The working title for The Westing Game was "Eight Imperfect Pairs of Heirs." The Westing game arranges the sixteen heirs into pairs, each provided with $10,000 and a set of word clues. For example, Chris Theodorakis, a young birdwatcher with a crippling disease, is paired with Denton Deere, a young doctor and the fiance of Angela Wexler. Angela, a beautiful but unwilling bride-to-be, is paired with Sydelle Pulaski, an eccentric secretary and publicity seeker. Judge J. J. Ford is paired with the doorman, Sandy, who begs her to stay in the game—even though she disapproves of it—because his wife and family need the money.

Everyone gains from the relationship with his or her partner. Turtle perhaps gains the most since her partner, the dressmaker Flora Baumbach, gives her the love Turtle's mother has always withheld. Flora gains a surrogate daughter to ease the...