As a student of the obvious, I am a great fan of the so-called “locked room” puzzle because all of the clues for solving it are right there under your nose. Which reminds me of a classic example of one that involved yours truly.
I spotted the body of Henry Dodd myself the moment I was summoned. He was lying face down on the floor of his living room. Dumbrow and I had both been invited over for an evening of chitchat, which for Dumbrow usually meant falling asleep on the couch. This time, however, he kept his eyes open once he arrived but there was nothing to see. The room had been locked – I shouted to Dumbrow to break in when I heard him at the door – and there were no clues of any kind anywhere to be seen.
There were no marks on the body or disturbances or fingerprints anywhere. No witnesses, nothing. Dodd himself was a jovial fellow who was very unlikely to have committed suicide. Dumbrow was stumped by all this but, of course, this was his typical state of mind.
When I announced that I knew precisely who the murderer was, Dumbow was floored.
What do you think I said?
Nano Solution_____________________________________________
“That the man wasn’t dead,” you shout. “He was just napping!”
“A state of mind with which you are, no doubt, quite familiar.”
“No clues, no marks, no evidence, yet you knew who did it?” you mutter, hoping for a drive-by insight. “How can that be?’
“Because I did it. Obviously,” Nano says.
“You? But how? You’re virtual.”
“By talking the man to death,” Nano says but you can see by the glint in his eye and the tongue in his cheek that his only crime has been to tease you unmercifully.
No comments:
Post a Comment