What Would You Do?

Patricia Bradley Mystery Question 32 Comments

A friend and I drove to nearby Tupelo, Mississippi, yesterday, and on the way, we talked about the lottery. You know, the one that’s now $541,900,000.00. (Thank you, Edward, for pointing out I didn’t have enough zeros. No one has ever asked me to balance their checkbook)

And as thoughts sometimes do, one hit me upside the head.

If I won the lottery, what would I do with it?

Oh. Wow. I mean, can you imagine suddenly having a half billion dollars drop into your bank account? I have two questions.

  1. Once you set up trusts for your family and tithed on the money, what would you do with the rest?
  2. Could half a billion dollars be too much?
Now for last week’s Mystery Question: A man’s house caught fire and he began unloading his most important belongings out a window and carried them to his car. A week later he was arrested for arson. Why?
  1. When asked if he’d bought any type of accelerant in the past month he said no, but a hardware store receipt found in a part of the house that didn’t burn showed he’d purchased a gallon can of paint thinner just days before the fire.
  2. A nine-year-old boy who lived in the neighborhood told his father he had seen the man pouring something from a can around the house and then throw a match on it. They reported it to the police.
  3. When the police checked his pacemaker, it showed no high heart rates that would indicate strenuous activity during the time in question.
  4. The fire marshal found copper clips and nails at the source of the fire and deduced that he had used a lemon, copper clips, nails, wire, and tissue paper to start a fire next to the cotton curtains.

And the answer is…#3. I wondered if it would be legal to use his pacemaker data to convict him of a crime. This is what a judge ruled this past July:

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) – A judge says data from the pacemaker of a man accused of setting his Ohio house on fire in 2016 can be presented as evidence at his trial.

The Hamilton-Middletown Journal News (http://bit.ly/2vawZWl ) reports the judge ruled Tuesday in Ross Compton’s case. The 59-year-old Middletown man has pleaded not guilty to aggravated arson and insurance fraud charges.

Police say Compton described packing belongings when he saw the fire, throwing them out of a window and carrying them to his car. Investigators say a cardiologist reviewed Compton’s cardiac device and concluded his medical condition made the actions he described “highly improbable.”

Ross’s attorney had argued that the data should be thrown out because searching the device violated Compton’s constitutional rights.

But the judge says the individual data is no more private than other things. By ASSOCIATED PRESS

So there you have it.

Now for this week’s Mystery Question: Below are four outrageous scenarios. Which is false.
  1. A longtime employee for a state court system accidentally butt-dialed a Post reporter – yukking it up about how he barely showed up to work while pocketing a $166,000-plus salary.
  2. A man claimed he could not walk more than 15 feet – and that he needed support to help him carry his shopping and help outside because he was likely to stumble and fall. He pocketed disability benefits until he was filmed dancing with a dance troupe.
  3. A man who claimed he needed round-the-clock care was caught donning frocks, high heels, and wigs and miming to songs by Tina Turner and Diana Ross
  4. After her husband died, a wife continued to collect his Social Security check for ten years. Her death was the only reason it was discovered.

Okay Super Sleuths, what’s the fake scenario? Leave your answer in the comments to be entered in a drawing for this month’s drawing for a copy of Justice Buried when it’s released.

[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none”]Can your pacemaker be used against you in a court of law? Check out my blog for the #mysteryquestion![/tweet_box]

Comments 32

  1. Lisa Hudson

    This may be your toughest challenge yet!! I know that Disability Fraud cases get busted all the time for just such shenanigans as those you have described & I have heard of people continuing to draw Social Security checks after the passing of a spouse. I’m going with # 1 even though I’m sure plenty of that goes on the workplace as well!

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  2. Jennie

    My hubby used to play the lottery every week using the same numbers which were our birth dates. The week my son landed in the hospital with appendicitis he didn’t get to buy a ticket and the numbers came in. I wasn’t supposed to be rich. So I no longer dream. Lol

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  3. Edward Arrington

    Pat, $541,900.00 is only a half a million. I don’t play the lottery and never keep track of it unless a sign along the highway catches my eye when I’m traveling. To be half a billion, it would have to be $541,900,000.00. Which is it?

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      1. Edward Arrington

        After commenting, I decided to check the internet out of curiosity and saw that it had increased. Either there are a huge number of people playing the lottery or a smaller number who play huge sums. I don’t understand how all of that works, but I do balance my checkbook. 🙂

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  4. Edward Arrington

    As you have probably figured out before, especially with my replies last week, I seem to overthink these. I think I need to just make a random selection. Since I think the man in #3 clearly needs round-the-clock attention, I am guessing that is the false one.

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      1. Edward Arrington

        No, surely you would not be sneaky. LOL! What would be the fun in it if you weren’t? Last week I guessed 1, thinking 3 was the least likely. This week I’m thinking 1 is the least likely and selected 3, so it will probably be 1. I’m just shooting in the dark on these.

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  5. Jan Ballard

    If the man had round-the-clock care, it seems someone would have already seen him in the “frocks and heels”? I’m going to guess No. 2, just because it’s kind of subtle. 🙂 About the lottery, I used to work with a doctor in IL whose brother had won the lottery in another state (he received income from it for 10 years.) I remember the doctor telling me his brother first of all quit his job, then many, many people were always houding him for money. Finally, after the 10 years, he was absolutely broke and no longer had a job! I think if you look up the outcome of many who have become instantly rich….it usually doesn’t work out too well because they may or may not have already learned about good money management. Thankfully, not having any money, and never gambling, I’m pretty sure this will not be a problem in my lifetime. 🙂

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      Patricia Bradley

      Jan, I’ve done a little research on lottery winners and what you pointed out is all too often what happens. Money can be a burden. And do you know I’ve never bought a lottery ticket? I really don’t know how. lol

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  6. Paula

    Just to be different, I’m going with 2. I don’t know if I would want the headaches that go with so much money! I believe I will just “grow where I’m planted”. God will take care of me no matter how much money I have! Thanks again Pat!

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  7. Delores Topliff

    I’m shocked about last week’s as I have a pacemaker. Amazing that it’s record can be a legal witness. And today’s all seem horribly believable to me, but I’ll go with #2 as my gut feeling.

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  8. Trixi

    I tend to overthink these things because you know any one of them could be true! I’m going for #2 this week.

    I think our powerball is up to 700 million!! Like you said, after tithing, taking care of your family, paying off morgages/cars & etc, what would you do with the rest? I’ve often thought of that myself…would I invest it for the future, hide it in a mattress, or?? Would be fun to imagine though, wouldn’t it?

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  9. Trixi

    That’s Seven HUNDRED million Patricia! Blows the mind, doesn’t it?? I can’t even imagine :-/ I mean even after they take out taxes, you’d still have way more than you could ever spend in a lifetime, I would think 🙂

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  10. Caryl Kane

    I’m guessing #2.

    There are so many things I would love to do if financially able. Such as travel, build a home with a fabulous library, donate to worthy charities and the list goes on.

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