Plot Synopsis

Crispin Nightingale is shot dead in his Manhattan art gallery following the theft of a valuable 18th century oil painting. Detective Logan O'Connor is assigned to the case and examines the crime scene, conferring with his Chief, who just happens to also be his father. At the New York Sentinel, Tess Harper, the newspaper's brilliant crossword puzzles editor, prepares to host the National Crosswords Championship. After learning that her Aunt Candace was a close friend to the Nightingales, Tess runs into Logan at the newspaper office and eavesdrops on his conversation with crime reporter Harris. After learning the dead man had been working on the Sunday crossword puzzle before his death, Tess searches the puzzle for possible clues. When she attempts to locate the woman who submitted the puzzle, a regular contributor to the newspaper's puzzle page, the woman cannot be located as if she never existed. Tess looks at past puzzles and art heists and discovers that one week after each puzzle was published, there was an art theft in the city. And each puzzle has clues to the place, time and stolen piece. She tries to help Logan with the investigation but he is skeptical of her theory about clues in the puzzles. When she is able to predict the city's next art theft, including date, time, place and painting, he finally comes around. Seeking out and questioning people who may have wanted Nightingale dead, the pair discovers a number of likely suspects. With the National Crosswords Championship now underway in a hotel ballroom, Tess puts the final piece of the murder puzzle in place. But before she can reach Logan, the killer confronts her at gunpoint; Tess attempts to stall the killer long enough for help to arrive.