We have a new kind of "puzzle." These are short mysteries. I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested but finally decided to start a thread of them and just see what happens.

These take up only a couple of pages in a book. All the clues are there and you only have to solve it. (For those who have been doing the lateral thinking puzzles, these aren't yes/no question things. Just solve.)

I'm getting these from a book which is a good 40 years old. (Keep in mind that was a different era.) I was a bit concerned about copyright issues. If anyone thinks I shouldn't be posting these, let me know. In the meantime, I'll at least give credit. They come from a thing called Mini-Mysteries by Julia Remine Piggin.

I'll be trying to solve them as well, before I look at the answer, as I haven't read these for a gazillion years.

I'll put two up for now and see how it goes. All welcome to play.

1. Lady Out of the Rain

Detective Inspector Bill Tawson was glad that a search for a rare book had taken him to the town's main library the day before. He'd recognized the librarian on duty as his old high school classmate Sara Hull. But she'd changed in twenty years from a mousy little girl into a vivid, intelligent-looking woman -- "Yes, attractive," said Bill, surprised at his feelings after two years of widowerhood. Now the hazel eyes were sparkling with life and humor as Sara Hull faced Bill over coffee at the end of an excellent dinner in the dining room of the Crown Hotel.

"I've always thought I'd like to be a detective," Sara was saying, as a short man in a black suit rushed up to their table. "Oh, Inspector Tawson," he said in a breathless whisper, "I'm so glad you're here! There's been a murder in room 117. I'm the night manager-- it's Mrs. Bronwen de Pugh. She checked in last night -- " The man was babbling as Bill leaped up and followed him out of the dining room. Sara hesitated.

"I know I shouldn't," she thought. Then, impulsively, she walked quickly after the two men, into the elevator, down the corridor to room 117, where a horrified chambermaid cowered in the tiny vestibule.

A young woman in a gray pantsuit lay sprawled across the bed, blood trickling from a bullet wound near the line of her flaming red hair. Bill grabbed the phone and called for an ambulance and officers, then began his official investigation. As he leaned over the woman's body, Sara looked around the room. In a corner stood a stack of expensive-looking pink suitcases, each stamped in gold with the initials B. de P. The closet door was open, and in it hung a half dozen costly outfits: a rose-pink chiffon gown, a fuschia wood coat, a scarlet suit, a white raincoat with a hood, a beige dress with a bright pink flowered scarf. "Did you see Miss de Push when she registered last ight?" she asked the flustered manager.

"Oh, yes," he replied. "It was a rainy night and she was wearing one of those raincoats with a hood that hid half her face, but this is the luggage she brought, all right, and that's her purse on the dresser -- I remember it." Bill checked the identification cards in the pocketbook -- all were in the name of Bronwen de Pugh, but the wallet contained no cash.

Sara beckoned to him. "Bill, it's none of my business," she said. "I know I shouldn't interfere, and I could be wrong. But I don't think the luggage and the clothes in the closet belong to that girl on the bed." She moved closer and spoke even more quietly.

Next day a package arrived at the library. In it was a handsome pin engraved with Sara's initials. Bill's card read: "You were right. We caught Bronwen de Pugh at the state line. She confessed. The girl had been blackmailing her. She figured leaving everything behind would make us think she, herself, was the dead woman, and give her a head start while we checked. Thanks, Ms. Sherlock Holmes -- those initials are no coincidence."

What did Sara whisper to Bill?

2. The Boys Who Dropped Out

"Sara, have you heard of either Bob Sujet or Shandy Cumberbatch?"

Sara Hull nodded in answer to the Inspector's question.

"Yes, Bill, I do some volunteer work with high school dropouts, and I've met them both. Bob is one of those restless kids who's mad at the world and at himself. Not a bad student, but couldn't settle down to school -- candidate for drug abuse, I'd be afraid. Shandy had a different problem, even more frustrating. He isn't really a dropout at all, for he's never been to school. Grew up in Appalachia, never had shoes to wear, and was too proud to go to school barefoot. I tried to persuade him that it wasn't too late, but he couldn't face the idea of going back now, so I'm afraid he may go through life illiterate. Angry about it too. Why?"

"Miss Rogers of the Star Employment Agency sent both boys over to the Riggs Office Building on Saturday afternoon. Nobody was around when they got there -- there's a man on duty, but he says he never saw them, and the outside door was open. Self-service elevators, of course. Boys were supposed to report to Arnold Golman, of Golman Insurance, on the seventeenth floor, to move some machines. Golman was there alone. He told Miss Rogers to give the boys identification, and to tell them to knock and say who they were, and he'd unlock the door. Well, he was found dead, wallet and watch gone, head bashed in. Office rifled.

"We've talked to both boys. They're prime suspects, for Golman wouldn't have opened to just anybody. Bob says he went up in the elevator, knocked on the door and called, received no answer, got mad, and left. Time checks -- it was after the lab says Golman was killed. Shandy admits he got there earlier, but says he only went as far as the lobby of the building, decided not to go up to the office. But he won't tell us why. He acts as if he's hiding something, Sara. Frankly, I suspect him."

"Mind if I call Miss Rogers?" Sara dialed the agency number, and asked the agent a question.

"Why, of course," Miss Rogers said. "That is, I told them the Golman Agency at the Riggs Building and wrote the rest on a slip of paper. What's that? Well, no, I don't think I did -- but -- " Sara hung up with thanks and gave Bill Miss Rogers' answer to her question.

"I guess that tells you which of the boys is a legitimate suspect, doesn't it?" she said, and the detective nodded.

What was the question Sara asked Miss Roges?

I'll take a guess at #1, in white so I don't influence others wanting to play:

I think it has to do with the color of the clothes. The lady on the bed is wearing a gray suit. Everything in the closet has some shade of pink or red in it, except for the coat which is white - still a more vibrant color.

For #2:

I think she was asked how they received their instructions about knocking on the door, etc. The lady indicates only the place was spoken, all else was written. Since Shandy is illiterate, he would not have known the instructions and Golman wouldn't have opened the door for him. Bob is the suspect.

I second the answers of JLo. I thought the same.

Attention was really directed at the colours in the first one, and in the second one, it was somewhat emphasized that Shandy was illiterate. And Bob, as Sara said, was a candidate for drug abuse, the perfect motive to rob Golman.

Both correct. Took you less time to solve than for me to type. LOL.

I've mostly discovered they aren't bad if you're paying attention to everything it says, which is sometimes hidden in the middle of long, boring paragraphs that sound unimportant. The first I got before it ended. The second I had to do a second read-thru to catch the important thing.

They also might get harder as the book goes.

Unky, you do know there's a new lateral thinking one? You haven't popped in there yet.

Yes, seen it but history is not my forte... :( I'm at a complete lost with that one.

Yes, seen it but history is not my forte... :( I'm at a complete lost with that one.

You don't need to know history to answer it. It's based on history, but the answer doesn't have to address that. I really don't expect it to, just to figure out how he can lie and tell the truth at the same time. Unky, you are great with questions. I think you should give it a go. :)

3. The Galway Guitars

THE GALWAY GUITARS
LEADING ROCK GROUP OF IRELAND
IN FIRST AMERICAN CONCERT AT EIGHT TONIGHT
AT THE CENTRAL BRANCH OF THE LIBRARY

The city seemed plastered with posters, and by six o'clock young people had started to gather to be sure of getting good seats. Sara Hull beamed. "It's a wonderful ad for the library."

But Detective Inspector Bill Tawson was all business. "We've had a tip that one of the Galway Guitars is from Galway, but can't even play a guitar," he confided to Sara. "According to our source, Wishy O'Mara, the young IRA leader, has slipped out of Ireland in place of one of the real singers. He's related to the boy and looks a lot like him--and the trouble is, he's played it so smart he's never been arrested, so there are no fingerprints. He's supposed to be planning to go to New York where the Guitars are scheduled to appear next, and plant a bomb in the British Empassy. We'd pick up all five of 'em, but one boy is the son of a diplomat and there's likely to be a sticky incident if we do. However, Officer Patner there--" he indicated a long-haired young man who looked like a confirmed hippie" -- is a good guitar player on the side. He's going to watch carefully, and point out the guy who's faking-- they say this Wishy doesn't know one end of a musical instrument from the other."

The Galway Guitars, however, had anticipated this police approach. They arrived at the library ruddy and cheerful-- and all with heavily bandaged left hands. "We'll have a bit of a time accompanying ourselves tonight--we all got caught in the same swinging door," the leader explained as the audience roared with laughter. "However, our brave Irish voices will more than make up for our wee difficulty--a one-handed Irishman is as good as a three-handed Englishman, after all."

"Okay, Sherlock," Bill said to Sara after exchanging an exasperated glance with Patner. "Which one do you think it is? And if you don't know, how do you propose we find out?"

"Simple," said Sara. "Fingerprint them all."

"Sherlock, you're usually a good listener. I told you, we don't have O'Mara's prints -- what would we compare them with?"

"Nothing," said Sara. "Now you listen." And, very quietly, she explained how fingerprinting the Galway Guitars would trap the elusive Wishy O'Mara.

Two hours later, O'Mara was behind bars waiting for a deportation order. The other Guitars, blustering and ranting, but basically resigned at the thought of the thousands of dollars waiting for them, were on their way to New York with eight unbandaged hands.

What did Sara tell Bill?

(I hope they aren't all this easy. I seem to recall them being harder when I did them years ago, but either they get harder as they go, or the other book of them - which I can't find - were harder.)

Sara told Bill that all of the guitars would have caluses on their fingertips except for the fake Guitar.

Hm...

They look for the fingerprints left by the Guitars and the one not appearing is the one of Wishy, since his finger prints will not appear on any instrument.

Yup to J.

No to Unky.

Now what is caluses :confused:

Google, now, where are you...

EDIT:

Okay, my guess seemed okay to me because Wishy never left fingerprints... so the others should leave fingerprints. Taking all their fingerprints, the ones of wishy won't appear and hence, he'll be the culprit.

But caluses would settle it definitely.

Calluses are thickened layers of skin caused by repeated pressure or friction.

Thanks, I looked it up and saw it. I play the guitar, but apparently, not often enough to get caluses :p

Okay, my guess seemed okay to me because Wishy never left fingerprints...

Wishy doesn't have to play the guitar to leave fingerprints. All he has to do is carry it or touch it just once and voilà! Fingerprints!

so there are no fingerprints

I think I misunderstood this part and threw me off the line :o

I guess J beat me to explaining that. Yes, there would be his on the guitar. It was the police which had no record of his fingerprints.

And I play a bit of guitar too, and used to play enough to get calluses - bad ones in fact. Even when I don't play a lot, I still get a little bit of a slight thickness. (Since I've had the calluses, I had this figured out before I even finished typing it.)

4. The Picasso Thief

"Help! Help! Stop, thief! I've been robbed!"

Sara Hull dropped the dinner roll she was eating and rushed into the hall outside her apartment. Other doors opened, and neighbors came out to see Miss Nella Parsony rushing up and down the corridor, shouting and wringing her hands. Miss Parsony's graying hair was damp, and her bare ankles showed under a blue terry cloth bathrobe that showed damp stains. Sara ran to her.

"Please! Tell us what happened, Miss Parsony."

"Oh, it was horrible -- that dreadful face! He took my Picasso -- maybe other things, I haven't had time to check!" The neighbors gasped. :eek: Miss Parsony had invested a fortune in her art collection. "Oh, if only I hadn't left my bedroom window open. I never do, but this time -- oh, his face! I was in the bathroom taking a hot shower -- that's why I didn't hear him -- had the door shut and the window too. I turned off the shower and stepped out and had just put on my robe -- this one. I was standing at the basin, just about to brush my teeth, when the door was flung open and there he was! I was too terrified to turn around but I saw his face in the mirror! A big, red, crude face, and he grinned -- he only had a few teeth, an awful smile -- I thought he was going to kill me! And then he laughed and slammed the door so hard I couldn't get it open for a minute or two. When I got out I looked at the wall and my Picasso was gone. Oh, I'll have to see what else he took, I suppose -- oh, somebody call the police." She collapsed hysterically in a heap on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the next floor.

"Sara, hadn't you better call your friend, that detective?" Mr. Smith looked concerned. "Maybe if we act right away, they could catch this man."

"Miss Parsony, come into my apartment, and we'll see what we can do," Sara said, taking the crying woman by the arm and steering her through the door. Inside, she pushed Miss Parsony into a chair. "Now, pull yourself together and tell me something. If you needed money, couldn't you have sold the painting? Or did you and your accomplice plan to do that, too, after you collected the insurance money?"

Why didn't Sara believe Miss Parsony?

(Are these getting too easy?)

This was a good one... took me a minute, hopefully I got it.

Sara didn't believe Mrs. Parsony because Mrs. Parsony's apartment was not on the first floor.

I thnk she didn't believe her because:

With the door and window shut in the bathroom, the mirror would have been covered in steam. I don't think she would have been able to see a face.

Sorry but I have to ask, how do you do white writing and how does the person who made the puzzle read it to know it's correct? - that's driving me more barmy than the actual games.

Edit - Oh I worked it out lol.

J - nope. :p

J-Lo - yup.

QLP - Been a while. What happened to you over on our other puzzles? (We could use another participant.)

It's Encyclopedia Brown puzzles! I LOVE these!

Encyclopedia Brown?

Well, if you love 'em, I've got plenty more. Although I should find some online so I can paste them instead of typing them.

Yes, I skipped 5. But it was so easy a baboon could've solved it. Now this one, I am ashamed to say, took me way longer than it should have.

6. Sherlock Holmes Reincarnated?

"I'll miss you, Owen," Sara said as she handed her young assistant his final paycheck. "And I'm sorry you're not going on to college. But I guess finding yourself is important too. Maybe later."

"Oh, I'm not dropping out to find myself," Owen laughed. "I've already found myself. That's the reason I'm getting a full-time job-- so I can pay for classes with Gandalfa at night until I uncover all the knowledge inside me. You see, Gandalfa has the gift of telling you who you were in a past life. He can do that right away, just by watching you for half an hour or so. But after that he knows how to guide you to all the hidden talent and know-how, and, well, like everything that maybe made you a big wheel in some other time. I guess I shouldn't tell you, but I was Henry Ford. And I still really know how to invent stuff, and make money, and all. I just have to be able to get in touch with it. After I've gone to Gandalfa for a while, it'll only be a couple of years before I'm just as rich and important as I was before!"

"Oh, no, Owen," Sara protested. "Even if you could find out for sure who you were in a previous incarnation, the knowledge wouldn't be given to you to make you rich and famous. It would be given to help you grow spiritually -- everything I've ever studied about rebirth teaches that, Owen, this Gandalfa--"

"He knows his stuff, Miss Hull! He did it with you! He didn't know anything about you at all-- nothing about how you can solve mysteries and all. And he came into the library one day and sat over there and watched you. And he knew right away. He said, "That woman is the reincarnation of the great detective Sherlock Holmes.' See? How could he come up with that? That's why you're so good at figuring things out. You did it before. You were the greatest!"

Sara looked amazed. "Owen," she said. "Don't you realize you've just proved the Gandalfa is nothing but a money-hungry fake? I don't know who I may have been in an earlier life-- but I know it wasn't Sherlock Holmes!"

Could Sara really know?

Well...

Sherlock Holmes never really existed. He's only a fiction character, right?

Right you are, Unky. And it went right over my head the first time. LOL. :o

Yes, I had some doubt, then I remembered the cartoons about it, plus the recent film about it. If that was really like this... :eek:

He's good at his work yes, but... :eek:

Cartoons? They made a cartoon out of Sherlock Holmes? That just seems... sacrilege or something. :)

It's a Wiki link, but it gives a good enough description of the Encyclopedia Brown books

Encyclopedia Brown - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_Brown)

Ah, actually my other book of these that I can't find is the Two-Minute Mysteries, I assume by that same guy. (I think they are probably a bit better, if memory serves.)

Seem to be permanently busy atm. Keep popping on for a quick nosey but not enough to get my teeth into anything. Enjoying following your little myseries though.

7. Betty's Cousin

"What, taking out books on American history? And on Saturday morning? I thought Central High's most famous actress would sleep till noon on weekends!"

"Betty Goldstein laughed at Sara Hull's teasing.

"They're not for me, they're for my cousin Esther. Maybe you read the story about her in the paper--she's from Israel, spending the summer here. I dropped by to see her this morning, and she was saying she wanted to know all about America, so I thought I'd take these books over to her tomorrow."

"She's not staying with your family?"

"Oh, no. She was supposed to, and then she found out that we weren't Orthodox Jews. She's very strict and religious, and she moved to a rooming house where they serve kosher meals and all that."

Betty turned to leave, almost colliding at the library door with a slim, sandy-haired young man who stopped and called her by name. In the library quiet, Sara could pick up most of what he said.

"Your cousin Esther... she said you might be here... walking on the street, mugger grabbed her purse, knocked her down... I live near there... all upset... I'll drive you over if you like... "

"Yes, of course... "

Sara's voice was sharp as she called, "Betty, come over here! You didn't fill out these request slips properly -- come back and do it right!"

Startled, with a "Be right back" to the young man, Betty ran to the far end of the long, hollow-oval library desk, where Sara was waving a blank request slip. "Miss Hull, I don't understand. I've got to go to my cousin-- she's been hurt--"

"Betty," Sara said, "nothing has happened to your cousin. That young man is lying. Now, you're an actress-- start a loud argument with me over these request slips to drown me out while I call the police."

Later, Bill Tawson patted Sara's shoulder admiringly.

"Sherlock," he said, "I say it again. I wish I had you on my detective squad. You probably saved that girl's life. That guy is wanted for questioning in three rape-murder cases-- got pretty girls like Betty to get in his car on some pretext and then-- but there's one thing I don't understand. Why were you so positive Esther Goldstein hadn't been mugged?"

What was Sara's answer?

Because Esther is strict Orthodox and their religious day begins at sundown on Friday and ends at Sundown on Saturday. So, Esther wouldn't be walking the streets on Saturday.

That's the same guess I made and it isn't correct. Right idea...

Well, I wouldn't have got that answer because I don't know their culture, but I am thinking about those lines:

Esther wanted to know more about America and Betty never told her that she was getting books for her to read (not that is mentioned). However, the man claimed that Esther knew where Betty was, that is in the library.

If that doesn't work, maybe it's about the culture... which I'll need to Google to find out more about it.

Because Esther was an Orthodox Jew, and there are prohibitions about being able to CARRY things on the Sabbath, because it's seen as "work", and no work can be done on the Sabbath. Not sure if purses fall under that heading, but I think that pushing a stroller counts, so I'm guessing that purses do too. So if Esther had been out walking, she would not have been carrying anything.

Unky, that's a good thought, but it does say:
"Your cousin Esther ... she said you might be here..."
Not to mention that in wanting to cause Betty harm, he still had to have some legitimate way of knowing who Esther was, which obviously he found out by some means or other.

Synn, you're close.

It's about the purse, but not for that reason. (Theoretically, I don't know that there's anything wrong with carrying the purse itself, but something more to it.)

Cool, we finally have one that is stumping everyone. :p

Here is the answer for those who want to peak:

I had to look this up myself, cause I wondered if walking was considered "work." They are permitted to walk but only within a limited distance and we do not know the distance. It's about the purse. I don't know if the purse itself is allowed - I've not found anything saying a purse in and of itself is a problem - but it's about money. They aren't supposed to be carrying money, buying things, conducting business, etc. It appears to be based on the assumption that a purse would have certain prohibited items in it, like money. This is, in fact, one of the reasons they aren't allowed to drive - cause they'd have to have the purse/wallet for license, money, buy gas, etc.
That's what I read anyway. Someone can correct that if they find otherwise.

Does the book provides this solution?

The book didn't say much - the basic solution is there yes, but not the details. (My guess was about the walking, but no. I know the basics behind the Sabboth and even the strictness of the Orthodox Jewish religion. I just didn't know if walking was considered "work" but apparently not.) All the details I found in research cause I wanted the why's behind the answer and not just an answer.

Why, did you find something different?

No, it's just that this culture is strange XD

I would never have guessed the answer.

Orthodox Jew is pretty strict. They take the Sabboth pretty darn seriously, and food as well. I understand the whole clean/unclean food thing from the Old Testament but not sure where the kosher food idea comes from. And turning on a light switch being considered "work" is a little outlandish to me, but...

In the U.S. we're used to the religion - it's just not that "odd" to me, but I've grown up with its existence around me. Not to mention that it's the forerunner of Christianity. However, I don't know any Jews that are Orthodox, or even that Conservative. At least, not around my neck of the woods.

So the answer is that the guy trying to lure her away may have stolen the purse, but it wasn't stolen THAT day, because her cousin wouldn't have been carrying money or anything. Instead, what he probably found was a letter or note from her to her cousin that got her information and where she'd be, and so on.

Right?

You were much closer the first time, very close. :) You tried to change your basic premise. I'm not sure if anyone else is still trying to solve this, so I'll just say SPOILER... and anyone who wants can stop reading.

You were right that she didn't have a purse, but the answer does not give any detail about it, nor does it give any information about how the guy got information about her. It says about nothing really. So as I told Unky, I researched it, and I simply didn't find anything about carrying a purse as being "work," so the "why" part of your answer doesn't seem to fit. You were otherwise right.

If you want the "why" I found looking it up, that's up in post #41.

I must say this does have me curious, just because I happen to be a very curious person. I might have to look into this more.

I'm still confused on the answer, I guess. Is the answer you gave in #41 the answer to the puzzle? Or just the answer to the Sabbath rules for orthodox Jews?

Maybe I need more coffee.

I didn't mean for it to get this confusing. :o The answer in the book merely mentions the purse itself, and nothing about WHY she wouldn't have a purse, nor anything about how the guy got info about her or any of that. Merely said she wouldn't have the purse.

I took it upon myself to research what the rule was behind that. It didn't make much sense to me to tell us she wouldn't have a purse and not explain the rules behind it. I found their answer lacking. So I tried to research it. And that's what's in #41.

You went off on a completely different direction, so I'm wondering if you didn't see my answer in the white print where I said the purse was right, but that I didn't think it was the correct reasoning??

I think I just misread.

I thought #41 was part of a discussion as to why she wouldn't have a purse, so I thought I must have missed something entirely.

I really did need more coffee :)

Lack of coffee is always a good excuse for everything. :) (Though I don't drink it - at least not much and not caffeinated - so I can't use that excuse. Only lack of sleep.)

I'm juggling too many things right now. Work is hectic, gramma is very ill, and I'm in school too--I spent most of my weekend skipping sleep to be on the phone with family or doing homework.

So... yeah. I still need coffee.

Yeah, I'm rather juggling too much as well - it's not fun. This place has been my one diversion.

And I can't do coffee cause it does weird things to me, and I don't just mean giving me the jitters - just seriously weird things that are not good. So if I'm half asleep, too bad.

8. Winnie-the-Pooh, Skyjacker

Stewardesses moved up and down the narrow aisles of the jetliner, collecting the last of the dinner trays. Sara Hull leaned back in her seat, hoping to nap a little before the plane landed in another hour. She was hardly aware of the tall, dark-haired man who stood up, pushed his way past the nearest stewardess, and held up two stuffed Winnie-the-Pooh bears.

"Your attention, ladies and gentlemen," he said, smiling triumphantly. "As those nearest to me can see, each of these little Pooh bears has been cut open and sewn up again. In one there is only what all true and authentic Pooh bears should contain-- a candy heart that reads 'I love you.' Remember that from your childhood? But in the other, there is also a little device I have placed, a little device that the unscientific among you would probably call a bomb. It is very sensitive. If I drop it at just a certain angle, an angle that I know very well, it will go off and all of us will go to our reward. However, if you prefer, only I will receive a reward. Young lady--" he half turned to the stewardess "--please go into the pilot's cabin and tell the captain what I have just told all these good people. Tell him I want the plane to put down in London, where I will be provided with a parachute and three hundred thousand dollars in cash--unmarked, of course. I'm not greedy. I could ask for more, couldn't I? When I have my supplies, the passengers can leave the plane. The pilot and one of you pretty stewardesses will stay with me until we find a suitable spot over Italy, where I will leave you -- after setting Winnie-the-Pooh down very, very carefully. And tell that husky young copilot not to try to jump me from behind -- Pooh Bear will drop at the touch of a hat, to coin a phrase. Go on, now, dear. And you--" he beckoned to another stewardess "--come up and stand close to me while your friend is gone."

The second stewardess moved forward. As she passed Sara Hull's seat, the librarian pulled at her sleeve.

"It's a hoax," she told the girl in a low tone. "Tell the captain this as soon as you can-- it's his decision, but I'm sure there's no bomb in that Pooh Bear." She continued whispering in the stewardess's ear.

The stewardess didn't get a chance to tell the captain until the plane had put down in London and the passengers were allowed to file off, while the skyjacker, bear still in hand, counted green bills in a suitcase with the other hand. But then the captain took his chance. He grabbed the bear from the skyjacker's hand and hurled it through the open door of the aircraft, into an area the police had cleared of people. It bounced harmlessly on the ground, as Scotland Yard men closed in.

Sara Hull stood in the airport lounge as the plane's crew appeared, and the captain kissed her in front of a TV camera and the world. "I wouldn't have had the nerve," he said, "if what you told the stewardess hadn't made me remember my little sister."

Well, I'm not sure... but that's my 2 cents.

He was talking too much about " If I drop it at just a certain angle, an angle that I know very well, it will go off and all of us will go to our reward" and later said that "Pooh Bear will drop at the touch of a hat, to coin a phrase" those two are contradictory.

I don't think that the little sister of the captain has something to do with it unless Sara knew the captain.

This one might be a culture thing, I don't know:

The sister relates indirectly, just because the captain knew of her toys. How familiar are you with Winnie the Pooh?

And the real truth is that a female would also be more likely to know this one. And hate to say it, but you also might be too young. (The book is from 1973, and some of the puzzles require knowledge that us old folks know. Will someone please tell me how I started getting so old?)

Ah... I might try something else then. If you say that this might be a culture problem, then I think I know what it could be about.

And... what did you mean by 'T'? It doesn't fit to a 'T'? :confused:

The Pooh bear never contains any 'candy heart that reads 'I love you.'. As such, the man couldn't have opened any plushie and inserted a bomb there. Though I find it strange that he would open up both and put a bomb in one of them, and mend them back, meaning he did nothing to the one without bomb...

The T was part of a word - that was white stuff and I missed a letter. And I don't know that this is "cultural." There are some things I know and some things I don't - just like I didn't know horseshoes was mostly a U.S. game. :p

Anyway, as to your answer:

You know a bit about Pooh bears, do ya? :) You're correct there was no heart in them. Those were in Raggedy Ann dolls. I had one of those when I was a kid but I don't think they're around anymore (and probably worth a lot). So ... there was no bomb. If he'd opened one to put a bomb in, he'd know there wasn't any candy heart, so he didn't open it.

Again, the puzzle doesn't say this (these answers are usually pretty short), but I'd speculate that he simply cut a slit into them and sewed them back up to look like he'd actually cut them open, or he simply put sewing on it so that it looked like they'd been stitched back up. But he was bluffing. It doesn't say why he had two bears, but my guess is that no one would know which had the "bomb" and if they made a grab for one, they'd take the chance of grabbing the wrong one and he could still set off the bomb with the other. Seems reasonable.

Obviously the pilot wasn't totally sure, cause he still thew it off to a safe place in case it went off.

Lol it's only now that I see your spolier :p

No, I don't know about it, but something compelled me that it was it. I never even imagined that plushies could have food in them, lol. I know that for some occasions, people would stuff some hanging thing with candy and one child would try to hit it open to get the candies. But apart from that, nothing.

That's a piñata.
Piñata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1ata)

Ooh! Right! :p

Bah, missed this one. I didn't remember the Raggedy Ann thing, but I was really puzzled by the phrase relating to Pooh--I couldn't figure out what he was talking about!

I didn't remember the Raggedy Ann thing either, even though I had one. (And a Raggedy Andy.) I did know that no such thing existed in a Pooh though. After all, he's only "stuffed with fluff." :)

And personally, I don't think they're that well written. I need to find my 2-minute mystery book - I seem to recall those were better.

Ya know, I wonder whatever happened to my trolls. Had a whole collection and a little house for them and everything. I don't recall getting rid of that stuff - I can only imagine my mom must've dumped all my old toys. And the wood Lincoln logs as well.

I bought a box of wooden Lincoln logs this summer--for $5.

It doesn't have any of the plastic roof pieces or any of the short pieces, but still! It's a whole box of wooden Lincoln logs!

For $5?? Wow. The last I looked those were hard to find and expensive.

Garage sales are your friend :)

9. The Confession of Barrymore Yorick

"Sara Hull, I have a confession to make -- to the press." Barrymore Yorick's white head was held high. "This morning's paper says that Edmond Edgerton is near death at the Old Actors' Home. Before he dies, I must clear his name -- and only I can do so."

Sara looked puzzled. "Edmond Edgerton -- the silent film star?" she said. "He was accused of murdering his wife, wasn't he? But he was acquitted, as I remember. I don't understand."

"How could you?" Yorick made a dramatic gesture. "Let me speak. Then you will understand. And, I trust, help me to purge my conscience.

"In 1920 Babette Lamere was the most beautiful and adored actress of the silver screen. Edward Edgerton was her husband, her great romance--but not her equal in fame. One dawn, after a night of partying alone, Edgerton returned to the London hotel suite he shared with his wife, and found her -- he said -- strangled with a scarf. No one had seen an intruder. There was no sign of robbery or forced entry. Edgerton himself was accused and tried. Professional jealousy, the prosecutor cried. But evidence was too slight. He was acquitted, as you say. But not by the public who had loved Babette. His career waned, and now he is dying, old, poor, still in the shadow of doubt and disgrace.

"I could lift it. I could, perhaps, have saved him from it. You see, in 1920 -- more than fifty years ago -- I was an aspiring but impoverished young actor in London. On the afternoon of the murder I was walking in a little park near the Edgertons' hotel, looking up at the windows, wishing I might meet them in the flesh -- I had seen them only on the screen. Suddenly, from an isolated bench, I heard a woman's voice -- a voice I knew, the unmistakable, gentle, lisping, innocent voice of a thousand roles -- the famous voice of Babette Lamere. And it was pleading, 'No, no, spare my marriage, my dearest husband -- spare my career. I will pay you what you ask.' A course, rough, unfamiliar male voice replied, 'That's sensible of you. I'll come to your hotel room tonight at about eleven. Get rid of Eddie -- tell him you've got a headache -- he can go out alone. And remember -- if you don't fork over the full amount, I go to the papers with a bit of information, and the proof I won't give you without the money.'

"Miss Hull, I was thunderstruck. But what could I do? I watched the blackmailer leave the park from one direction, the lovely girl of my dreams walk slowly away in the other. That night I guess she thought better of buying whatever vileness he had to sell, and, in a rage, he strangled her. At least I could have told Scotland Yard that she was expecting someone that night so that suspicion would not have fallen upon poor Edgerton alone. But I was afraid for my own safety, if the evil blackmailer knew of my presence in the park. I remained silent. But now, long overdue though it is --"

"My Yorick, please," Sara Hull interrupted. "I know you'd like some publicity -- it might help get you a character part or two, or you might even be paid for this story now that film libraries are showing Babette Lamere films again. But your memory can't be as good as it was when you played Iago. You've forgotten something -- your story can't be true."

What did Yorick forget?