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!
The killer is Levikus's last visitor, Nathan.
The order of visitors was:
(1) Tom
(2) Lady Jane
(3) Simone
(4) Martin
(5) Reny
(6) Cristian
(7) Lisa
(8) Nathan
Reasoning:
Replace the names with symbols:
--------------------------------------
A=Martin
B=Lady Jane
C=Nathan
D=Lisa
E=Tom
F=Reny
G=Cristian
H=Simone
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E brought the coffee in.
C did not have coffee.
F cleared the coffee away after Levikus and three guests had drunk coffee.
G saw no coffee.
H had coffee after Levikus and one guest had drunk coffee.
E < F
(G < E) or (F < G)
E < [not C] < H < [not C] < F
These relationships do not yet establish a unique sequence.
-------------------------------------
B saw no paper-knife.
H saw Levikus pull out the paper-knife.
B < H
Still no unique sequence.
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A brought in yesterday's first edition of the newspaper.
C saw yesterday's first edition of the newspaper.
A < C
Still no unique sequence.
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B took the evening newspaper out of the study.
C saw the evening newspaper in the study.
D returned the evening newspaper to the study.
E saw the evening newspaper in the study.
G did not see the evening newspaper.
B < D
(C < B) or (D < C)
(E < B) or (D < E)
(B < G) and (G < D)
Now we have a unique sequence. The only sequence possible in
keeping with all these algebraic relationships is:
E < B < H < A < F < G < D < C
The order of visitors was:
(1) Tom
(2) Lady Jane
(3) Simone
(4) Martin
(5) Reny
(6) Cristian
(7) Lisa
(8) Nathan (the killer !!!)
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Edited on October 20, 2007, 10:28 am
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Posted by Penny
on 2005-07-13 03:44:35 |
Solution by elimination
