The Mystery of Wizard World Clue by Clue

How to Play: Clue by Clue is a game that tests your thinking skills. It can be played alone or in a group. Solve the mystery below by going through the clues one at a time. Each time you reveal a new clue, stop and think about what it could mean, what you know from all the clues so far, and what you still need to know. After the last clue is revealed, you can read some hints or go straight to the solution!

The Situation

Jon Worthington, author of the very successful Wizard World series of books for young adults, spends all day Wednesday making final changes to the only copy of manuscript of his newest book. His publisher tells him to put it in her safe when he is done. Thursday morning, the publisher comes to work and finds her office broken into and wrecked. Inside the safe, there is only blank paper instead of the manuscript.

What happened?

Can you figure it out in 9 clues?

Clue 1

Only the publisher and the publisher’s assistant had the combination to the safe.

Clue 2

The seven other Wizard World books were worth $15 million a year. Because of potential leaks, Jon and the publisher only worked with a single paper copy of the manuscript. Once the manuscript was finished, it could be scanned into the computer but this hadn’t happened yet.

Clue 3

The manuscript was kept in the publisher’s office. All editing was done there, too in paper to make it harder to make electronic copies.

Clue 4

On Wednesday, Jon had been working on the final draft using notes from the paper manuscript. He seemed unhappy with his work, even skipping lunch to continue working.

Clue 5

He closed the safe himself around 6:00pm.

Clue 6

The publisher’s assistant stayed until 8:00pm that night, but says that she didn’t see or hear anything suspicious.

Clue 7

The woman who worked next to Jon’s computer found her printer empty of paper on Thursday morning.

Clue 8

The publisher found her desk drawers open and emptied. All the books on her shelves were thrown on the floor. The safe was closed. The door had been scratched up around the lock.