Johnny Gage was studying the book in front of him when the engine crew returned from the fire.

 

“What are you studying, Johnny?”  Chet asked his co-worker.

 

“Sudoku.”  Johnny replied and never looked at Chet.

 

“Su what?”

 

“Sudoku.  It’s a concentration puzzle.”

 

“How does it help you?” Chet asked with a sly grin.

 

“I’ve heard that if you do puzzles they help your memory as you get older.  Maybe you would like to do a puzzle Chet.  It seems that you’ve been forgetting things lately.”  Johnny replied with his own boyish grin.

 

“How do you do this puzzle?”  Chet asked as he looked over Johnny’s shoulder.

 

“You have to have the numbers from 1 to 9 in each box, and in each row across and up and down.  But the trick is to only have each number used once each way.”  Johnny replied as he looked at Chet and then back to the puzzle.

 

“Sounds complicated.”  Chet responded.

 

“Not really, I’ve already finished two of them.”

 

“How did you figure out something so complicated?”

 

“Easy, the answers are in the back of the book.”  Johnny replied with his boyish grin again.