Sir Levikus, one evening, rather unwisely, announced at dinner that he was cutting someone out of his will. Sure enough, the next morning, Sir Levikus was found slumped over the desk in his study, having been fatally stabbed with a paper-knife.

Herlock Sholmes, renowned private investigator, immediately began questioning all the suspects to discover who had seen the victim last.

Here are their statements, all of which are true:

a) His long-time friend, Martin, said : "I went to the study to show Sir Levikus a first edition I bought yesterday. He kept it to examine more closely."

b) Lady Jane (my sweet Lady Jane...), Sir Levikus´s wife (now widow), said : "I borrowed the evening newspaper from my husband. There was no paper-knife present at that time; I would have remembered it."

c) Nathan, the son of the deceased, said: "I did not have coffee with my father. When I went to the study he was reading the newspaper and smoking a cigar. He showed me Martin´s first edition."

d) Lisa, Sir Levikus´s daughter, said : "I went to return the newspaper mother had borrowed."

e) Tom, the butler, said: "As was usual after dinner, I brought the coffee service to the study. Sir Levikus was at his desk reading the evening newspaper."

f) Reny, the maid, said: "I only went in to clear the coffee service. I did see that four cups had been used."

g) Cristian, the brother of the murdered man, said: "Since there was no coffee when I went to the study, we had brandy together. I wanted to look at the newspaper, but it was not in the room."

h) Simone, Sir Levikus´s niece, said: "Certainly I recognize the paper-knife. My uncle brought it out when we were having coffee together. I noticed that one other cup had been used."

Herlock Sholmes´s incisive brain immediately determined who was the last person to visit Sir Levikus and thus, was his murderer.

Who was the killer? Can you list Sir Levikus´s eight visitors in order? Show your reasoning!

The following can be inferred from the clues (based on the presence of newspaper, coffee, coffee cups and the paper knife)

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Martin arrived before Nathan

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Jane arrived before Simone

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Nathan arrived before Jane or after Lisa. (He did not necessarily arrive before Tom or after Reny. Just because he didn’t drink any, doesn’t mean it wasn’t available. We can’t assume that the visitor’s in this puzzle couldn’t possibly resist the tantalizing aroma of Sir Levikus’ special brew)

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Lisa arrived after Jane

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Tom arrived before Simone and Reny and either before Jane or after Lisa

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Reny arrived after Simone and Tom.

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Christian arrived after Jane, but before Lisa.

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Simone arrived before Jane. She arrived after Tom, and before Reny.

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At least one other person arrived between Tom and Simone and one person had coffee. Sir Levikus was having coffee with Simone so the cup is not his but a previous visitor’s.

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At least three people arrived between Tom and Reny and 3 people had coffee.

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One person arrived between Simone and Reny and one person had coffee.

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If Jane arrived before Tom, then Lisa must also have arrived before Tom and Christain had to arrive between the two of them. The order then would be:

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1. Jane
2. Christian
3. Lisa
4. Tom
5. Martin
6. Simone
7. Nathan
8. Reny

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Since Nathan did not have coffee, it is impossible for four cups to have been used. Jane therefore arrived after Tom.

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Now since Christian arrived after Jane (and therefore after Tom) he must have arrived after Reny (and also after Simone) because there was no coffee in the room when he arrived.

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Consider what we know so far about the order of arrival (note that these are not specific places, just arrivals relative to one another)

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One of the following orders (with Martin and Nathan missing) is true

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Tom

Jane

Simone

?

Reny

Christian

Lisa

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OR

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Tom

?

Simone

?

Reny

Jane

Christian

Lisa     

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The second option requires Nathan to have coffee, which he didn’t, so the first one is true. Now it remains to find places for Martin and Nathan.

Nathan saw Sir Levikus reading his paper, so he arrived before Jane or after Lisa.

If he arrived before Jane, he would have to have arrived after Tom, because Martin arrived before him and he is the only remiaing person able to account for the fourth cup of coffee. However if this order was correct, then two cups would have been used before Simone arrived, which was not the case, so Nathan must have arrived after Lisa.

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Martin must have arrived between Simone and Reny in order to use the fourth cup that had not been used when Simone was there.

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This leaves the final order as:

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Tom

Jane

Simone

Martin

Reny

Christian

Lisa

Nathan

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This order is correct when cross-checked with all the clues.

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Nathan is the Murderer.

Posted by scott on 2005-07-12 12:41:49