[morgaine300]

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.

[morgaine300]

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?

[morgaine300]

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?

[Just Looking]

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.

[Unknown008]

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.

[morgaine300]

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.

[Unknown008]

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

[Just Looking]

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. :)

[morgaine300]

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.)

[J_9]

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

[Unknown008]

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.

[morgaine300]

Yup to J.

No to Unky.

[Unknown008]

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.

[J_9]

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

[Unknown008]

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

[J_9]

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!

[Unknown008]

so there are no fingerprints

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

[morgaine300]

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.)

[morgaine300]

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?)

[J_9]

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.