Last week we learned of the tragic death of a diva. It turns out one of the world’s best detectives reads this blog. Based on her extensive experience, she has produced FOUR explanations. Yes, I said four.
Review the circumstances next, and then examine the submitted solutions. At the end I will reveal a bit of information about this detective.
There is still time if anyone else wants to dip into the detection pot. Please send me any solutions by this coming Friday.
Then we’ll see what Elmo Sherwin was able to figure out.
* * *
A narcissistic universally hated blackmailing brilliant opera soprano locks herself in a room to practice her aria for an upcoming production. When she fails to emerge after an hour, the maestro uses his key to enter the windowless single door space to find his star crushed by the chandelier. The floor is littered with a mixture of orange shards from the lights, a small number of other fragments similar to that of the large crystal burgundy wine glass resting on its side on a nearby table, several small screws, and twist nuts of the type used to secure the connection of two or more wires. The carpet has a small hole underneath the fallen body.
Solution 1: The opera singer was narcissistic, and so she was focused on her mirror when she walked in the room. She did not see the filament that ran from below the floor (through the hole) to the top of the chandelier, and when she walked through the filament she broke it and the chandelier dropped on her head.
Solution 2: The connections on the wire that holds the chandelier on the ceiling were loosened just to the point before separating the wires. When the opera singer hit the high note in her aria and held it, it was at the right frequency to cause the connectors to vibrate and twist the small amount needed to drop the chandelier on the singer. The hole in the floor occurred when her elbow hit it very very hard.
Solution 3: The singer was so enthralled with herself that she did not even look towards the floor, where the murderer had drilled a small hole. As the singer approached the hole in the floor, the murderer shot a small caliber bullet from the hole to the wire holding the chandelier, causing it to drop on the singer.
Solution 4: Someone poisoned the wine and when the hefty singer drank it then fell to the floor in death, the resulting thud vibrated the room so much the chandelier fell.
Are you shaking your head at the creativity here? I am. Did one or more of the solutions give you a good laugh? They did me.
As I read these solutions I thought that the ideas in them could be fleshed out into a full story that would rival some of the best work of John Dickson Carr. I’m impressed, and I promise not to steal any of them despite the temptation.
So who is this secret detective hiding behind a completely different career? I am proud to say it is my daughter. Should I worry I have spawned a child with such a chimerical mind? Not at all. Just the opposite.
Review the circumstances next, and then examine the submitted solutions. At the end I will reveal a bit of information about this detective.
There is still time if anyone else wants to dip into the detection pot. Please send me any solutions by this coming Friday.
Then we’ll see what Elmo Sherwin was able to figure out.
* * *
A narcissistic universally hated blackmailing brilliant opera soprano locks herself in a room to practice her aria for an upcoming production. When she fails to emerge after an hour, the maestro uses his key to enter the windowless single door space to find his star crushed by the chandelier. The floor is littered with a mixture of orange shards from the lights, a small number of other fragments similar to that of the large crystal burgundy wine glass resting on its side on a nearby table, several small screws, and twist nuts of the type used to secure the connection of two or more wires. The carpet has a small hole underneath the fallen body.
Solution 1: The opera singer was narcissistic, and so she was focused on her mirror when she walked in the room. She did not see the filament that ran from below the floor (through the hole) to the top of the chandelier, and when she walked through the filament she broke it and the chandelier dropped on her head.
Solution 2: The connections on the wire that holds the chandelier on the ceiling were loosened just to the point before separating the wires. When the opera singer hit the high note in her aria and held it, it was at the right frequency to cause the connectors to vibrate and twist the small amount needed to drop the chandelier on the singer. The hole in the floor occurred when her elbow hit it very very hard.
Solution 3: The singer was so enthralled with herself that she did not even look towards the floor, where the murderer had drilled a small hole. As the singer approached the hole in the floor, the murderer shot a small caliber bullet from the hole to the wire holding the chandelier, causing it to drop on the singer.
Solution 4: Someone poisoned the wine and when the hefty singer drank it then fell to the floor in death, the resulting thud vibrated the room so much the chandelier fell.
Are you shaking your head at the creativity here? I am. Did one or more of the solutions give you a good laugh? They did me.
As I read these solutions I thought that the ideas in them could be fleshed out into a full story that would rival some of the best work of John Dickson Carr. I’m impressed, and I promise not to steal any of them despite the temptation.
So who is this secret detective hiding behind a completely different career? I am proud to say it is my daughter. Should I worry I have spawned a child with such a chimerical mind? Not at all. Just the opposite.
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