It’s been an interesting week getting back into my house. But I am really enjoying having order around me. Have you ever noticed how great that is? Now to just keep it that way. 🙂
Now for last week’s crime: Three of the following reports from the police blotter are true. One is not. Can you guess which one I made up?
- A woman reported her ex-boyfriend showed up uninvited at her house, demanding she open the door. When she refused, he told her if she didn’t open the door, he’d take it off the hinges. When she heard a drill at the back door, she called 911.
- A woman reported a man she didn’t know knocked on her front door. When she refused to answer, he went up the road and pulled over. That’s when she called the police. The deputy discovered he was having car trouble.
- A woman reported she was backing out of her driveway and a woman was standing in the road and would not move. The woman started banging on the window and accusing the driver of stealing her car. Startled, the driver looked down and saw a purse that didn’t belong to her. She’d accidentally gotten into the wrong car.
- A woman pressed charges on her 45-year-old mother for stealing her car. When the mother came home, the got into an altercation and the police were called.
And the answer is…#3! I should have said she was backing out of her apartment complex! Congrats to all who got it right. But can you believe #1 is true???
Now for this week’s Mystery Question: Today I have a crime for you to solve. A seventy-one-year-old man, well-liked by all, was found dead a block from his gated community–just out of camera range. He’d been shot once in the chest. He seemed to have no enemies, and in fact, it had been said of him that “He woke up each morning with a smile on his face and was adored by all.”
There were few clues by the body. No weapon, no shell casing, no signs of struggle, no dirt on the soles of his sneakers. With little to go on, the police unlocked his phone which revealed he’d purchased a weather balloon six weeks prior to his death. His Google Maps history showed he’d visited an industrial supply company two days before his death and police obtained a receipt for a helium tank made out to the man. So what happened? This week the Mystery Question is a little different. Three of the answers are false; one is true. Can you pick the true answer?
- The man, an avid weather spotter, had met a woman at a local weather spotter class and they had been having an affair. Her husband discovered the infidelity and used the victim’s set routine of walking each morning in the early hours to track him down and kill him.
- The man had another identity – ten years earlier, he’d relocated from Chicago to the small town where he was killed after embezzling half a million dollars from an unsavory character. He made a huge mistake joining a storm spotter group who made national television when they were interviewed after a tornado. The man he embezzled the money from happened to see the interview and it led him to the victim. Surveillance cameras caught the killer as he made his getaway.
- The man had gone out in the early morning to release the weather balloon and happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was hit by a stray bullet from a drunk customer at a nearby club.
- The man wasn’t murdered but committed suicide by tying a gun to the weather balloon so that it would carry the gun away from the scene after he shot himself.
Okay, Super Sleuths, which one is it? Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library!
And the winner of the July drawing is…Dianne Nickerson!
[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none”]Was the man’s death murder, suicide or an accident? Can you guess the answer?[/tweet_box]
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Comments 53
#4
Author
We’ll see Mindy, we’ll see. Thanks for stopping by.
I don’t know if number 4 is right or wrong, but that’s the one I’m choosing because it’s so darn clever!
Author
Hmmm… 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Priscilla!
#4 is interesting and #1 and #2 are plausible, but I’ll go with #3 for no particular reason.
Author
Love your reasoning, Christine. 😉 Thanks for stopping by.
Going with #3
Author
We’ll see Linda, we’ll see. Thanks for stopping by.
I am thrilled to have been chosen! Thank you!!
These all seem plausible, but I am going to go with #4; it seems to really fit with the facts presented.
Author
Love to see your reasoning, Diane. Will be contacting you for your book choice directly. Thanks for stopping by.
You are an absolute master at these. I enjoy them immensely and think you should collect these for a published book–seriously! Your answers are stretching my brain cells delightfully and though logic tells me you wouldn’t choose a #3 answer two weeks in a row, that’s the one that seems the most (crazily) plausible to me. Thanks for doing these!
Author
So glad I’m stretching your brain cells, Delores! So glad you find these hard, too. Thanks for stopping by.
You do a great job w/ these and seriously should consider collecting them for a published book. This week’s are exercising my brain cells admirably. Logic tells me you would not have a #3 answer two weeks in a row, but that choice of the four great options seems the most plausible to me, so #3 it is. Thanks for these, they’re great!
I choose #2 because different identities are so interesting. So I think he was murdered.
Author
Ah, love your reasoning, Vickie! We’ll see next week…Thanks for stopping by.
I choose #3, but #2 would make a great mystery story.
Author
Thanks, Suzanne! I may use it someday. Thanks for stopping by.
#4
Author
I see a trend, Hannah! We’ll see if it’s correct next week. Thanks for stopping by.
I am going with #3 this week.
Author
Hi Gloria! We’ll see next week if #3 is the correct answer. Thanks for stopping by.
I’m going with #4, but #2 intrigued me!! All of them are interesting!
Author
Can I see your writer brain working, Regina? We’ll see next week… Thanks for stopping by!
I’ll go with 3.
Author
We’ll see, Jackie…check back next week! Thanks for stopping by!
#4
Author
We’ll see, Stacie! Check back next week. Thanks for dropping by.
#4..pretty sure I saw this on an episode of CSI or something! LOL
Author
Kiki, a similar storyline was on CSI several years ago! Good memory. We’ll see if it is #4 next week. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
I think #1 is true. My mind is foggy today so I just picked one.
Author
And I thought I was the only one who got a foggy brain, Edward! So glad to know I’m among friends. 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
#3 seems more plausible to me.
Author
We’ll see, Stella. It’s hard because sometimes truth is stranger than fiction! Thanks for stopping by!
I can see #4 is a clever way to escape most of the details, but if a gun is fired, doesn’t a shell or casing get ejected? Yet none was found around the body. I’ll stick to that number though. This is a very fun game.
Author
I’m glad you are enjoying it, Kathy! If he used a revolver, it would not eject the casing…We’ll see next week what the correct answer is! Thanks for stopping by!
I’ll say #2 but only because it’s the longest explanation.
Author
I love your reasoning, Paula! We’ll see next week if it’s correct. 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
♀️ #4
Author
Number 4 is getting a lot of traffic, Suzanne! We’ll see who’s correct next week. Thanks for dropping by and commenting!
I’m guessing #2 is true.
Author
We’ll see, Caryl! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
No dirt on his sneakers, so I don’t think he walked every day. No shell casing was found, so it couldn’t have been a suicide. He was just out of camera range, so surveillance cameras did not catch the killer making a getaway. That leaves #3 as my guess.
Author
Wow, Jeanna, love your deductions…we’ll see next Tuesday if they are correct! 😉 Thanks for stopping by.
My guess is #3
Author
Hi Patricia! And we’ll see next week if you are correct… 😉 Thanks for stopping by.
Number 4. He did it that way for insurance purposes. His great-grandson is going through terrible times and though he has finally straightened out his life, he still has to face the consequences. The double indemnity on his life insurance will help the kid get a new start.
Author
Wow, Sandra! Are you guessing? We’ll see the correct answer Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!
my guess is #4 🙂
Author
Number 4 seems to be a favorite, Carrie! Thanks for stopping by.
number 2, bc the man was murdered…he had lost his sense of fear as so many years had past that as he got older and relaxed thinking his deeds were forgotten…..making him careless and vulnerable…the unsavory character probably older as well, and on his death bad asked for vendetta …..
Author
Great reasoning, Tina. We’ll see tomorrow if that is correct! Thanks for stopping by.
I’m terribly behind on your blog Patricia, yikes! I guess I’ve had my nose glued to some good books this last week 🙂
Total guess here on the mystery question, but I’ll do the old eenie meenie and say #1 (just because, lol). And yes, like you, I love order…it’s so much more calming than chaos!
Author
I’ve had my nose glued to my edits, Trixi, so I know how you feel! lol. Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow for a new Mystery Question!