Murder Riddle III (Solved!)

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Murder Riddle III (Solved!)

Post Post #0 (ISO) » Fri Dec 14, 2018 7:01 pm

Post by Segaco »

Here to go at it again.
I made it as short as I could, as in the previous two games some said they didn't join because of their length. Perhaps it's not short enough, but do know there was an attempt

Rules

- Characters state things in
Purple Declaration
. All things said in Purple Declaration can be considered to be the truth with the exception of the fact that the culprit may lie.
- Characters who are not the culprit speak the truth and only the truth (**in purple**).
- There is only one culprit.
- A culprit is strictly defined as someone who kills.
- A culprit may lie before murdering.
- A culprit cannot die.
- All statements made in narration are true.
- Accomplices do not exist.
- An accomplice is someone who knowingly aids the culprit in the execution of their plans.
- There is one single master key, initially held by the only servant.
- Only one key exists for every room.
- A room's door can only be locked with its respective key or the master key.
- Anyone may be the culprit.

Characters:


1. Ransu - Visitor (Male)
2. Lacey - Visitor (Female)
3. Northy - Guard (Male)
4. Southy - Guard (Female)
5. Easty - Guard (Male)
6. Westy - Guard (Male)
7. George - Servant (Male)
8. Vangel - Mansion owner (Male)


Maps

First floor:
Image
Second Floor:
Image


Story


After all the hardships lord Vangel had to go through to gather a considerable amount of fortune, he could finally live in peace.
...Actually, he couldn't. He had but one last dream in his life, which was to acquire an item the whole world longed for: The SS Spear, a weapon coated with some of the rarest and most expensive minerals on earth. It is rumoured it used to belong to a god called SS, who used said spear to punish those who opposed him.
Backstory aside, one thing led to another and the weapon ended up on an auction. Naturally, the individuals who had the money put as much as they could to get their hands on the precious spear, but the winner of the auction ended up being Vangel. Of course, it was a lot of cash he had put on something he would probably just dump in his storage, but it was worth it. So he thought.

When he received the spear, he was the happiest man on earth. He decided to invite two dungeons and dragons friends, Ransu and Lacey, who said they wanted to check out the spear. He even hired four guards in order to protect it. His butler George would probably appreciate the extra people, as he would always work alone.

It was October 4th, exactly 5 PM, when the guests arrived. They had some trouble coming because a blizzard had appeared out of nowhere around the mansion's location, but probably due to their desire to see the spear they did not give up and got to the mansion anyway.

The two guests were led into a massive white-painted room, illuminated by some LED lights coming from above. This room had a glass case, which contained the SS spear. They stared at it for a long time, and one even tried to open the glass case's only door, but found that a padlock prevented them from doing so.
Vangel informed the guests that the glass was bullet-proof and the only key to the padlock was with him at all times, so there was no need to worry about someone trying to steal it.

After some time, Vangel headed to the stairs in the corner and went upstairs along with his two guests. They were in his office for around half an hour when one of the invitees, Lacey, excused herself to the bathroom. Luckily, there was a bathroom incorporated to the office, so she just went there. Vangel and Ransu talked to each other for a bit, and when the conversation was over, Vangel decided to check how the food was going. George usually took his time to cook, and with the new guards he may be talking instead of cooking. Food needed to be made in time for the guests. so he couldn't slack off! Like Lacey, he excused himself out, leaving Ransu alone in the office.

As the man walked down his mansion's stairs, his cellphone rang. Just who could it be? He looked at the screen but the caller was calling from a private number. Deciding there was nothing to lose, Vangel accepted the call and put the phone against his ear.


Vangel
: "Yes, hello? Vangel speaking."
???
: "...Consider that spear of yours gone by 11."

And this mysterious caller, whose voice he didn't hear very clearly, hung up. Vangel stood there for a few seconds, confused about that strange event, before checking the time. It was 6 PM.
He had a bad feeling about this.


---

It was 10:55, and everyone was now in position.
"Position for what?", you may be asking yourself. The answer to that is that Vangel had a really bad feeling about the call, and while everyone explored the mansion, he thought of a plan. In the end, he decided to position everyone so it would be impossible for anyone to even try stealing the spear.
The two guests Lacey and Ransu agreed to participate, as they claimed they did not want the spear to be stolen. Those two and lord Vangel himself would stand around the glass case with the spear so they would be able to see anyone entering the room.
The guards would be put in different rooms around the white room to make sure no one got past them. As the four had rather particular names, Vangel decided to use those names to decide where to put them:

- The guard Northy was sent to the Music Room, to make sure no one bursted through the windows.
- The guard Easty was sent to the Storage, to make sure that if someone hid there, they wouldn't get past him.
- The guard Southy was sent to the Entrance, to make sure no one forced their way in.
- The guard Westy was sent to the Lounge, for the same reason as stated above.

As for the butler George... he hadn't even started cooking, so he was now being punished by cooking twice what he was going to cook. In the kitchen, obviously.

...Back to the mystery. As the three stood around the glass case in the gigantic white room, the alarm on Vangel's cellphone went off. It was now 11:00. Seconds passed, with him anxiously waiting for something to happen. He even made sure the key to the padlock was still with him just in case. And to make sure he wouldn't confuse it, left his own room key in his room.

11:01, and no signs of anyone else.
He thought of it being a prank and was about to say so when all the lights on the mansion suddenly went off. The white room did not even have a light switch, so... A power outage, perhaps?
Although he could not see a thing, he focused all his senses to catch
something
. And that's when he started hearing footsteps heading towards him from somewhere. Someone running towards him equals to someone running towards the case. Uh-oh.
He screamed to the other two to not let whoever this was to touch the case, but that did not stop the footsteps from getting closer. The footsteps eventually ceased in front of what Vangel believed was the glass case's door. That thief was at the door!
He tried to run towards them, but a loud sound and a flash of light stopped him right on his tracks.

Bang


A gunshot. Someone fired a gun.
Still, the spear was in risk. He tried to look for the case in the dark and was interrumped by the sound of someone running away. Soon, there was complete silence. Minutes passed until he got used to the dark, and he could finally see a bit. The other two were still in their positions, trying to feel their way in the dark.
He then had a brilliant idea and used his phone's flashlight to be able to see. The first thing he did was look into the glass case, of course... but the spear was nowhere to be seen. He confirmed that the door had a padlock in place, however, so it should have been impossible to have taken it out.
Either way, he had no time to waste! He handed his phone flashlight to Lacey and sent her upstairs to check if everything was okay in the power room. Soon, the lights turned on and Vangel confirmed his suspicions: the spear was no longer in the glass case. He looked around the white room, trying to find the spear, but all he saw was, well, white. He yelled in desperation.

---

The eight were now reunited in the white room, standing around the glass case. Right in front the glass case's door some small pieces of metal and stone were found, but they were mostly ignored.
Vangel held the key he has had since he locked the case with a padlock in his closed palm, and threw it to the floor. It was now useless.


Vangel
: "You all, tell me how the hell that damned rat got in! I thought you were guarding??"
Northy
: "Well, there was nothing suspicious on my end.
No one passed through the Music Room's door.

Easty
: "Same here,
no one passed through the Storage's door.
"
Westy
: "...Nothing on my end,
no one passed through the lounge's door.
"
Southy
: "We must be soulmates, everyone! Because
no one passed through the Entrance's door
, either!"
Vangel
: "
The only way to unlock my padlock was with my key...
Just how...? What about you, George?! Did you see anything?!"
George
: "Of course not.
I was cooking the whole time. I didn't see anything suspicious.
"
Vangel
: "............Upstairs. The culprit came from upstairs!!"

Seeing he had forgotten about the second floor, Vangel ran there. The others in the white room followed. He had expected to see a window wide open, indicator of someone having entered, but was surprised to find all windows locked. Confused, he decided to check out the power room.


Vangel
: "Holy mother of jesus, what happened to the backup generator???"
Lacey
: "
It was like that when I got here.
The power switch was set to off, so I just turned it on."
Vangel
: "So this is why the lights did not come back on after the switch was flipped... The backup generator can give us light for four hours, but if it was destroyed it cannot!!"
Ransu
: "Vangel, if it means anything, do know
I didn't do it...
I mean, I know it's totally unrelated to the lights, but just saying."
Lacey
: "It IS related to the lights, you know. We were together when they were turned off. So
I couldn't have done it
, either."

The rich man was not listening, however. He pondered for a bit, and soon came to a conclusion.


Vangel
: "
All the windows on the second floor are locked
and no one left through the first floor, which means...
That thieving bastard must still be inside the mansion!!
He hid and somehow pulled this cowardly act off!! Go look for him!!!"

In the face of an angry old man, the others couldn't help but comply and scattered off. Vangel decided to take the storage to himself, as that was the most likely place one would hide in his mind.
The storage room was basically a city of boxes, filled with old mannequins, padlocks, clothes, plants, and even a fish tank with dead fish. After several minutes searching, he was sure of it: there was no one hiding here. Dejected, he walked into the white room and was then told something of interest, which made him immediately run to a certain room.


---

Seven people were gathered in the white room around the glass case. Half an hour had passed since the search for a ninth person began, yet no one had been found. They all exchanged information about which rooms they had searched, and they quickly concluded that...


Ransu
: "So only Vangel's office is left...?"
Lacey
"...I would rather not go there, Vangel would get angry... He's scary when he's angry..."
George
: "Agreed, so go check it yourself, Ransu. You're his friend. If I do it he may fire me. He can't fire a friend."
Southy
: "That's true."
Ransu
: "*sigh*, just... Come with me, alright?"

The seven went upstairs to the door. Lacey took hold of the knob, and...


Lacey
: "Huh...?
The door is locked...
?"
Ransu
: "It is the only place left, the thief likely locked himself in. George, do you have a master key?"
George
: "Yes, but you unlock it. Here you go."
Ransu
: "...Alright. ........Uh,
there's a key inserted on the other side of the keyhole.
The key won't fit in."
Westy
: "It can't be helped, then. As we haven't seen signs of our lord, I'm getting worried. Easty, give me a hand."

Easty nodded, and the two men soon started laying on the door, ignoring George's protests. Eventually, the door gave in and the two fell into the room along with the door, the set chain lock breaking off the wall as a result.
The five in the doorway and the two on the floor stared in horror at the body of Vangel, laying face down in the center of the office... in a pool of blood.
Southy quickly ran into the room and checked on the body.


Southy
: "This can't be...
He's dead! A stab to the heart! From behind! An immediate death!
Tragic!"
George
: "Tomorrow was pay day..............."
Northy
: "
There's this wet knife laying next to the body.
"
Ransu
: "There's also a piece of paper under him with a duck drawn on it, but it's probably not important."
Easty
: "Looks like
the window is locked.
Hm..."
Westy
: "And from what I can see
there are no footprints outside in the snow
. The blizzard stopped long ago, so it is impossible for more snow to have covered possible footprints."
Lacey
: "Oh, so
there IS a key on the other side of the keyhole.
You weren't lying."
Ransu
: "Why would I lie? ...But back to the key, it may not even be the key to the room. Try it."

Lacey, who had flipped the door over, turned the key already inserted in the keyhole. It seemed the lock hadn't been broken upon the door being broken down. With everyone watching, the bolt retracted into the door's lock.


Ransu
: "So that settles it, huh...?"
Westy
: "Like hell it does! Lacey, you stood by the door the whole time. Have you seen anyone walk out?"
Lacey
: "
No one has walked out the door since we got in.
"
Westy
: "That means the culprit is hiding in the room! Look for him!"

And so, they looked, but to no avail. Southy looked into the wardrobe but only found clothes and white sheets for the bed. Ransu looked under the bed and found a few dirty magazines. George even looked inside the bathroom.


George
: "
There's no one hiding in here nor the bathroom.
"
Northy
: "Are there any secret passages or stuff like that in the mansion, George?"
George
: "Not that I know of. But if I could I would say
no secret passages exist.
"
Southy
: "Then... How was this done? The door was locked and chained and the window was locked. The key was in the keyhole inside, even! How mysterious! How arcane! How mystifying!"
Easty
: "Not to mention the murder weapon was right by his side, too..."
Lacey
: "But why would he kill himself...?"
Ransu
: "Don't you get it? It's pretty hard to stab yourself in the back, and even if he had, the knife would still be stabbed there. Adding to this, the weapon was also cleaned off! This is a murder!"
Lacey
: "Oh."

---

The seven decided to do the smart thing and stay together in the dining hall to call the police, until George insisted on keep on cooking, Ransu on investigating the locked room more, Lacey on going to the guest room to take a nap, and Southy on playing the piano on the Music Room.
In the end, the police said they couldn't go because the blizzard was still strong where the police were. They would have to wait for the blizzard to move away before even moving out. The seven were advised to stay together and not touch the crime scenes.
Naturally, no one gave a damn. Except for Westy who tried to keep everything in order, but ultimately gave up.


---

As Westy sat on one of the chairs of the game room all alone, he heard the guest room's door be opened behind him. He looked back, and saw someone he couldn't recognize because of the mask, hat and cape they were wearing. That didn't quite matter to him, however. His attention was on what this person was carrying...


Westy
: "Lacey!"

Lacey and the figure ran back into the guest room upon being seen. Easty ran out of the Power Room when he heard his friend scream.


Easty
: "What happened?!"
Westy
: "No time to explain! Someone suspicious is in the Guest Room!"

Seconds after, the two were trying to enter the Guest Room. The door had been locked, however, and the two took their time to break down the door


Westy
: "Lacey, are you okay?!"
Easty
: "I don't see anyone in here other than her...
There's no one hiding here.
Let me check the bathroom... Nope,
no one there either
."
Westy
: "She's just asleep. Thank god. Easty, check on her just in case. I'll check on something else...... Well,
the window is unlocked.
It's just a matter of jumping out, then..... I was expecti-"

Ransu ran into the room before he could finish.


Ransu
: "What's going on?!?! Lacey, you okay?!"
Westy
: "She's fine. Long short story, I saw someone carrying her leave the guest room and then enter again. He seems to have escaped out the window."
Ransu
: "No time to waste, then! Let's go after his trail! .....But.......
there are no footprints on the snow outside...
"
Westy
: "...Oh. ...There it is. Things can't be simple, can they...?"

Soon, the others got into the Guest Room. For no reason in particular, everyone shared their alibis... and in the end, it turned out no one had an one except for George and Northy, who had stayed together in the kitchen.


Ransu
: "First an impossible theft, then an impossible murder, and then an impossible disappearance... Just what is going on here?!"

-------------------------------------------

Let us remove the easiest possiblity of all:
No gaps under doors. No string tricks.
Forget about 'em

Now that you've finished, you have to solve it to get the ending. This is how you play:
- To win the game you must tell me the truth behind all of the mysteries. It does not matter if it wasn't the killer the one who pulled a trick off.
- When stating a theory, it is mandatory for you to use
blue text (#00FFFF)
.
- After you make your theory, I will respond to it either with
red text
to disprove it (anything said in red can be considered to be the truth) or normal text just explaining why it's not correct.

Anyone can join in at any time. Good luck!
Last edited by Segaco on Tue Dec 25, 2018 3:54 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Post Post #1 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 2:52 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

OK, so some clarifications:
1.
Can the person responsible for the murder, the person responsible for the theft, and the person responsible for the disappearance be the same person? Can they all be different people?

2.
Do we know for sure that there was a real theft? A real disappearance?

3.
Brown = Door, Blue = Window, right?

4.
Can the thief or disappearance person lie? (assuming that those may be different from the killer)
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Post Post #2 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 2:54 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

Actually,
5. How much technology should we assume these people have?
(I could see, potentially, someone flying drones around.)
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Post Post #3 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:09 am

Post by Segaco »

In post 1, 2 718281828459 wrote:OK, so some clarifications:
1.
Can the person responsible for the murder, the person responsible for the theft, and the person responsible for the disappearance be the same person? Can they all be different people?

2.
Do we know for sure that there was a real theft? A real disappearance?

3.
Brown = Door, Blue = Window, right?

4.
Can the thief or disappearance person lie? (assuming that those may be different from the killer)
1. Yes, they can all be different people
2. Well, a spear was stolen and some mysterious person vanished from a room. So that's on you
3. Yes, sorry for not making that clear
4. Only the person who killed can lie.
2 718281828459 wrote:Actually,
5. How much technology should we assume these people have?
(I could see, potentially, someone flying drones around.)
Assume the characters are in 2018, so anything we have they have
Last edited by Segaco on Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post Post #4 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:11 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

If there is only one person who is allowed to lie, then
Vangel
is confirmed truthful, as George confirmed Vangel's death...

...which gives us exactly two confirmed pieces of evidence:
All the windows on the second floor are locked
and
[The thief was] still inside the mansion
.
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Post Post #5 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:21 am

Post by Segaco »

Two things:
I fixed a typo and added a purple which had to be added

Purple:
Vangel
: "
The only way to unlock my padlock was with my key...
Just how...? What about you, George?! Did you see anything?!"
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Post Post #6 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:27 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

Theft

There is no way that any guard other than Westy did the theft unless the same guard also did the murder. Westy could have quietly gone to the dining room and then into the white room through a different door, so truthfully no one went through the lounge door. Considering the gunshot and the fact that no guard yelled that they were trying to stop the thief, that seems to imply
Westy
is the thief OR a 9th person with a gun did it. Most likely, the thief pickpocketed the key from Vangel, unlocked the box, took the spear, re-locked the box, and gave the key back, all without Vangel noticing.
EDIT: Nope


OR, perhaps Vangel himself was the "thief".

Actually, what I think happened now is that the thief destroyed the lock with the gun and replaced it with a different lock.

Murder

The only way Vangel could have not died is if Southy nearly killed Vangel but Vangel later recovered? And Southy could have also lied about the cause of death.
Most likely, either (1) George did it and lied about secret passages or (2) the killer convinced Vangel to lock the door.

Disappearance

Wait. So either a 9th person exists or else Vangel's death was faked and he disappeared. But I am not sure how you could fake a death given the constraints.

Is a 9th person allowed to ever be in or near the mansion?
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Post Post #7 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:36 am

Post by Segaco »

A 9th person may or may not exist
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Post Post #8 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 7:28 am

Post by Something_Smart »

Ego! Will take a look when I get a chance.
It's always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die. You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn. How many hearts will be broken. How many lives shattered. How much blood will spill, until everybody does what they're always going to have to do from the very beginning... SIT DOWN AND TALK!
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Post Post #9 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 11:28 am

Post by Save The Dragons »

I just want to say this is really cool
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Post Post #10 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 11:39 am

Post by Save The Dragons »

Is there a window ledge under the guest room window? Could you climb onto the roof of the entrance and reenter the building through the front door without contacting the snow on the ground?
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Post Post #11 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 1:28 pm

Post by 2 718281828459 »

(oh, and personally, I would have made the guards' names start with N,E,S,W like Nate, Earl, Susan, and Will or something, rather than cheesy names like "Southy". Actually I think Westy might be an actual name...)

Let's just get started. Considering that I am not really sure how much info you want, I just tried to do whatever I could.
Theory 01
Westy is the thief.
At some point before Vangel got everyone in position, Westy entered storage and pocketed a padlock and its associated key.
When the lights went out, Westy went Lounge => Diningroom => Whiteroom. He knew where the box was, shot the padlock, stole the spear, and replaced the padlock with one that looks identical. He then cleaned up most of the mess, but a few fragments remained on the ground.

George is the killer.
Not much here. George lied that there were no secret passages. Being the one who is in the kitchen, he grabbed a knife and some time snuck in to murder Vangel. He then took the key to that room from Vangel's cold, dead body and placed it in the lock. Then George escaped to the kitchen through a secret passage (and as Lacey correctly identified, not through the door).

Southy was the one who tried to kidnap Lacey. She cleverly used her hand to erase her footprints as she stepped, and then re-entered and pretended that she was never missing.


I am really not sure what kind of information you want for the disappearance.
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Post Post #12 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:26 pm

Post by Segaco »

Save The Dragons wrote:Is there a window ledge under the guest room window? Could you climb onto the roof of the entrance and reenter the building through the front door without contacting the snow on the ground?
To keep things simple, assume that
if you left a room through a window, you would leave footprints in the snow.

2 718281828459 wrote:(oh, and personally, I would have made the guards' names start with N,E,S,W like Nate, Earl, Susan, and Will or something, rather than cheesy names like "Southy". Actually I think Westy might be an actual name...)

Let's just get started. Considering that I am not really sure how much info you want, I just tried to do whatever I could.
Theory 01
Westy is the thief.
At some point before Vangel got everyone in position, Westy entered storage and pocketed a padlock and its associated key.
When the lights went out, Westy went Lounge => Diningroom => Whiteroom. He knew where the box was, shot the padlock, stole the spear, and replaced the padlock with one that looks identical. He then cleaned up most of the mess, but a few fragments remained on the ground.

George is the killer.
Not much here. George lied that there were no secret passages. Being the one who is in the kitchen, he grabbed a knife and some time snuck in to murder Vangel. He then took the key to that room from Vangel's cold, dead body and placed it in the lock. Then George escaped to the kitchen through a secret passage (and as Lacey correctly identified, not through the door).

Southy was the one who tried to kidnap Lacey. She cleverly used her hand to erase her footprints as she stepped, and then re-entered and pretended that she was never missing.


I am really not sure what kind of information you want for the disappearance.
For the disappearance I want to know how this mysterious person left the room. It seems I didn't leave out some pssibilities, though, so allow me strike your theory down

Well, first things first: If Westy was the thief, how did he turn off the lights? He had to be in the second floor and flip the power switch for that to happen.
As for the going from the dining hall to the white room... There's no door that allows that, as shown on the map. The brown thingies are doors, so unless you are suggesting he went through the wall, it's not possible.

As for George's purple, I intended for that to be a red, but I ended up changing my mind. Mind as well say it now before you go off the wrong track:
No secret passages exist.


Finally we get to the disappearance. I doubt our mysterious individual would take their time to hide their footprints after being seen by someone, but to deny it I'll say
had snow been messed with, characters who looked at the snow would have noticed and mentioned so.
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Post Post #13 (ISO) » Sat Dec 15, 2018 9:02 pm

Post by Mewtaph »

In post 0, Segaco wrote:
Ransu
: "First an impossible theft, then an impossible murder, and then an impossible disappearance... Just what is going on here?!"
I'm going to start with my theory on the theft.

Theft
Vangel had put on something he would probably just dump in his storage, but it was worth it. So he thought. For he would later pay not only with the loss of his prized spear, but also his own life.

When he received the spear, he was the happiest man on earth. He decided to invite two dungeons and dragons friends, Ransu and Lacey, who said they wanted to check out the spear.

Ransu's motive was to steal the spear for himself.

Only one key exists for every room, and all of them were carefully hidden in Vangel's office. As soon as Vangel was out of earshot, Ransu was left alone in Vangel's office - Lacey was still in the bathroom and everyone else was downstairs while Vangel was heading to the stairs. It didn't take long to find the key to the power room. Knowing he had his secret weapon at hand, he made his call. It would be too obvious of a theft otherwise, and knowing his former friend well, he hoped that Vangel would enter a paranoid frenzy sending all of his guards to protect the spear; not knowing that he would insist on remaining in the white room with the other visitor, Lacey. He planned to pickpocket the only key to the padlock which was with Vangel at all times in the confusion of the darkness.

Ransu lied when he said he didn't ruin the backup generator. At 11:01, Ransu triggered his remote detonator while Lacey and Vangel were too distracted to focus on him in anticipation. Ransu ran straight towards Vangel, and stole the key. He was at the case now, Vangel hopelessly telling him and Lacey to stop the person from reaching the spear. Little did he know.

Ransu fired his gun at the padlock, while making sure not to break it. Near the glass case's door some small pieces of metal and stone were found, to avoid implicating himself, Lacey or Vangel who were the only ones in the white room when the lights turned off. However, Ransu was the only person that had access to the power room key. Without the power room key, the only other person that could have performed the theft was George, but no secret passages exist.

Ransu unlocked the padlock with his stolen key, pocketed the spear, and while Vangel was still in a dazed state trying to adjust to the dark, he placed the key back on Vangel's person right where he found it. Ransu then ran away from the area of theft to ensure that it was plausible that one of the guards did it, and successfully maintained his appearance that he and Lacey, were still in their positions, trying to feel their way in the dark.
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Post Post #14 (ISO) » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:19 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

@Mewtaph: So wait. If the key was with Vangel at all times, how could Ransu have taken it? (Also, I think in order for a theory to be valid, you have to solve all three at once. Like I tried to do.)
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Post Post #15 (ISO) » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:48 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

So I was thinking that perhaps Ransu was the kidnapper and lied about the footprints thing, however
(1) There is too little time,
(2) I wonder if the others would be able to believe it, and
(3) Ransu can only lie if he also did the murder, which I cannot see as a possiblity.

Regarding the murder, the only thing I can see is that Westy did it and somehow managed to get out and also lock the window.

Actually, wait a second. Southy could have done the all-too-familiar scheme of attacking someone, running away, convincing Vangel to lock the door, and waiting for him to die. So it must be one of those two. I am leaning towards Southy because her large number of exclamatory fragments seem faked and unusual.

If one of those two is the culprit, they are probably also the thief, unless the thief truly came from upstairs...

It seems there is insufficient information to find the identity of the person who disappeared. The annoying thing is that I can only see there being a disappearance if Ransu is the killer, but I cannot figure out how Ransu could be the killer.
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Post Post #16 (ISO) » Sun Dec 16, 2018 12:28 pm

Post by Segaco »

If you saw the thing I said before the edit, ignore it
Do know you have to post a theory solving the whole thing for me to respond to it, but I'll make an exception this time.
In post 13, Mewtaph wrote:
In post 0, Segaco wrote:
Ransu
: "First an impossible theft, then an impossible murder, and then an impossible disappearance... Just what is going on here?!"
I'm going to start with my theory on the theft.

Theft
Vangel had put on something he would probably just dump in his storage, but it was worth it. So he thought. For he would later pay not only with the loss of his prized spear, but also his own life.

When he received the spear, he was the happiest man on earth. He decided to invite two dungeons and dragons friends, Ransu and Lacey, who said they wanted to check out the spear.

Ransu's motive was to steal the spear for himself.

Only one key exists for every room, and all of them were carefully hidden in Vangel's office. As soon as Vangel was out of earshot, Ransu was left alone in Vangel's office - Lacey was still in the bathroom and everyone else was downstairs while Vangel was heading to the stairs. It didn't take long to find the key to the power room. Knowing he had his secret weapon at hand, he made his call. It would be too obvious of a theft otherwise, and knowing his former friend well, he hoped that Vangel would enter a paranoid frenzy sending all of his guards to protect the spear; not knowing that he would insist on remaining in the white room with the other visitor, Lacey. He planned to pickpocket the only key to the padlock which was with Vangel at all times in the confusion of the darkness.

Ransu lied when he said he didn't ruin the backup generator. At 11:01, Ransu triggered his remote detonator while Lacey and Vangel were too distracted to focus on him in anticipation. Ransu ran straight towards Vangel, and stole the key. He was at the case now, Vangel hopelessly telling him and Lacey to stop the person from reaching the spear. Little did he know.

Ransu fired his gun at the padlock, while making sure not to break it. Near the glass case's door some small pieces of metal and stone were found, to avoid implicating himself, Lacey or Vangel who were the only ones in the white room when the lights turned off. However, Ransu was the only person that had access to the power room key. Without the power room key, the only other person that could have performed the theft was George, but no secret passages exist.

Ransu unlocked the padlock with his stolen key, pocketed the spear, and while Vangel was still in a dazed state trying to adjust to the dark, he placed the key back on Vangel's person right where he found it. Ransu then ran away from the area of theft to ensure that it was plausible that one of the guards did it, and successfully maintained his appearance that he and Lacey, were still in their positions, trying to feel their way in the dark.
The narration is the truth, as the rules say. At one point, it said Vangel had the key with him the whole time: "
Vangel held the key he has had since he locked the case with a padlock in his closed palm, and threw it to the floor.
"

As for the explosives, I believe an explosion would have been heard had one been used

Something else I should mention is that Ransu and Lacey meant "i didnt steal the spear" with their "i didn't do it"s

Oh, and one last thing:
the spear is longer than the average human. There is no way to hide it on your person.

2 718281828459 wrote:It seems there is insufficient information to find the identity of the person who disappeared. The annoying thing is that I can only see there being a disappearance if Ransu is the killer, but I cannot figure out how Ransu could be the killer.
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Post Post #17 (ISO) » Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:50 pm

Post by Mewtaph »

Hmm, ok. So again the person that killed is the only person that can lie.

Given that Ransu and Lacey couldn't hide it on their person, that means they couldn't have done the theft because:
In post 0, Segaco wrote:No gaps under doors.
So even if they somehow managed to turn off the lights remotely, they would not be able to hide the spear in another room because (Music Room, Lounge, Storage, Entrance) were all guarded and Ransu or Lacey couldn't have hidden the spear in storage, for example without an accomplice.

I definitely don't think they would have had enough time to run upstairs.

Every guard in starting guard position would have had to enter the white room to go upstairs to the power room to switch off the lights, but Vangel/Lacey/Ransu definitely would have seen that? So maybe there is a 9th person at play. Maybe a guard is lying and actually started upstairs?

For the murder, it seems that they unlocked the window somehow and performed the murder that way because Lacey says in purple:
In post 0, Segaco wrote:Lacey: "No one has walked out the door since we got in."
Unless Lacey is lying and she actually commited the murder.

But Westy's purple statement indicates that the murderer did not escape through the window.
In post 0, Segaco wrote:Westy: "And from what I can see there are no footprints outside in the snow. The blizzard stopped long ago, so it is impossible for more snow to have covered possible footprints."
So I think our murderer is either Lacey or Westy?

For the disappearance, Lacey herself obviously couldn't take a part in the disappearance without an accomplice so that can be ruled out. I agree that the timing seems to eliminate Westy, Easty and Ransu (not enough time). George and Northy are also accounted for and couldn't have done the disappearance.
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Post Post #18 (ISO) » Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:24 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

The problem with Westy is that Easty said that the windows were locked. I think the point of these is that you cannot escape through a window and also lock it.
@Mod: Is it possible for a person to lock a window from the outside?


I still think Southy wounded Vangel and ran, and Vangel locked himself in out of fear and died shortly thereafter. This explains both the theft and the murder (Southy could have simply lied that no one went through the door and taken the spear herself).

The only rule is that no one can knowingly aid the killer, and anyone except the killer must tell the truth. Nothing says the disappearer and the thief cannot aid each other.

Although, unless we can say that there is some way to disappear with
Westy
, Easty, and Ransu all truthful, it follows that the killer must be one of those
three
two, as Westy's purple being false gives no new possiblities.

Hmmm... wait... I think I have something...
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Post Post #19 (ISO) » Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:30 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

So:
  • Southy can be the thief and the killer, but the disappearance becomes "impossible".
    EDIT
    : Actually, this version of events does not explain Vangel's orientation.
  • Easty could not have done the murder, because even if the window was unlocked, Westy would have caught the footprints.
  • Westy could be the thief and killer, but his only purple in the disappearance does not add any new possibilities.
  • Ransu has no purples that allow him or anyone else to be the killer. Or so I think.
  • No other culprit adds for changes in the disappearance.
Therefore, something I considered impossible is actually possible. Either
(1) The murder is possible with all purples being true, or
(2) The disappearance is possible with all purples being true, or
(3) Easty found a way to escape after killing Vangel.
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Post Post #20 (ISO) » Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:42 am

Post by Segaco »

In post 18, 2 718281828459 wrote:
@Mod: Is it possible for a person to lock a window from the outside?
It is not.
Windows can only be locked from the inside.
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Post Post #21 (ISO) » Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:53 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

Theory 03I do not expect this to work, but I just need a few reds.
Easty is the culprit. A 9th person Barbara "disappeared" as I will explain.

THEFT:
Barbara went upstairs and destroyed the generator in the power room, then fled to the bathroom and hid there.
Easty grabbed a lock & key from the storage that looked like the one Vangel used, and quietly opened the door, walked in, and closed the door. Then he stepped towards the corner of the room that he knew Vangel et al were in, shot the padlock to destroy it, opened the case, grabbed the spear, closed the case, replaced the padlock, cleaned up his mess partially, and then ran back into storage and hid the spear in there. (Or perhaps he ran up to Barbara and gave her the spear...?)

MURDER:
Easty went in, killed Vangel (I keep wanting to write "Xerxes"...), then ran out, and
used a drone to lock & chain the door
. Then he flew the drone somewhere that was not visible. The drone was not a person, and thus no PERSON was hiding in the room.

SITUATION THREE:
Barbara hid in the bathroom and Easty lied that no one was there.


EDIT: Clarified Easty's use of the drone.
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Post Post #22 (ISO) » Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:36 pm

Post by Segaco »

An accomplice is someone who helps the culprit in the execution of their plans. This is not just limited to the murder, but all the tricks the culprit may pull.
So your Barbara would be an accomplice for destroying the backup generator and then turning off the lights, but they are not allowed to exist.

It seems I wasn't as clear as I thought in the story. The glass case is in the center of the room.
This is immaterial to the mystery, but I wanted to leave it out there.

As for your howdunnits: For the theft I have nothing to say
For the murder you get a
the office's door can only be locked by hand. The same goes with the chain lock, it can only be set by hand.

And the last theory is denied by the fact accomplices don't exist.
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Post Post #23 (ISO) » Mon Dec 17, 2018 3:48 pm

Post by 2 718281828459 »

That is about the least helpful clue you could possibly give. I had an interesting idea for a different resolution but I forgot it...
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Post Post #24 (ISO) » Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:39 pm

Post by Mewtaph »

Theft

The thing I am stuck on with the theft is the lights. How did the thief turn off the lights?

Murder

Vangel started out in the storage at the end of the theft then made it locked inside of his office for the murder scene. So him running to his office and locking himself in seems like a plausible explanation while everyone was occupied with searching for this ninth person. But then I think they would have noticed blood leading up from the white room to the office.

Dejected, he walked into the white room and was then told something of interest, which made him immediately run to a certain room.


This is pretty interesting and suggests Vangel was manipulated in some way that allowed the murder to take place. Maybe he was instructed to do things like the phone call at the beginning of the narration.

Disappearance

Westy was in the games room. Lacey was already in the guest room. When Westy heard the door open, he saw someone he couldn't recognize because of the mask, hat and cape they were wearing carrying Lacey.

Lacey and the figure ran back into the guest room upon being seen. Easty ran out of the Power Room when he heard his friend scream.

Easty: "What happened?!"
Westy: "No time to explain! Someone suspicious is in the Guest Room!"

Seconds after, the two were trying to enter the Guest Room. The door had been locked, however, and the two took their time to break down the door

So then, the unknown person in the Guest Room may have found a way to escape. So Ransu is not cleared, only Easty/Westy are - Easty came immediately after the initial scream.

Note how the window is unlocked. The window can only be unlocked from the inside. It is likely our culprit convinced Lacey to open the door which is why Westy only heard the door open with the person holding Lacey, and didn't hear the door open when this mysterious person opened the door to enter the guest room in the first place.

Ransu lying about the footprints would allow this window deduction to make sense, but by necessity this would mean that Ransu also needed to have committed the murder (so he can lie in purple statements).
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