the clues one more time.
Angela reads: "good hood from spacious plain grains on with beautiful waves grace thy purple mountain majesties."
Animatedly, Sydelle says they've figured it out. She quotes two other parts of the will: "Sing in praise of this generous land," and
"May God thy gold refine." She cries out, "America!" and flings her crutches in the air.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 22 SUMMARY
Losers, Winners
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Turtle posts a sign in the elevator saying that she is the bomber, but not the burglar or the murderer, and that she'll treat
everyone to Chinese dinner when she wins the game.
Mr. Hoo says Grace has trouble with her kids, and he's glad to have Doug. Madame Hoo just says "Boom." She's excited that
they're going to go to watch Doug race. She thinks about how she won't ever take his medals, or sell the clock with the mouse
on it, even if it will take longer to save up to go back to China.
Meanwhile, Grace is too embarrassed to go to the players' meeting and Jake has to convince her to go. They fight about how
they've brought up their children and what they've become. Jake asks what happened to Gracie Windkloppel, and Grace
basically says he's not a proper doctor. Jake calls himself a loser.
Grace begins to cry and they go back to their apartment, where they meet Turtle and Flora leaving. Turtle asks what's wrong
and thinks to herself that it would be even worse if Grace knew who the bomber actually was.
Jake tells them to have fun at the track meet, which isn't where they're going.
Inside the apartment, Jake asks Angela and Sydelle to leave so Grace can have some privacy. Angela realizes her parents
aren't bugging her or checking on her – she's alone.
She laughs, and then decides everything's OK.
Sydelle thinks things are great, and they're going to win. Angela thinks they might not, because they have a song instead of a
name.
Sydelle sings "purple waves of grain," and Angela says it's not purple, it's amber waves.
Meanwhile, Judge Ford is worried about the revenge on Mrs. Westing. Dr. Deere and Chris show up, and Dr. Deere asks her to
hang out with Chris for the afternoon.
The medicine is helping Chris a lot, and he can talk without stuttering as much. Dr. Deere leaves to go back to the hospital.
Chris says he'll birdwatch while the judge does her research. The judge realizes that the only possible player who could be Mrs.
Westing is Crow.
Chris shows the judge a flock of geese flying, which makes her drop her papers. When she picks them up, she realizes that the
wax figure looked like a picture of Westing from fifteen years ago, so no one knows what he looks like now. She realizes
Westing must be in disguise.
Meanwhile, Turtle tries to relax at the dentist's. She distracts herself by thinking about how she kicked Barney Northrup hard
when he stopped by her family's apartment that morning. She's worried about having her hair cut off.
At the track meet, Doug wins the mile run. Mr. Hoo is super-proud, and thinks his inner soles are going to be a hit. Madame Hoo
wants Doug to wear his medal to the meeting that night.
Back at Judge Ford's apartment, Sandy is sad, and says that he ran into Barney Northrup, who fired him. He says he asked
Barney to talk to the judge, because she might be a good reference, but the judge says he never called. She wonders if Barney
is Westing in disguise.
Sandy asks Chris about bird watching, and then pulls the judge aside. The two decide they just have to protect Mrs. Westing,
who they think is Crow. Sandy also says he thinks Otis has been lying about who he really is, and he thinks Otis is actually
Westing.
Over at the Westing house, Crow and Otis arrive early for the meeting. She says she's worried that something bad might
happen, and that she might be in danger. Otis doesn't believe her and says it sounds like she's been drinking again – then he
apologizes.
THE WESTING GAME CHAPTER 23 SUMMARY
Strange Answers
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When Otis comes in, he sees Plum, Flora, and Turtle. Otis makes fun of Turtle's haircut, which Flora thinks is pretty. Turtle
doesn't like it.
Flora shows Turtle a picture of Rosalie. When Turtle looks at it closely, she sees that Rosalie was disabled and says she looks
like she was happy and nice.
Sydelle and Angela arrive; Turtle's made sure Angela won't confess about the bombings.
As the players come in, they all talk about Turtle's hair: Angela likes it, Sandy thinks it's businesslike, Dr. Deere thinks it's
improved, Chris thinks it looks nice. Theo doesn't notice because he's looking at the chessboard, where someone else has
made a play.
Judge Ford comes in dressed in African robes and gives a note to Dr. Deere.
Doug comes in, still pleased with his win from the match, followed by the Hoos.
Jake and Grace arrive from a wine bar, a little tipsy. Crow sneaks in after them.
Otis asks if each team can open the envelope on their table. Plum says yes. They each receive another $10,000 check.
The judge gives her share of the money to Sandy, who Sydelle shushes, and Grace falls asleep.
Plum keeps reading the will. Part twelve welcomes everyone back and says that they've all gotten some money, and by the end
someone may get a lot more. It says each table will be called to give their answer. Plum will write them all down, but doesn't
know what the answer is.
At table one are Madame Hoo, "cook," and Jake Wexler, "bookie" . Jake looks back over their clues: "of America and God
above." He doesn't know what to say so he asks Madame Hoo, who says "Boom!"
Table two is Flora Baumbach, "dressmaker," and Turtle Wexler, "financier". Turtle says they've made $11,587.50 from their
original $10,000 on the stock market.
At table three are Christos Theodorakis, "ornithologist," and Denton Deere, "intern. Chris doesn't want to blame anybody, and
he thinks all the partners helped everyone make friends, so he and Denton agree that their answer is Westing was a good
person.
Table four's Judge Ford, "judge", and Sandy, "fired" who say they don't have an answer. Judge Ford looks at Dr. Deere, who
shakes his head no in response to her note, which asked if Otis had plastic surgery. So Otis isn't Westing, but she thinks Crow
knows something is up.
At table five are Gracie Windkloppel Wexler, "restaurateur," and James Hoo, "inventor". Mr. Hoo pushes Grace to stand and
answer, and she drunkenly says their restaurant will reopen the next day, serving purple waves. When she sits down, she falls
on the floor. Mr. Hoo says their answer is "Ed Plum."
Table six has Berthe Erica Crow, "mother," and Otis Amber, "deliverer". Crow's surprised to find she wrote "mother," and Otis
asks her what their answer is. Crow says "mother" again.
At table seven of Douglas Hoo, "champ," and Theo Theodorakis, "writer" Theo doesn't know what to do with their clues. His
ideas point to Otis, but he thinks about what he viewed at the soup kitchen and says "no answer."
Table eight are Sydelle Pulaski, "victim," and Angela Wexler, "person". Sydelle stands and begins to sing "America the
Beautiful."
Everyone thinks she's nuts until they start hearing all their clues in the words of the song. They think Sydelle and Angela won.
Sydelle says their answer is "Otis Amber."
Plum reads the next part of the will, that says it's time for a break and asks Crow to go to the kitchen to get snacks.
Judge Ford asks Sandy to go with her; as he does, he asks her to refill his flask. Angela follows them, worried about Crow, and
Turtle follows her, worried about Angela.
The judge goes over to Dr. Deere, who says that no one there's had plastic surgery, although Sandy could've benefited.
Theo's at the chess table and thinks he won. He takes the other side's queen.