Archive through February 04, 2002
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The ClubHouse: Archives: Solve a Mystery: Archive through February 04, 2002

Neko

Thursday, January 31, 2002 - 12:10 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You guys got it...Here's the end.

"Sally Anne was afraid to admit that the hairclip was hers, but she lost it before the murder, not in the process of killing Heather, since she had stray hairs in her face before Heather was dead.

Angela had talc on her without a reason. As a gymnast on the uneven bars, Missy would put talc on her hands to improve her grip. Heather, too, would logically use talc to improve her grip and would keep a supply in her dressing room.

But Angela, an opera singer, has no reason to have talc on her clothes. The presence of powder points to Angela as the killer, and the only title Angela's going to be competing for soon is Miss Cellblock C."
Way to go guys

Grooch

Friday, February 01, 2002 - 12:42 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
The Case of the Chocolate Heist

"Haledjian, could you come over to the station house?", Winters asked his friend on the phone. I know that it is Saturday evening and that you want to be with your family, but I think that I have got a little problem that might prove to be a challenge even for your great deductive skills," the detective exclaimed.

"Well, it must be important or else you wouldn’t have called. I’ll be right over. With any luck, we’ll solve your 'little problem' in time for me to get back home to enjoy the delicious pot roast that my wife has in the oven," the sleuth concluded.

Winters met Haledjian at the door to the station house and led him to the interrogation room where Henry Watchman was sitting at the table cracking his knuckles. "Did you hear about the robbery at the Chocolate Warehouse last night?" Winters asked the famous sleuth. "Someone broke in and stole the entire inventory of chocolate eggs. Mr. Watchman, the company’s security guard, was on duty last night. I’ve asked him to tell us what he saw."

"As the Inspector stated," Mr. Watchman began, "I was on duty last night when the Chocolate Warehouse was broken into. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to prevent the robbery because it occurred while I was on my coffee break, but, as I was returning to the warehouse from the coffee shop down the street, I did see one of the people who did it. It was John O’Henry, a man who was recently laid off. I saw him making off with the goodies. The light of the full moon clearly revealed to me his features. There was another person with him, but this person had his or her back to the full moon and the face was in shadow. I guess that this was O'Henry's idea of getting revenge on the company for laying him off. Luckily, Easter was last Sunday. If the robbery had occurred a week earlier, there would have been a lot of disappointed kids on Easter morning," Watchman mused.

"The little problem that I mentioned to you on the phone," Winters pointed out to Haledjian after the security guard had left the room, "is that O’Henry has an alibi. We interviewed him earlier this afternoon, and he claims that he was home last night watching the video "Titanic" with his wife. His wife supports his story. Perhaps they decided to get some 'snacks' at the Chocolate Warehouse to go with their movie, but how do I prove it? The video store owner remembers renting that film to them. What do you think of this puzzle, old friend?

"I think that I will get back home in plenty of time for my wife’s famous pot roast," Haledjian remarked. "Forget about O’Henry and ask the security guard what he was really doing on his coffee break."

Why does Haledjian suspect the security guard?

Jeep

Friday, February 01, 2002 - 01:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I think I got this one! Easter is the first Sunday after a new moon. So, if Easter was a week ago, the full moon was over. therefore the moon light would not be shining on anybody for the security guard to see. He was lying about the moon and everything else.

Grooch

Friday, February 01, 2002 - 08:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
You got it Jeep! Congrats.

I thought it would be a long time till someone figured that one out.

Twiggyish

Saturday, February 02, 2002 - 05:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Where's the next mystery? I love these!

Grooch

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 07:00 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Here you go, Twiggy!

The Case of the Dead Ornithologist

It was a beautiful morning as Doctor Haledjian began his morning walk. The sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing. His walk was brought to an abrupt end, however, as he followed the curve of the path and found Henry Bugle, the world famous Ornithologist lying face down on the trail with a bullet hole through his heart. Without disturbing the evidence, Doctor Haledjian quickly examined the corpse and determined that Henry had been killed within the hour.

Glancing further down the path, Haledjian noticed that the previous evening's rain had made it possible to discern footsteps in the soft moist earth. While there were two sets of footprints leading to the body, only one set returned directly westward along the trail. The detective followed the trail of the footprints until they ended at the door of a modest country cottage. In response to Haledjian's loud knocking, the door was opened by Dr. Bugle's secretary, a short, balding, shifty eyed man. The man was out of breath and obviously quite nervous and upset.

"Dr. Bugle has been shot," the man stammered excitedly. "I was just about to head off to the village to get a doctor and the local constable."

"I'm a doctor, and I know something about police methods as I often help my friend Inspector Winters on his more difficult assignments. Calm down, and tell me what happened," Haledjian demanded.

The secretary replied, "Henry and I go out for a walk every morning just after sunrise as it is the best time of the day to study the feeding habits of many species of birds. Today was no different than any other morning except that after we had been walking for no more than 15 minutes a shot rang out. Dr. Henry clutched his heart and fell to the ground. I didn't know what to do so I returned to the cottage and was just about to go to the village for help when you showed up."

Haledjian asked, "Did you see anyone else in the forest after you heard the gunshot?"

"I thought that I heard someone running in the distance, but to be honest with you I was pretty frightened and returned to the cottage quickly," the secretary stammered. "It is hunting season and we often hear gunshots so it could have been an accident."

"Can you describe the scene just before you heard the shot," said Haledjian.

"Well, I remember that Dr. Bugle had just called my attention to a very rare sighting of a Cedar Waxwing that was sitting in the top of a tree directly in front of us. That's when I heard the shot and saw Dr. Bugle drop to the ground."

"Well, when the cops get here, you'd better think up a better story," exclaimed Dr. Haledjian. I know that your story is false, and I can't help but wonder why you are lying!"

How did Dr. Haledjian know that the secretary was not telling the truth?

Neko

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 07:35 am EditMoveDeleteIP
He, the secretary, said that they were out and that Dr. Bugle cutched his heart.
Why did he say when he opened the door that Dr. Bugle had been shot.
Most people would think that he had suffered a heart attack not been shot.

Neko

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 07:37 am EditMoveDeleteIP
It says he heard a gunshot though....Hmmmm

Neko

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 07:51 am EditMoveDeleteIP
If the a set of footprints were heading back west, they(Henry and the secretary)would have been facing east.
The sun rises in the east so they couldn't have see the Cedar Waxwing in the tree directly in front of them.
That's how Dr H knew

Grooch

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 09:37 am EditMoveDeleteIP
You got it, Neko. :)

While there were two sets of footprints leading to the body, only one set returned directly westward along the trail.

The secretary replied, "Henry and I go out for a walk every morning just after sunrise as it is the best time of the day to study the feeding habits of many species of birds.

"Well, I remember that Dr. Bugle had just called my attention to a very rare sighting of a Cedar Waxwing that was sitting in the top of a tree directly in front of us.

Dr. Haledjian realized that no ornithologist would be looking directly into the rising sun and be able to spot a bird, let alone identify it. Dr. Bugle's secretary did it and Haledjian saw through the lie.

Grooch

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 09:44 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Dr.Haledjian was in Inspector Winters' office waiting for the next case to solve when Inspector Winters came in with Jacques Strap. "He's charged with murdering Frank Buzz," snapped the Inspector.

"It's a mistake," cried Jacques.

"So then what were you doing in an alley with a gun and a dead man?" asked the Inspector.

"It wasn't my gun , and I'll tell you the truth. I was walking past the theater when I saw two men run past me. The second man was carrying a gun. So I followed them. They turned into an alley and the second man fired six shots at the other. The first man dropped dead to the ground. The murderer was about to walk away when he caught a glimpse of me. Knowing there was no escape, he threw his Colt 45 at me and ran to the fire exit door of the theater. There he pushed open the door and went inside. I was still holding the gun when a cop came running up the alley," finished Jacques.

"I tell you I'm innocent."

"Give me a break", said Dr.Haledjian. "This story is impossible."

Crazydog

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 09:49 am EditMoveDeleteIP
"Jacques Strap"... LOL

I believe it's impossible because emergency fire doors open out, not in. Some of them don't even have handles on the outside. So there's no way the second man would have "pushed open" the door. At the very least he would have had to pull open the door.

Twiggyish

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 11:49 am EditMoveDeleteIP
If there was no escape, why did he throw the gun?

Twiggyish

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 11:54 am EditMoveDeleteIP
It seems there is an escape door, so he didn't need to throw the gun.

Grooch

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 01:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You got it, Crazydog. :)

Grooch

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 01:39 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
The storeroom of the gym was silent and dark, except for the glow of Gertrude Librin's flashlight. As she gathered her things, Gertrude saw something move, and thinking nothing of it, she persisted in her work. But as she heard the short rasping breathing, Gertrude was certain that she was not alone. Terrified, she watched as the flickering shadows moved closer. A cry of "Help" was desperately called out, but only a second too late.

"Gertrude Librin was found murdered in the storeroom of the workout gym at around 2:30 this morning", explained Inspector Winters to Dr. Haledjian. The sleuth examined the body which had been strangled to death, and now lay limp on the floor."As you know, Gertrude was the world-famous gymnast who won the gold medal for the all-round competition four years ago in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Our main suspect is Kimberly Strauss, who was beaten for the gold by Gertrude in Seoul, thus becoming instant rivals".

Just as the inspector finished his explanation, a fifteen year old look alike walked into the room. The youth, who was Kimberly Strauss, was sporting track pants, running shoes and a loose T-shirt. Her wild red hair seemed to dance around her face as she approached Dr. Haledjian. Hardly believing that this girl was 17 years old, he introduced himself. "Ms. Strauss, I presume. I am Dr. Haledjian. Please begin by telling me exactly what happened last night since you were at the gym".

"Well", she began, "as usual, I was in the gym practicing the rings for tomorrow's competition when I heard a scream from the storeroom. I didn't pay attention to the scream because there are mice in there that can practically scare the daylights out of anyone. Anyway, after I finished practicing my compulsories and all my routines, which was around 11:00, I packed up and was on my way to the dormitory which I didn't leave until 8:00 this morning".

As Kimberly finished, the detective proclaimed, " I think I have solved yet another case. Arrest this murderer"!

What made Haledjian so sure that Kimberly was the murderer?

Carigsby

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 02:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
If Gertrude had been strangled she wouldn't have been able to "scream" as Kimberly said she heard.

Neko

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 02:18 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Yes but she did scream for "Help" but it does say a second to late so I agree with Carigsby

Grooch

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 02:21 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You are both incorrect.

Neko

Monday, February 04, 2002 - 02:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
She said that she was practicing the rings but only men do the rings