Back to Stupid Criminals 5 ~ Mystery Question

Patricia Bradley Mystery Question 48 Comments

Back to Stupid Criminals 5 is this week’s Mystery Question. I can’t believe how stupid some of these criminals are! But first the photo and verse.

The rose bush was planted back in 1975, and it’s still blooming! I love the color–it starts out kind of pinkish, then turns this beautiful color of yellow. And I thought this verse in Isaiah was a good one for the photo.

Now on to last week’s Mystery Question. Four stories, three are true, one is false. Can you spot the false one?
    1. Thieves stole $98,000 worth of ramen noodles from a trailer park which brings a couple of questions to mind. Why was there $98,000 dollars worth of the noodles in a trailer park? And just plain, why?
    2. A man caught his cousin stealing a bottle of Lysol and some soap, but when he saw that he’d stolen his cheese grater, he called the cops.
    3. It was Black Friday and only one parking spot was available. Just before the driver who had arrived first pulled into the spot, a small BMW sports car whipped into the space. Instead of exchanging angry words, the driver who had his spot stolen waited until the other driver went into the mall. Then he hooked a chain to the bumper of the BMW and attached it to a concrete piling.  Unfortunately, video was grainy and could not identify him.
    4. While an elderly man waited patiently in line for a free cheese sample in a grocery store, another man swaggered up and snatched his sample. When he did it a second time at another kiosk, the elderly man had had enough. Instead of brushing it off, angry words were exchanged and soon fists were thrown and the cops were called.

And the answer is…believe it or not, #1 is true! I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would steal that many ramen noodles! My apologies, the noodles were stolen from a trailer parked at a Georgia convenience store–not from a trailer park! The one I made up is #3.

Now onto this week’s Mystery Question. Three of the following insurance scams really happened. One didn’t. I made it up. Can you guess which one?
  1. A man planned to fake his funeral and collect the $500,000 dollars. He involved his wife and a friend, but at the last minute, the wife and friend actually killed her husband and set it up to look like an accident. The insurance company paid off, but an insurance investigator smelled a mouse and dug into the case. The victim had bragged about scamming the insurance company to a drinking buddy and eventually the wife was arrested.
  2. This rock band wasn’t particularly successful but its members, unlike most starving musicians, weren’t prepared to suffer for their art. Instead for quick money, they decided to stage a car accident and deliberately inflicted vehicle damage in an underground garage, then they told a tale of pain and suffering that started the claim money rolling in. to the tune of more than $150,000. Then, their music career took a sudden upward turn when they scored a great gig. And therein lay the problem. Some of their claims coincided with their music gigs where they were jumping up and down on stage.
  3. Maybe Joe (not his real name) was jealous of the checks his friend was receiving or maybe he simply saw an opportunity. Either way, his scheme was inspired by his friend’s car accident and the prospect of a claims payout for himself as well. Joe declared that he, too, had been in the car, filed a claim and began receiving checks. It all seemed to be going well until the driver of the other car involved in the collision pointed out to investigators that no one matching Joe’s description was in the friend’s car.
  4. An adjuster interviewed a man at his house on a routine stolen boat claim. The insured said his 21-foot vessel was stolen from his locked garage. It didn’t take a high-tech tool to discover this fraud with just a measuring tape: The garage was only 18 feet long.
Okay, Mystery Sleuths, which claim did I make up? Leave your answer in the comments, and I’ll enter you in a drawing for something…

Now for this week’s Blast from the Past. I’m featuring Justice Delivered, the fourth book in the Memphis Cold Case Series. Here’s the cover and back copy:

Carly Smith came by her trust issues honestly. A victim of sex trafficking, she’s been at the mercy of merciless men, ignored by law enforcement officers who should have helped her, and seemingly rejected by her family. She can’t even trust herself to do the right thing. Though she escaped her captors and is working hard on building a new life, the past continues to haunt her when she discovers that the man she couldn’t bring herself to report to police for fear of reliving her captivity is still out there, luring vulnerable girls under the guise of being a modeling agent.

When her own niece is kidnapped, Carly must overcome her fears and come forward with the information she has before it’s too late. When that proves to be not enough, she’ll have to go after the perpetrators herself.

I wrote Justice Delivered after a presentation about human trafficking at our church. Before that, I had no idea of how bad it was. In the book, I deal with the emotional impact on survivors. You can find out more about Justice Delivered here.

Now for today’s song. This is one of my favorite Vince Gill songs.

 

 

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Comments 48

  1. Emily Cheang

    Love the picture and the verse – they are the perfect match!
    Ohh… I think you made up Mystery Question #3.
    The song is so soothing and comforting.
    Thank you. Have a wonderful week ahead.

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  5. Tim Johnson

    Beautiful roses! Some 26 years ago, we planted a few rose bushes around our new house in Tucson. The desert is still rejoicing over two of them. I think this is the first time I’ve heard this song. Thank you!

    Oh, those crazy criminals…
    #1: I think there’s more than a mouse that smells here.
    #2: Amazing how success heals.
    #3: Dumb and dumber.
    #4: Yeah, 21 into 18 won’t go.
    Pat, you have completely stumped me this week. I’m leaning on the side of smart insurance investigators, and saying you made up #4. Why lie about where the boat was parked when stolen?

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      Patricia Bradley

      Tim, I didn’t plant these roses…if I had they certainly wouldn’t still be here. I have a black thumb when it comes to plants. I kill everything…a friend sent me a gorgeous orchid…and it’s only still pretty because it’s artificial. 🙂 We’ll see next week if it’s #4…

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  7. Delores Topliff

    I wouldn’t stake my life on it, but I think you made up #1 this week. Keep up the great crimes and songs!

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  8. jenningsask

    Love the roses. I have better luck with desert roses in Florida. I am going with number 4 they were all believable this week.

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  10. Barbara Diggs

    They ARE pretty roses! I’m going with #3. There really are some stupid criminals out there. I had to shake my head at #4. But still going with #3 lol

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  12. Edward Arrington

    Beautiful roses. My wife and I both love that color. When we finish all the work on our house, I need to find a good spot and plant one for her.

    Our pastor is also a funeral director also. I think he or his wife said that song is one of the most requested songs for funerals. I told them that I forbid anyone from playing it at my funeral. Think about it. Resting high on a mountain may sound pretty good to someone who has no relationship with Christ. However, for the Christian, I believe there is so much more to Heaven than resting on a mountain.

    The first one is the only one that sounds like it could actually be true. It seems to me that the rest are lacking so many details. Wouldn’t a person have to have their boat insured to file a claim? No insurance, no claim. For the other two, it seems they would need all kinds of medical forms filed, etc., to be able to start a claim. If you “insist” that only one is made up, I’ll choose #1 just for kicks and giggles. 🙂

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  16. Mary G

    Beautiful roses and perfect verse! Pat, you always find the perfect verse to go with the pictures. I am familiar with Vince Gill’s song but had never seen this particular video. Thanks for sharing. I really enjoy your segment, Blast from the Past.
    It’s hard to believe any of these are true but you do call them stupid criminals. Lol
    #2

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  18. frazierhlhs

    I am guessing #3 this week.
    Love the roses in the photo and the verse.
    Thank you for the song. Today would have been my little brother’s 66th birthday. He left us 4 1/2 years ago.

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  21. Becky

    The roses are beautiful and don’t look bad for being planted 51 years ago! Great song! I’m guessing #1, only because who “smelled a mouse”! We usually say “smelled a rat”.

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  23. Dottie

    Hello Patricia! You picked one of my absolutely favorite songs this week, and no one does it like Vince Gill can. I’m going with #4, but they’re all stumpers!

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