ABSTRACT
Ravi strode onto the large, neatly manicured lawn of 423 Sycamore Lane. Two police cars with fl ashing lights stood in the driveway of the large white house with tall columns at its entrance. The policemen nodded to Ravi as he walked by. He was a slender fourteen-year-old boy with curly brown locks and large, inquisitive brown eyes. While it was not common for the police to let a teenager stroll into the scene of a homicide investigation, Ravi was no common teenager. He was, by all accounts, a genius, though he was far too modest to think of himself in that way. Rather, he thought of himself as someone who loved puzzles, and loved thinking through problems, especially if they had a mathematical fl avor. His uncanny ability to do just that had earned him the trust of Chief Dobson, head of the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Chicago Police Department. Chief Dobson had come to know Ravi through Andy, his son and Ravi’s classmate in tenth grade. While Ravi was at the Dobsons’ house for dinner one evening, the Chief was recounting the details of an especially diffi cult case. Upon hearing the case, Ravi was able to solve it with just a few minutes of thinking. Since then, Chief Dobson made it a habit to consult Ravi when faced with a case that was especially puzzling.
