At the shop Agnes notices an advertisement that leads her to Robert, a former puzzle tournament champion who is looking for a new partner to compete in a championship tournament the following month. Robert is a wealthy and reclusive inventor whose wife (who was also his puzzle partner) has recently left him. Agnes is intrigued by their differences whereas Robert is surprised by Agnes’ unorthodox approach for solving puzzles and considers her as a Godsend. Robert asks her to meet him twice a week in order to prepare for the national tournament.
Agnes tells her family that she needs to help an aunt who has broken her leg, lying every day while trying to help her eldest son discern what kind of life he really wants. She is frustrated by her husband’s resistance and shocks her family as she begins to assert herself, declaring that she is going to the tournament. She keeps her relationship with Robert secret as she falls in love with him.On the last day of practice, Agnes and Robert get intimate and have intercourse. As a result she is late returning home. On her arrival, Louie finally confronts her and asks whether she’s having an affair. Agnes confesses that she had sex with her puzzle partner (Robert).