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 Levikusīs 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 Martinīs first edition."

d) Lisa, Sir Levikusīs 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 Levikusīs 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 Sholmesīs 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 Levikusīs eight visitors in order? Show your reasoning!

This is my first one on here, so will probably be completely wrong.

Solution:

Tom
Lady Jane
Simone
Martin
Reny
Cristian
Lisa
Nathan

Assumptions made:
I have made the assumption that everybody who went into the study when coffee was available, had a cup, and that Sir Levikus used the same cup every time.

Reasoning:

Tom would be the first person into the study, as he said "As was usual after dinner, I brought the coffee service to the study."
This would lead me to believe he was the first person.

Lady Jane would be next as she borrowed the paper, and had a coffee. The paper knife was not present at this time, therefore Simone would be after her.

Simone would be next, as she noticed one used cup of coffee, used by Lady Jane, and the Paper Knife appears at this point.

Martin was put next as he left the First edition for Nathan to look at later, but also Reny took 4 used cups away, and since Cristian didn't have a cup, and Lisa was after Cristian, it had to be Martin.

Reny would be next as she took away 4 used cups; Sir Levikus', Lady Jane's, Simone's & Martin's.

Cristian didn't have a coffee as it was gone by the time he arrived, and the paper was still not present.

Therefore Lisa was after Cristian, as she returned the paper...

...which Nathan saw his father reading, and was shown the First Edition given by Martin. It was then he killed his father with the Paper Knife.

I worked it out with a time line, so there may be a couple of minor pieces of information missing, but that's how I worked it out.

Posted by Graeme Donaldson on 2005-07-12 17:00:55