The locked room, part 5
Jul. 16th, 2002 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davywavyA thrilling LJ tale in five parts. You are advised to read parts 1-4 first, by scrolling down to them.
Constable Wilkins and the three servants sat in the lounge. An air of quiet expectation hung over the scene. Inspector Jenks stood by the fireplace, puffing on his pipe. He was thinking, putting the final facts of the case together in his head before relating them.
“This case, from the outset, was obviously no ordinary case. In fact, I hazard to suggest it is unique in my experience. We shall look at the facts, one at a time.
"First: the murder weapon. The knife Doctor Black used to open his mail. Jarvis said it was silver – and yet it was found by a metal detector, which finds ferric metals.”
Jarvis opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the inspector.
“I should say at this point that I see no reason to doubt the testimony of any one of you – Jarvis, you have worked for Doctor Black for many years, and I think that you genuinely believed the knife to be silver. Or rather – the knife was silver…and then it wasn’t.
“Second. The blood on the knife. It was still red – when blood congeals quickly to a muddy brown. How could this be, when the murder had taken place hours previously?
“Third; the fact that the knife was found where it was – how did it come to be there? It wasn’t thrown from the murder room, nor was it carried there. Then how?
“Fourth; the Locked Room. Why was the room described as ‘locked’ when it so obviously wasn’t? A chair behind the door? With a door key to hand? It almost seems as if someone wanted me to the think the door was locked – when it never was!”
There was silence in the room. Nobody could understand what the inspector was saying.
“This is,” continued Jenks, “a case that nearly baffled me. Nearly, but not quite. The killer had to be someone of prodigious intellect, who had, it seems, access to all parts of the house, and could change the arrangement of the clues with seeming impunity. Only one person had that sort of power. The killer is…”
Can you identify who really killed Doctor Black? The answer will be posted here at 5pm today.
Constable Wilkins and the three servants sat in the lounge. An air of quiet expectation hung over the scene. Inspector Jenks stood by the fireplace, puffing on his pipe. He was thinking, putting the final facts of the case together in his head before relating them.
“This case, from the outset, was obviously no ordinary case. In fact, I hazard to suggest it is unique in my experience. We shall look at the facts, one at a time.
"First: the murder weapon. The knife Doctor Black used to open his mail. Jarvis said it was silver – and yet it was found by a metal detector, which finds ferric metals.”
Jarvis opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the inspector.
“I should say at this point that I see no reason to doubt the testimony of any one of you – Jarvis, you have worked for Doctor Black for many years, and I think that you genuinely believed the knife to be silver. Or rather – the knife was silver…and then it wasn’t.
“Second. The blood on the knife. It was still red – when blood congeals quickly to a muddy brown. How could this be, when the murder had taken place hours previously?
“Third; the fact that the knife was found where it was – how did it come to be there? It wasn’t thrown from the murder room, nor was it carried there. Then how?
“Fourth; the Locked Room. Why was the room described as ‘locked’ when it so obviously wasn’t? A chair behind the door? With a door key to hand? It almost seems as if someone wanted me to the think the door was locked – when it never was!”
There was silence in the room. Nobody could understand what the inspector was saying.
“This is,” continued Jenks, “a case that nearly baffled me. Nearly, but not quite. The killer had to be someone of prodigious intellect, who had, it seems, access to all parts of the house, and could change the arrangement of the clues with seeming impunity. Only one person had that sort of power. The killer is…”
Can you identify who really killed Doctor Black? The answer will be posted here at 5pm today.
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no subject
Date: 2002-07-16 08:00 am (UTC)The assembled servants gasped.
Inspector Jenks suddenly turned to face the constable, who was blinking in surprise as he took a half step backwards.
"What on earth do you mean? Theres no reason for me..." the constable started.
"Or should I say..." Inspector Jenks tugged at the constable's face, pulling away a plastic mask, revealing a man who bore a striking resemblance to Mr.Black, "Jeremy Black!"
The assembled servants gasped, Mrs White swooned.
"You framed the servants so you could reclaim your inheriance and the priceless silver knife, thereby leaving you with the deeds to the house so you could build the bypass through it that you've always wanted."
"Curse you Inspector Jecks!" fumed the now revealed Jeremy. "And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling kids and their dog."
Inspector Jecks blinked. "Pardon?"
"Sorry," said Jeremy, "Just always wanted to say that."
no subject
Date: 2002-07-16 08:48 am (UTC)The blood...big point...assuming that anticoagulants haven't been used, it can only be concluded that what's on the knife is either not blood or that it was planted there at a later date. This being a famous detective, it's more than likely he can tell the difference.
I suspect the whole magnetism angle is a red herring, and the knife found its way there through being thrown after the death of Dr Black from a position on the appropriate side of the house. Two points: firstly, if the metal detector was an invention of the late Dr Black, how does Jenks know it only detects ferrous materials? secondly, metal detectors don't just detect ferrous materials, since it's conductivity that they operate off. That's why they go crazy in the presence of water, and why they use special metal detectors that don't go crazy in in the presence of water to detect aluminium in the digestive tracts of people who've swallowed it, since aluminium doesn't show up on X-ray but does show up with metal detectors. As such the knife could easily be silver and uneffected by magnetism.
This leaves me to the following conclusion:
Mr Grey is actually Dr Black. That explains why the metal detector is in his garage. It also explains why Jenks has all that duff info on how metal detectors work, since he recieved instruction from Grey. Grey/Black, being a doctor of physics, is the supreme intellect that Jenks is referring to. He lets the fake Dr Black sit about and do stuff whilst he can live an eccentric life in a garage messing about with magnetism.
For motives unknown he slit the fake Dr Black's throat, positioned the chair on the other side to fall into place when he closed the door, locking the door from the other side and disposing of the key. Presumably Jarvis has his own key, being a buytler and getting into it in the first place with no key being on the other side of the door to prevent him doing so.
He then disposes of the blade on the other side of the house. The blood not congealing thing I've not sussed yet. Possibly some obscure magnetism thing, but I'm not sure. The He rigged up various apparatus in his garage to make noise in his absence so Mrs White would hear it and provide him with an alibi.
Anywhere near?
no subject
Date: 2002-07-16 08:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-16 08:56 am (UTC)Unless he was a haemophiliac ;p Good old Wimsey.
Following on from Rikk's comments - how much do *you* know about metal detectors?
You've commented on Mr Grey's brown-stained boots - probably a red herrng, but possibly a way of masking bloodstains.
no subject
Date: 2002-07-16 09:01 am (UTC)The Grey story seems more and more likely...
and the view from the bar?
Failing that I still say the aliens did it and dave is just ignoring the facts that are so blatently present if only he could stop being brain washed by the governemnt lies.