CHAPTER 25: Westing's Wake

Summary

With Sandy dead and Crow arrested, the remaining fourteen heirs return to Judge Ford's living room to go over what happened. When Otis Amber mourns what's happened to Crow, Turtle Wexler stands up for her friend Sandy McSouthers. Denton Deere tells Turtle that she should have remembered that before kicking him in the shins. Turtle protests, saying she never did that but Denton insists there was a bruise on his shin from being kicked today. Turtle persists, with Flora Baumbach as her witness: she hadn't seen Sandy until that evening and the only one she kicked today was Barney Northrup. Theo then says that Sandy was also his friend, as they played chess together at the Westing house, though Sandy didn't know Theo knew who he was playing with. Both Turtle and Judge Ford are surprised by this, but Theo explains that his partner Doug Hoo had kept an eye on the chess board and saw Sandy make his moves. Theo then adds that he almost won the game, as he had taken Sandy's queen; Judge Ford then realizes Theo fell for the queen's sacrifice, the famous Westing trap. She informs Theo of this and how she's lost a few games herself that way.

Turtle tries to pull together all this seemingly nonsensical information: Sandy's bruised shin, the chess game, the dentist where she saw the false teeth, Sandy's words of encouragement that the game wasn't over and how he winked when he said that. She then realizes the last violent twitch of his right eye was actually a wink, as well. She asks sister Angela for her copy of the will and reads the transcript. A line about ashes being scattered to the four winds reminds Turtle of Sam Westing's real last name, Windkloppel, which means her mother Grace was right about being related to him.

Judge Ford then pieces together the history of the Westing family: Berthe Erica Crow married Sam Windkloppel, who changed his name to Sam Westing. They had a daughter, Violet, who drowned herself the night before her wedding. If Sam blames Crow for that death, then the sole purpose of the game was to punish his ex-wife. Theo asks why Sam Westing would give his ex-wife a chance of inheriting the money if he wanted revenge. Chris wonders if maybe Sam Westing wanted forgiveness from his enemies.

Turtle continues to read the transcript of the will. Otis Amber points out that Crow won't inherit anything if found guilty for murder, making Judge Ford realize that Crow was the queen's sacrifice in the Westing game the heirs all played. Judge Ford calls herself stupid, having played into Sam Westing's hand again. Denton Deere points out that Sam Westing wasn't stupid but insane, reminding everyone of the Happy Fourth of July greeting today, in November. Otis adds that it's November fifteenth, Crow's birthday. Turtle remembers how Sandy had bought her last striped candle from her for his wife's birthday and realizes the game is still afoot. She thinks of how everyone was instructed about "it's not what you have, it's what you don't have that counts". Without giving away her hand, she asks Judge Ford if she can call her first witness.

Notes

The rest of the clues are now pieced together regarding Sam Westing's elaborate masquerade: the damage to his shin, which could only have been to Barney Northrup; the chess game with Theo, which is traced back to Sandy McSouthers; Judge Ford's realization that Theo fell for the queen's sacrifice, a signature Sam Westing move; the false teeth at Sandy's dentist, which relates to the disguises; the last twitch which was actually a wink; and Sam Westing's real last name of Windkloppel, which validates Grace Wexler's early claim to being related to Westing in the first place. Turtle and Judge Ford seem to be the only ones who see the larger picture, which is why Judge Ford allows Turtle to hold a mock trial. Judge Ford later sees something of Sam Westing's bravado and demeanor in Turtle, which is what raises her suspicion that Turtle may have a game of her own.