Hi everyone! Well, it looks like I have a lot more work to do than I expected on my next book. So….I’ve essentially started over with revisions and racing to beat the clock. 🙂 So, if I don’t answer comments right away, you’ll know why, but I will set aside time to answer all comments at least once a day! Now onto last week’s Mystery Question:
Here are four facts…three are true, one is false. Can you guess which one?
- A New Orleans hotel offered a $15,000 stay to whoever stole the “most outrageous” item from them.
- A meteor hit our atmosphere a couple of years ago, and exploded with a force that was 10 times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, but it went unnoticed until after the fact.
- The tallest dog was an Irish Wolfhound that was 4′ tall and comes in at over 7′ when he stood on his hind legs.
- A woman who lost her wedding ring found it 16 years later on a carrot in her garden.
And the answer is…#3. The Irish Wolfhound is a tall dog, but the record goes to a Great Dame named Zeus! Here’s the link to a story about him. Oh, and #2–there was a catch to the hotel’s offer–you had to give back the item stolen.
Now for this week’s Mystery Question. Below are four dumb insurance scams. Three actually happened and I made up one. Can you guess which one I made up?
- A man tried to bilk his homeowner’s insurance carrier out of $15,000 for a nonexistent dog he claimed was killed in a fire of the home. He even sent photos of the fake dog, but when the insurance adjuster researched the photos, he found it on a Wikipedia page.
- Using fake identities and addresses, a 72-year-old woman orchestrated no less than 49 slip-and-fall scams at department stores, supermarkets, and liquor stores in three states.
- A woman helped her husband dig up a body, dress it in his clothes and put it in a car and set fire to it. She then attempted to collect her husband’s life insurance policy. Unfortunately for the couple, when the police investigated, they found the deceased very much alive, living at home with a new hair dye job.
- An insurance agent pilfered $2 million from his clients’ accounts, then enlisted a family friend to take out a $2 million-dollar life insurance policy. He then parked his car by a lake and left a suicide note, admitting to the money he’d stolen. It all went down the tubes when he was found a few months later alive and well.
Okay, Super Sleuths. These are some doozies. Which one did I make up? Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll enter you in a drawing at the end of the month for a book from my library!
Comments 38
I have reservations about number #3… I feel like it would be rather hard to dig up a body and just randomly come across one that was still solid enough to dress. Also, that’s a lot of digging, even if they knew which grave to dig up. So I think I’ll choose number 3. But number 4 is weird too…
Author
Monique, they are all weird. lol. Good to ‘see’ you here.
I’m going to choose number 3 only because I read Pet Sematary and learned it’s a lot of work to dig up a body!
Author
You know, Priscilla, I’ve never read that…looks like I might need to for research. lol So glad you stopped by!
This time I’m going with #1. Any of these could be true, however. Pat, I’m confident you’ll make your revisions deadline.
Author
Well, thank you, Tim. I hope so. Just this morning woke up and realized I needed to change the profession of one of the characters. lol At least I that won’t be too hard. We’ll see next week if it’s #1.
I think it’s #3, too. I would think that even with a burnt body, there might be some things like dental records that would not match. And then again, I could be wrong! Usually am!
Author
We’ll see, Mary…thanks for stopping by and commenting. Always good to see you here!
I’m going to have to go with #3. Could not even imagine
Yuck lol.
Author
Me, either, Nicole. Doesn’t mean I didn’t make it up, though. lol. thanks for stopping by!
I do love all of these and they all sound weirdly believable. I think/hope #4 is the one you made up. It is just too bizarre of a scam to succeed. Please keep these coming.
Author
I’m so glad you like my bizarre vignettes, Delores. From what I see on the Internet, I should have no problem keeping them coming. 😉 It’s always good to see you here.
I’ll go with #4. Just because it grabbed me.
Author
We’ll see, Paula. Always good to ‘see’ you here.
So hard to decide but going with my first thought and that is #3 is false.
Author
We’ll see, Gloria! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Going with #3 this time…not sure why!
Author
#3 is a very popular answer, Linda. 🙂 Thanks for joining us!
As much as I enjoy your “brain teasers,” I enjoy your books more. So don’t fret over responding to comments if it might cause problems with a deadline on your book. I may be wrong but I think some of these may be repeats. If so, I wish I had kept a hard copy so I could check if they were made up or real scams the first time I read them. I doubt any of them have become real scams since appearing the first time. 🙂 I am going with #4. Something about enlisting someone to buy an insurance policy (on whom?) and then leaving a car parked with a suicide note seems off. If I recall correctly from years ago when I was a licensed insurance agent, I believe there is a two-year waiting period on death by suicide. That particular situation seems off, even more than the others.
Author
Thank you, Edward! I don’t remember these from years before…and my sources said they all happened last year…could the perpetrators have read my blog and gotten an idea??? 🙂 I am diligently working on the book and think I’ll make my deadline. So glad you stopped by!
People do strange things. I’ll say #3.
Author
Don’t they, Lucy! lol. #3 is very popular. We’ll see next week if it’s the correct answer. Thanks for dropping by.
#2
Author
We’ll see, Caryl. Always good to ‘see’ you here!
I choose 2 because at 72 she would need help to do all the stuff to change identities that many times and someone would talk or demand a cut of the money
Author
Love your logic, Shelia! We’ll see if it is correct next week. Thanks for stopping by.
Wow these get better every time! Some of these are pretty awful. Sounds like book material. Ha, ha. I’m going to pick #1 .
Author
Indeed they do, Erika! Another vote for #1. It hasn’t gotten too many votes this week. So glad you stopped by!
#3
Author
Another vote for #3! We’ll see, Patricia. So good to ‘see’ you here.
#3
Author
And another vote for #3, Jeanna. It’s possible. A lot of readers certainly think so. 😉 Thanks for stopping by.
My first thought was all of them need to be made up………….. but I guess I will go with #4
Author
Amen, Joni! lol. I love finding these little gems. Always good to ‘see’ you here.
I think #3. The body would be too “stiff” if it hadn’t started decaying. Plus that would be an awful lot of work.
Author
I agree, Joan. In fact, I’ve often said if crooks would work half as hard at legal work as they do illegal, they’d probably get rich. lol Good to ‘see’ you here.,
#3 – dig up a body!?
Author
Yep, MS Barb. That’s what they did. lol Thanks for stopping by!