ou are a logician in training for the police, and the time has come to take the certification test. The police chief brings you the test one morning, and says, "I must warn you, this is your only chance at the certification test; If you fail, you must keep training for another year before you can take it again."
           
- Five suspects were interrogated for a bank robbery.
             
- Each suspect was either a knight, a knave, or a liar.
         
- Knights always tell the truth.
       
- Liars always lie.
       
- Knaves strictly alternate truths and lies with each statement.
                   
- Police have evidence that suggests the perpetrator acted alone.
                   
- Police have evidence that suggests the perpetrator acted alone.

>During the interrogation, two questions were asked (consecutively) of each of the five suspects. Each suspect heard the other suspects' responses, and none of them made a statement between his or her two answers. Here are the two questions and their responses.

"Did you rob the bank?"
A: No.
B: No.
C: No.
D: Yes.
E: Yes.

"Who robbed the bank?"
A: E.
B: A.
C: l don't know.
D: E.
E: A.

The interrogators mentioned that something about their statements didn't seem quite right. The police chief adds, "The only hints I can give you are that C is not a knight and that there is only one correct answer. I'll be back in 24 hours to ask you who robbed the bank."

(In reply to I don't buy the "lack of knowledge" solution... by Avin)

If C witnessed someone else committing the robbery, and then said "I don't know" when the police asked him who did it, then legally speaking, C is an accessory. Therefore the bank robber didn't act alone; he had an accessory, C. That would contradict the statement that the robber acted alone.

As for the Cryptography category, that is a mystery. If this really is a cryptogram in disguise, then it should have been in Tricks, not Cryptography.

IMHO.....

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Legal definition of accessory: Someone who intentionally helps another person commit a felony by giving advice before the crime or helping to conceal the evidence or the perpetrator. An accessory is usually not physically present during the crime. For example, hiding a robber who is being sought by the police might make you an "accessory after the fact" to a robbery.

 

 

 

Edited on February 17, 2006, 12:31 pm

Posted by Penny on 2006-02-17 12:26:09