Murder Riddle III (Solved!)

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Post Post #50 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 10:07 am

Post by Allomancer »

So Southy could have thrown the knife at Vangel through the chained door, and lied about him being dead from behind. However, I don't see how she could have locked the door then.
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Post Post #51 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 10:24 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

The following should be impeccable logic:
0. First, let me solve the disappearance.
1. We know that "Lacey and the figure" went into the Guest Room. So there were at least 2 people in the guest room at some point.
2. We know that Westy and Easty took their time to break the door.
3. We know that by the time Westy and Easty broke the door, there was no one inside the room except Lacey.
4. There are no secret passages, and the kidnapper did not leave through the same door.
5.
That implies that the kidnapper left through the window,
as there is no other way out.
6. We know for sure that anyone who leaves through a window will create footprints, and erasing them does not work.
7. Ransu said there were no footprints.
8.
Ransu is the kidnapper
.
9. That implies that Ransu is also the thief.
A. Ransu was with Vangel and Lacey for all moments until the lights turned off.
B. Ransu is the only one who could have turned off the power, as anyone else would either have no reason to or would be an accomplice, which would not exist.
C.
Ransu flipped the switch remotely
. (However, the backup could have been destroyed earlier.)
D. We also know that Ransu is the killer.
E. Vangel's body was found in the center of the room.
F. At the end, Ransu was outside the room, and the chain and lock were both set.
10. Both the chain and the key lock could only be set from the inside.
11. No secret passages exist.
12. Therefore, there was a point with Vangel dead, where they were both inside or both outside, or Ransu was outside and Vangel inside.
13. If they were both outside, then Ransu could not have gotten Vangel inside without opening the door and walking in, leaving us in situation 14.
14. If they were both inside, then Ransu is trapped: he cannot escape through the window without footprints, and he cannot leave the room without opening the door, and once he leaves, we are still stuck as in 15.
15. If Ransu was outside and Vangel inside, the most that could happen is that Ransu could use the spear (or throw a knife) to stab Vangel when he is in the center of the room.
16. But if that happens, Ransu still has no way of locking the key lock without falling back into situation 14.
17. So, Ransu has no way of killing Vangel and also escaping.
18. Ransu is not the killer.
19. 18 contradicts D via "impeccable logic", so there is no solution.
1A. There is a solution.
1B. 19 contradicts 1A, so at least one of the steps 1-18 is logically unsound.
1C. The likely candidates are 5, A, B, E, F, 13-16, or 17.

I need a constructive hint
. (By constructive, I mean something that actually gets me closer to figuring out what IS the answer, rather than just eliminating possibilities that are NOT the answer.)
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Post Post #52 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 10:36 am

Post by Allomancer »

What about the picture of a duck Ransu said "wasn't important"? Don't see how it helps...
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Post Post #53 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:02 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

The duck part is not even in purple. I wonder if Segaco just wanted to waste a line.

Also, did you see this?
In post 49, 2 718281828459 wrote:I highlighted all statements Southy said in yellow and all statements Ransu said in orange.
Spoiler: Everyone except Southy and Ransu are clear
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 rumored 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 burst 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?!"
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Post Post #54 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:10 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

Of course. The part about the key is a lie. How about this:
1. Ransu gathered a padlock, its key, and a gun. He also destroyed the backup generator.
2. Ransu placed a device on the power switch that would turn off the power at 11:01.
3. When the lights turned off, Ransu danced around the room, blasted the lock, took the spear, ran away, hid it, and ran back and pretended to be guarding the spear.
4. Later on, Vangel had chain-locked himself in the office. Ransu had stolen the key from the office. Ransu opened the door a crack, reached in, stabbed Vangel with the Spear, tossed a random wet knife into the room for confusion, brought the spear out and hid it, locked the door with the key, and then later on in the chaos Ransu inserted the key into the lock so it looked like it had been there the whole time.
5. Ransu decided for whatever reason to kidnap Lacey. When he realized he was busted, he jumped out, ran around, and pretended to have come from somewhere innocent. He of course lied that there were no footprints.


It is
so
easy to forget how easily one forgets...

If this (or something very similar to it) is not the solution I think I may have to give up
.
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Post Post #55 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:34 am

Post by Allomancer »

I was going to point this out, but then I realized you must be right.
In post 0, Segaco wrote:Lacey: "Oh, so there IS a key on the other side of the keyhole. You weren't lying."
This takes place later, and Ransu could have easily inserted the key with some clever sleight of hand.
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Post Post #56 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:56 am

Post by Segaco »

I cannot give hints due to how close you are on some things, I'm afraid.
Allomancer wrote:What about the picture of a duck Ransu said "wasn't important"? Don't see how it helps...
If it called your attention, it must have called someone else's.
2 718281828459 wrote:Of course. The part about the key is a lie. How about this:
1. Ransu gathered a padlock, its key, and a gun. He also destroyed the backup generator.
2. Ransu placed a device on the power switch that would turn off the power at 11:01.
3. When the lights turned off, Ransu danced around the room, blasted the lock, took the spear, ran away, hid it, and ran back and pretended to be guarding the spear.
4. Later on, Vangel had chain-locked himself in the office. Ransu had stolen the key from the office. Ransu opened the door a crack, reached in, stabbed Vangel with the Spear, tossed a random wet knife into the room for confusion, brought the spear out and hid it, locked the door with the key, and then later on in the chaos Ransu inserted the key into the lock so it looked like it had been there the whole time.
5. Ransu decided for whatever reason to kidnap Lacey. When he realized he was busted, he jumped out, ran around, and pretended to have come from somewhere innocent. He of course lied that there were no footprints.


It is
so
easy to forget how easily one forgets...

If this (or something very similar to it) is not the solution I think I may have to give up
.
That answer would make for a great mystery, but it is sadly not the truth here.

Here's a push in the right direction for the theft:
the switch was flipped manually.

But do not fret yet, and think...
Is there another way for the backup generator not to work, somehow? Re reading should help with that.
If you follow the correct line of thinking, the line above should make sense.

Anyway, let's go to the murder: As mentioned, Lacey was by the doorway the whole time.
She would have definitely noticed anyone putting a key in the keyhole.


------

Now that you've mentioned giving up, let me add a new mechanic.
If you want to give up and get the answer, you have to post the following statement in
red
: "I give up, I surrender. I hereby declare myself loser of this game. Oh great mod, would you please be so merciful to send me the solution to this wonderful mystery via private message?"
This is to ensure no one actually gives up :p, but if you really want to know the answer without solving the game...
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Post Post #57 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:06 pm

Post by 2 718281828459 »

...four hours. Of course. Four hours. The generator can power the lights for FOUR HOURS.

So clearly at 7:00, the culprit got the backup generator working, faked it being destroyed, and turned off the switch. No one else noticed until 240 minutes later when the power went out.


2.718
: "
I am not QUITE ready to give up.
. However, what annoys me is that your red for the murder is exactly the kind of non-constructive clue that just shoots down creative possibilities without giving any real way of coming up with new ideas to replace the bad ones."

Duck.
Duck can be a noun or a verb. Someone ducked their head?...
(But that part was not even in purple!)

Donald Duck? Daffy Duck?

Anyway:
Ransu lied that it is even impossible to operate a key with a different key on the other side of the door. Somehow, Ransu pickpocketed the master key from George, and then used it to lock the door with the room key still there on the other side of the door. When Ransu was done, he "anti-pickpocketed" the key, placing it back in George's pocket without him noticing.
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Post Post #58 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:09 pm

Post by 2 718281828459 »

I wonder:
The Narration wrote:Dejected, he [Vangel] walked into the white room and was then told something of interest, which made him immediately run to a certain room.
Are you allowed to say (1) what the "something of interest" was, (2) the "certain room", or (3) who told Vangel the interesting something, without giving away the answer immediately?
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Post Post #59 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:35 pm

Post by 2 718281828459 »

Oh wait. The duck probably just means that Vangel was intrigued by it and was looking at it when he got killed, and so he fell to the ground on top of the picture.
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Post Post #60 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 2:31 pm

Post by Segaco »

2 718281828459 wrote:...four hours. Of course. Four hours. The generator can power the lights for FOUR HOURS.

So clearly at 7:00, the culprit got the backup generator working, faked it being destroyed, and turned off the switch. No one else noticed until 240 minutes later when the power went out.


2.718
: "
I am not QUITE ready to give up.
. However, what annoys me is that your red for the murder is exactly the kind of non-constructive clue that just shoots down creative possibilities without giving any real way of coming up with new ideas to replace the bad ones."

Duck.
Duck can be a noun or a verb. Someone ducked their head?...
(But that part was not even in purple!)

Donald Duck? Daffy Duck?

Anyway:
Ransu lied that it is even impossible to operate a key with a different key on the other side of the door. Somehow, Ransu pickpocketed the master key from George, and then used it to lock the door with the room key still there on the other side of the door. When Ransu was done, he "anti-pickpocketed" the key, placing it back in George's pocket without him noticing.
I did not put the poor duck in purple because I wanted for you to be sure it existed.

As for the "hint", allow me to rephrase:
Ransu is not the culprit.

That should do the trick.
In post 58, 2 718281828459 wrote:I wonder:
The Narration wrote:Dejected, he [Vangel] walked into the white room and was then told something of interest, which made him immediately run to a certain room.
Are you allowed to say (1) what the "something of interest" was, (2) the "certain room", or (3) who told Vangel the interesting something, without giving away the answer immediately?
The culprit told him something which made him rush to his office.
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Post Post #61 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 3:11 pm

Post by 2 718281828459 »

Ransu is not the culprit?
In post 51, 2 718281828459 wrote:The following should be impeccable logic:
0. First, let me solve the disappearance.
1. We know that "Lacey and the figure" went into the Guest Room. So there were at least 2 people in the guest room at some point.
2. We know that Westy and Easty took their time to break the door.
3. We know that by the time Westy and Easty broke the door, there was no one inside the room except Lacey.
4. There are no secret passages, and the kidnapper did not leave through the same door.
5.
That implies that the kidnapper left through the window,
as there is no other way out.
6. We know for sure that anyone who leaves through a window will create footprints, and erasing them does not work.
7. Ransu said there were no footprints.
8.
Ransu is the kidnapper
.
OK, now I am starting to seriously consider the possibility that this is just some carrot-on-a-stick "puzzle" designed to see how long it takes me to realize this entire thing is logically impossible.

What "hint" are you rephrasing?

EDIT: There is a famous illusion where you have what looks like a drawing of a duck, but when you rotate it 90 degrees it looks like a rabbit. I wonder if that is somehow involved here.
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Post Post #62 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 3:47 pm

Post by Segaco »

I can assure you an answer does indeed exist. It would be rude of me to make a literal impossible crime.

Anyway, you said the reds I was giving only shot down a certain possibility and didn't help you get ideas. So I rephrased my "Lacey would have noticed someone putting the key in the keyhole" with that, as I don't see other way for Ransu to have done it.
Plus it gives a "wat" effect if you were certain he did it

My last christmas gift will be a hint regarding the disappearance: check what Vangel found during his search of the basement. Something important may be there.
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Post Post #63 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 4:43 pm

Post by 2 718281828459 »

The storage room was basically a city of boxes, filled with old mannequins, padlocks, clothes, plants, and even a fish tank with dead fish.
Yeah, of course I saw that because of the replace-the-lock trick. Are you seriously trying to say that the "Lacey" that was being carried was a mannequin? Because it also says
Lacey and the figure ran back
And besides, a mannequin would be spotted by someone who searched, right?

Or do you mean Lacey was the "kidnapper" pretending to kidnap herself? In either case, would the mannequin not be spotted by a searcher?

And if the mannequin were thrown out the window... it would still be spotted, right?

The culprit has to be Southy or Lacey, and it seems like the former is more likely.
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Post Post #64 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:19 pm

Post by Allomancer »

Lacey is the culprit.

She switched off the power at 7:00, and then when the power went out, stole the spear using the previously mentioned gun/padlock method, and hid it. When Lacey went upstairs, she destroyed the backup generator before Vangel got there, leading to her first lie.
Lacey: "It was like that when I got here. The power switch was set to off, so I just turned it on."
It was not, in fact, like that when she got there, as she had just destroyed it.

Her next lie was related to the murder.
Lacey: "Huh...? The door is locked...?"
The door must not have actually been locked, only the other key inserted. She stabbed Vangel, left the knife, stole the key, stuck the key in the door, left, and put the chain in from outside.

As for how the kindnapping played out, Lacey must have prepared a mannequin of herself from the storage room before taking her nap. She pretended to kidnap herself to make herself look innocent, threw the mannequin out the window, and pretended to go back to sleep.


If this isn't it I give up.
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Post Post #65 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:20 pm

Post by Allomancer »

Lacey being the first to check on the generator is a dead giveaway for the four-hour trick with the generator still destroyed.
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Post Post #66 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:34 pm

Post by Segaco »

I'm afraid I'll have to strike that down.
The chain lock can only be set from the inside of the room.
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Post Post #67 (ISO) » Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:57 pm

Post by Allomancer »

Okay, so same idea as my last post, with the exception as follows: Vangel had chain-locked himself in the room, Lacey opened the door slightly and either stabbed him with the spear or threw the knife at him. She must've already stolen the key, and she then reached inside and inserted it in the lock, without locking it.
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Post Post #68 (ISO) » Tue Dec 25, 2018 3:43 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

The following patch makes the most sense for the murder:
Lacey stabbed him with the spear, and tossed a random wet knife into the room for confusion.


My only problem is, regarding the disappearance,
it would seem like the mannequin, or at least its imprint in the snow, would be seen when Ransu looked outside the window.


Therefore I also want to patch your theory again:
She burned the mannequin and flushed its remains down the toilet or the drain, using the window to not die of carbon monoxide poisoning.
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Post Post #69 (ISO) » Tue Dec 25, 2018 3:54 am

Post by Segaco »

Don't worry, the place the mannequin was put doesn't really matter. Easty only searched the spots a person could hide, but not where an object may be hidden. So a "she hid the mannequin somewhere in the room" would have been fine.

With Number-kun's addition to the theory, it's almost perfect, which means you win!
Ending incoming:

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

Ransu started to search the room. It was impossible for someone to have possibly escaped; even though the window was unlocked, there were no footprints outside in the snow! They were on the second floor, too. A fall from the guest room would probably break one or two bones!


Ransu
: "Have you really searched the whole room?! This is impossible! No one could have left through the window and the two of you were right outside of the door!"
Easty
: "I looked all the places one could hide... I can guarantee there is no one hiding here."

He did not give up his search, however. Ransu looked at Lacey's body laying down and searched even more. Inside the closet, under the bed, even inside the toilet.
...Yet, there was no one to be found.


Southy
: "Just give it up! Leave it all to the police!"
Ransu
: "I will not! I will find him, I swear!!"

He had checked all possible hiding spots, however. There was just nowhere else someone could hide...
Having already given up, he decided to check one last place not really expecting to find anything: the bed. He took off the white sheets covering and was surprised to find a large slash on the mattress. Ransu put his hands inside and rummaged... When he was done, he took out a mannequin, a hat, a mask, a cape and old clothes.


Westy
: "T-That's...! Those clothes belong to the suspicious person I saw!"
Ransu
: "But what is this doing her-"

Right then, Ransu had an epiphany. He knew why this was here, there was only one possibility. But... why?
After asking himself that, everything came together. The complete answer to the mystery was right before his eyes.


Ransu
: ".....It's not a coincidence this is here. This was put here by the actual kidnapper."
George
: "...Are you saying the culprit is naked?"
Ransu
: "What? No! I'm saying that by necessity, whoever tried to kidnap Lacey HAD to hide these things here."
Easty
: "You know, this doesn't particularly mean anything to me."
Ransu
: "It should, it's the key to solving this. Westy, you weren't able to see the kidnapper's face because of the mask, right?"

Westy nodded, and Ransu moved to where the door was.


Ransu
: "Let me repeat one thing I've been saying from the start: It is impossible to escape this room. The door was locked from the inside and there were no footprints on the snow outside the window. This means that the idea of someone somehow escaping is wrong... It's not seemingly impossible like the crimes so far, it truly IS impossible. ...Westy, who do you know for a fact entered this guest room? Before us, I mean."
Westy
: "Uh... Lacey and the masked man?"
Ransu
: "...Again, like I said, you can't escape this room after getting in. The only person we found inside here was Lacey. Connect this to the fact we found a mannequin and the 'kidnapper's' clothes hidden and-"
The rest
: "OOH!"

Everyone understood. Lacey had disguised as the masked man and dressed the mannequin as herself.


Ransu
: "As I asked myself why she would do something like this in this delicate situation, only one thing came to my mind: she wanted to get suspicion off herself, make us believe she couldn't have done something. But what, exactly? There is only one thing, which is Vangel's murder. There would be no need to try to make others not suspect you if you weren't worried about something, and that is how I stumbled to the answer to the locked room office: Lacey lied about the locked door. If anyone were to suspect she was lying, they would likely come across the answer like I did, and she thus kidnapped herself to lead us to think a ninth person was behind all of this."
Northy
: "But it really is impossible. Even if she had lied, the chain was set and it could have only be set from the inside. If she had set it, she couldn't have gotten out!"
Ransu
: "She wasn't the one who set it. Vangel himself MUST have set the chain as you can't leave after setting it, like you said. Maybe she told him she had seen someone suspicious enter his office? I don't know. What I do know is that after Vangel had set the chain and possibly looked around for this person, he found the duck drawing Lacey had left on the floor. While he was distracted examining it, she struck from behind and killed him."
Westy
: "Wait a moment, you said she attacked from behind... But didn't you just say she wasn't in the room...?"
Ransu
: "Yes. She wasn't in the room."
Southy
: "...Does that mean Lacey has a super long arm and stabbed Vangel with the knife through the door gap? It doesn't look like it, but I can get behind that logic!"
Ransu
: "Uh, no. The knife was thrown in for misdirection after the murder. The only way for this to be possible is if she used a long weapon to kill from the outside, through the door gap. And it so happens that a rather long weapon was stolen not long ago..."
George
: "She stole the spear?! How?!"
Ransu
: "As we already know, the backup generator runs out of power if it's turned on for four hours. Lacey knew this and turned off the power four hours before the heist. The backup generator ran till 11, when we were all in position to defend the spear, before running out of power and making the lights go out. In the dark Lacey likely used some kind of night goggles to move and shoot off the padlock in or-"
Northy
: "The padlock was still set in place, though."
Ransu
: "...She shot off the padlock and replaced it with an identical one after taking out the spear. We did not use the case's key after the theft, but it would have certainly not worked then. There's no other explanation for the gunshot... Anyway, she ran upstairs to hide the spear and later came back, and when Vangel had her go upstairs to turn on the lights ,she took the chance to destroy the backup generator. All so we would think a ninth person had destroyed it so they could turn off the power."

As Ransu finished his explanation, Lacey suddenly jumped and dashed to the window... but was promptly stopped by Westy, who charged at her and brought her to the ground.


Lacey
: " Ah!! Let me go!!"
Ransu
: "...Lacey, why did you kill Vangel? I get why one would want to steal the spear, but why murder our friend?!"

After a long struggle where all four guards plus Ransu had to hold her down, she gave up. While being held by all limbs by the guards, she began explaining her motive... The other's faces changed as she finished laying it out.


Westy
: "...Stupid. What you told us is indeed sad, but Vangel had no way of knowing buying the spear would cause that."
Lacey
: "Probably. But with him dead, she can finally rest in peace, at least..."
Ransu
: "Is something like that all one needs to murder...? I really can't believe it..."

Later on, the police arrived to investigate Vangel's murder. They surely did not expect having the culprit already served on a silver platter.


The end.


I will write up the solution in a minute.
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Post Post #70 (ISO) » Tue Dec 25, 2018 4:11 am

Post by 2 718281828459 »

See, I would have assumed that when Easty searched the room he would have seen the mannequin or some indication that it was there. If not, that was a bad search -- if a mannequin could hide in the bed, why not the culprit?

(What is with the name "Number-kun" you are using for me?)
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Post Post #71 (ISO) » Tue Dec 25, 2018 4:49 am

Post by Segaco »

Spoiler: Solution
Lacey's grandmother was at the spear auction. The spear had initially belonged to her ancestors, but she was forced to give it up, and the new owner put it on auction. She bid as much money as she could to win the spear, but was eventually surpassed by Vangel. She begged for him to drop his bid so she could win, but he obviously said no and she got mad. It wasn't even possible to drop the bid at that point, but she did not know. Plus, this was that type of auction where you have to pay what you bid no matter if you win or not, so grandma ended up being poor.
Having lost so much money and something so precious to her family, she went back to her house and told Lacey what had happened. The grandmother damned Vangel and his greed, and soon died of an illness she had been fighting with the same day. At this moment, Lacey decided she was going to kill Vangel with the spear he had indirectly used to kill her grandmother.

While Lacey was in the bathroom, she called Vangel and told him she was going to steal the spear at 11. Having known Vangel for years, she knew he would do something about it even if he thought it was a prank.
One hour later, at 7 PM, she turned off the power switch in the power room so the backup generator would run. During this time, she also went into the storage and took some night goggles and a padlock identical to the one that was being used on the glass case. She also took a white bedsheet from Vangel's room.

At 11, the backup generator ran out of power and the lights went off. Lacey put on the night goggles and made her way to the glass case's door. Holding a gun in one hand and a stone in the other, she put the stone right behind the padlock and shot it off (to not leave a gun hole on the floor or glass case, or accidentally hit someone). With it gone, she took the spear and replaced the broken padlock with the one she had.

After taking the broken padlock from the floor, she ran to a corner of the room, put the spear there and covered it with the white sheet. Then she went back to the case and acted like she did not know what was happening.
When Vangel had her go upstairs, she turned on the lights and destroyed the backup generator.

No one could see the white sheet covering the spear as the room itself was big and white and it blended with the color. This was supposed to be another mystery you had to solve, but I forgot to put George on the stairs upstairs so you would be certain she couldn't have hidden it upstairs, but since I forgot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


For the murder, before anything, Lacey put the drawing of a duck in the center of Vangel's office and got herself the key to the room which had just been left there. After this, she told Vangel she had seen someone carrying the spear in the game room, but when they saw her, the person ran into the office. Vangel rushed to his room and chain locked the door so he could search without worrying about this person escaping as he looked around, but that was sadly part of the culprit's plan.
Vangel saw the locked window and began searching under the bed and inside the closet, but later noticed the drawing of a duck. He got close to it and, as he examined the drawing wondering why it was there, Lacey, who was looking through the keyhole, opened the door as far as it allowed her and killed Vangel with the spear through the door gap. She later hid the spear somewhere in the game room, and then went to the guest room's bathroom to wet a knife she had. She threw this knife into the office through the gap when she was done.

While everyone was searching the room, she flipped over the door and turned the key so it would look like it had been locked the entire time.


As for the disappearance, she got a mannequin and some clothes and hid them in the guest room. She dressed the mannequin as herself and disguised as some guy with a mask.
She got out of the guest room carrying the mannequin, fully expecting to find someone, and when she did ran back into the room and locked the door. Lacey quickly dressed as herself and hid the mannequin plus clothes in a slash she had previously done in the mattress.
And of course, Lacey then acted like she was asleep.

That is how the culprit pulled things off.


Merry christmas and thanks for playing!
In post 70, 2 718281828459 wrote:(What is with the name "Number-kun" you are using for me?)
Well, between those numbers and Number-kun, the latter is easier to write
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Post Post #72 (ISO) » Tue Dec 25, 2018 4:51 am

Post by Allomancer »

I guess the explanation is that the culprit couldn't have gotten inside without waking Lacey. I don't know, I'm just happy we solved it.
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