18

Coalridge did not wait to be summoned.

You found him in the service wing, a low room smelling of oil and iron, where his tools hung in careful rows. He stood squarely behind the bench as you, Wesley, and Snowell came in.

Snowell lifted a cloth from the worktable. Beneath it lay a brass key.

“The spare from the corridor hook,” he said. “The one missing since yesterday.”

Coalridge’s mouth tightened. “I found it near the hall. Someone must have dropped it. I meant to put it back.”

Beside the key lay a short length of fine wire and a sliver of pale green glass.

“From a lamp,” Coalridge said at once. “You break things long enough, you learn not to throw every shard away.”

Wesley glanced at the wall. A pencil plan of the manor had been pinned there, lines darkened by use. One route was marked heavier than the rest, running from the service stairs to the back of the great hall, stopping just behind where the tree stood.

“It is my job to know every way through this house,” Coalridge said. “If something was taken, I would know how. That does not mean I took it.”

As you left, Snowell stopped by a chessboard resting on a crate near the door. The pieces were oddly placed, black men moving first, white apparently waiting.

Snowell smiled.

“They are helping each other.”

He adjusted a black piece and stepped away, leaving the board ready for whoever cared to finish it.

This is a helpmate, which means that both sides cooperate to achieve mate. With Black to move first, how can White, with Black's assistance, mate on the fifth move? Black plays 5 moves and White 5, and White's 5th move is mate. Here's the Lichess analysis board, and if you are confused, check out Offerspill's Discord server.