Happy Hour Heist – Part 2: How the Puzzle Got Solved (Sort of)
A visual thinker’s mystery, a Rolling Stones twist, and a quiet lesson about seeing the world differently
Previously on Happy Hour Heist:
The cash was gone.
Lynne needed it.
There was no break-in, no getaway car, no confession — only a cast of chatty suspects and a trail of clues scattered like wine rings on a bar tab.
We left off just before the reveal. If you need to review The Raven Lunatic’s PART 1 here is the Link to Part 1
OTHERWISE, let us begin….But first…
🧠 A Word About Brains
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we solve puzzles — not just jigsaw ones, but life ones. And how often, the way we think gets overlooked.
Lynne shared something from Temple Grandin’s Visual Thinking that hit home: “Different kinds of minds solve different kinds of problems.”
That was our clue all along. The real story wasn’t who took the money…
It was how I finally found it — when I stopped overthinking, and started seeing.
⸻
🧩 The Visual Clues Were There
• The busy table at Moody Ale’s Bar
• The red leather Mustang door repair fund
• A napkin sketch my Grandson made weeks earlier — serendipitously and oddly accurate
• A cash-stuffed envelope… last seen in the car, or maybe under a pile clothes, or was it on the table under a coaster?
Every character in this barroom drama had a role. Some offered misdirection. Some offered that purple coloured cider. One offered unsolicited conspiracy theories about the Bank of Canada, such being the political game afoot these days from those who think they are in the know about high finance.
But the truth? It clicked when I saw it — like a puzzle piece sliding into place.
⸻
💥 The Reveal (Spoilers Ahead)
The missing money was never stolen.
It was misplaced by a visual thinker trying to do the responsible thing… and later distracted by an emotional moment.
I had tucked the envelope into the vinyl sleeve of a Rolling Stones record in my home bar nook — “Sticky Fingers,” naturally.
You can’t make this stuff up. Unless you’re me. But I didn’t.
⸻
🪞 What I Learned
We’re all thinkers — visual, verbal, intuitive, literal.
And when you’re surrounded by people who see the world differently, sometimes you just need to ask:
“What do you see that I don’t?”
Turns out, Lynne saw everything.
She just waited for me to figure it out in my own strange way.
That’s love.
That’s teamwork.
That’s how a Raven Lunatic solves a case.
⸻
🧩 Solve It Yourself!
Want to play detective?
Download the jigsaw puzzle and see if you can piece together the clues.
Each piece features a detail from the crime scene — and maybe, just maybe, a twist you missed.
[Puzzle link could be coming along soon…maybe…. IF YOU REALLY WANT… as soon as I figure out how to make an interactive JigSaw builder from Puzzle.org for readers and grandkids. But let me know in comments if you really want that…it’s hard for this brain to figure it out…it’s taken me a month already and I am in need of motivation on that account!]
⸻
See something the Raven missed? Hit reply or comment.
And if your brain works differently, good. The world needs your kind of crazy.
⸻
P.S. to the Grandkids & Visual Thinkers Everywhere:
Keep sketching, keep building, keep seeing what others don’t.
You don’t need to “fit in” — just fit together.
The puzzle works better that way.
—
🧩 Follow The Raven Lunatic for more oddball mysteries, visual clues, and life lessons with wine stains.