Posted December 28, 2015
high rated
Greetings, folks! I'm back again with yet another puzzle for you to solve (the first one being here)! This time I've changed the title a bit to reflect that stuff is actually being given away here so maybe you people will actually pay attention. Since mikopotato was our last grand prize winner, a special person he knows makes a cameo appearance (or perhaps a main role!). Rules are as follows:
1. There are 3 questions to be answered. You must answer all 3 of them via private message.
2. Ask as many questions as you want. I will answer all of them unless I deem that the answers will reveal too much.
3. Feel free to post your thoughts in this thread, just beware that others can see them and you might be helping them to the prize. Of course, if this is what you want to do, then by all means, go ahead.
4. No spamming guesses. If you appear to be abusing the amount of times you guess, I will take you out of the running for the prize (although you can still try to solve the mystery).
5. As always, hints will be distributed if excessive stagnation occurs or if I hear enough whining about it.
Prize is any three games of the winner's choosing from my tradelist (page 504, post 10097).
Also, as an alternative prize for those who aren't interested in adding even more games to their backlog, the first, second, and third-place winners will each get to have somebody they know (maybe yourself?) make a cameo appearance in the next mystery.
Warning: You will probably need to take notes for this puzzle. You have been warned.
It was only the day after Damian Rutherford was killed that his community got a full taste of what his life was really like. He seemed like your average white-collar type, working at the Garbanzo Brothers accounting firm, and seemed to do quite well for himself. A solid citizen, he had a nice car and a well-groomed house, but there wasn’t much flair to Damian. His customers certainly didn’t hire him because of his imagination; they hired him because of the decimal-point precision with which he approached life.
At home, there hadn’t been a Mrs. Rutherford on the scene for some several years. Most people figured she had simply gotten bored. However, within days of the discovery of Damian’s body, the entire picture changed. One of his neighbors, a Miss Ivana Stealalot, revelaed that he was in fact a closet Romeo, a prim accountant by day, but a free-wheeling bon vivant by night. He was having dalliances with no fewer than three women at the time of his death, each one claiming to be Damian’s real girlfriend. Those three became the focus of an extensive murder investigation.
Fittingly, Damian had been killed on Valentine’s Day, and the murder scene was consistent with a classic crime of passion. His body lay on the kitchen floor with a knife in his back. The murder weapon was one of his own kitchen knives, which had been taken from its usual resting place on the magnetic rack. It appeared that someone had stabbed Damian when his back was turned. From the absence of a struggle, it was assumed that he knew whoever had murdered him.
The first of Damian’s mistresses to emerge was Evangeline Davidson, who worked at the Estee Lauder counter at the nearby Bloomingdale’s. She said that she had been seeing Damian for over a year, and was shocked to find out that there could have been other women in his life. But as she reflected on their relationship, she realized that his availability was sporadic. She had always chalked his busy schedule up to work-related maters, but now she knew better.
Then there was Daphne Richards, who had met Damian the old-fashioned way: as a tax client. She said she was absolutely convinced that he loved her the most, and to prove it, she brought out an emerald brooch he had given her for Valentine’s Day. Damian had bought the brooch while in South America a few months before.
The third of Damian’s girlfriends was Fia Miko, the only one of the three who was married. She also happened to be a city councilwoman, a highly visible role. Yet no one around her knew of her relationship with Damian. One interesting aspect of the case, which she shed light on, was that Damian had been in California on a business trip for several days prior to his murder. Originally, he was supposed to have returned on the 12th, but his client needed more help than he had planned, so he didn’t return until the 13th – just one day before he was killed.
The Puzzlemaster furrowed his brow upon hearing that little piece of information. He figured that this dead little Casanova might have had something going on in other ports as well, but that was never substantiated. Fia confirmed that Damian had been thinking about her during his trip, as she brought out a gold necklace he had bought for her while he was away.
It turned out that Damian had prevailed upon Evangeline Davidson to visit his house periodically while he was gone. Her main task was to water the plants, but he also wanted her to turn some lights on and off to thwart any potential burglars and even to watch TV to give the house a “lived-in” look. Davidson said she had done that same routine many times in the past, and expressed some feeling that she was being taken for granted. Damian didn’t call her while he was gone. However, he had unexpectedly stopped by her workplace on Valentine’s Day to give her a present – a red silk scarf.
Daphne Richards told the police that she and Damian had gone out to see the movie Bed of Roses the night before his death, and she produced the ticket stubs to prove it. Ivana Stealalot, the nosy neighbor, said that Daphne had stopped by Damian’s house earlier on the 13th, and she didn’t deny it. But she did deny having gone inside, saying that she just stopped by to drop off her Valentine present for Damian. Miss Stealalot confirmed that Daphne had a little smile on her face when she left the house.
According to the “rotation” that seemed to be developing, that left Fia Miko as Damian’s companion on the fateful night of February 14th, and, sure enough, she admitted that they, too, had gone to see a movie. When pressed as to the title, she stammered Dead Man Walking, not liking the irony of the title one bit. The movie was her treat, so she also had ticket stubs to present, which indicated to the authorities that Damian was still alive until at least 9:39 P.M., when the movie ended. The coroner had already estimated the time of death as being between 8:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. based on the preliminary examination of such factors as rigor mortis and eye fluids. So Damian clearly didn’t live very long after the movie. Miko also admitted that she left a message on Damian’s answering machine the night before he came home. The police located that very message on the machine.
Just when it appeared that the investigation was at a standstill, the Puzzlemaster, with a theory in mind, had a talk with one of the women. A confession resulted.
This time, you have 3 questions to answer (no bonus questions today, folks):
1) Who killed Damian Rutherford?
2) Damian’s personality played a role in his demise, in two distinctly different ways. Name them.
3) The testimony of two particular people would prove very helpful in bringing the guilty party to justice. Which two?
1. There are 3 questions to be answered. You must answer all 3 of them via private message.
2. Ask as many questions as you want. I will answer all of them unless I deem that the answers will reveal too much.
3. Feel free to post your thoughts in this thread, just beware that others can see them and you might be helping them to the prize. Of course, if this is what you want to do, then by all means, go ahead.
4. No spamming guesses. If you appear to be abusing the amount of times you guess, I will take you out of the running for the prize (although you can still try to solve the mystery).
5. As always, hints will be distributed if excessive stagnation occurs or if I hear enough whining about it.
Prize is any three games of the winner's choosing from my tradelist (page 504, post 10097).
Also, as an alternative prize for those who aren't interested in adding even more games to their backlog, the first, second, and third-place winners will each get to have somebody they know (maybe yourself?) make a cameo appearance in the next mystery.
Warning: You will probably need to take notes for this puzzle. You have been warned.
It was only the day after Damian Rutherford was killed that his community got a full taste of what his life was really like. He seemed like your average white-collar type, working at the Garbanzo Brothers accounting firm, and seemed to do quite well for himself. A solid citizen, he had a nice car and a well-groomed house, but there wasn’t much flair to Damian. His customers certainly didn’t hire him because of his imagination; they hired him because of the decimal-point precision with which he approached life.
At home, there hadn’t been a Mrs. Rutherford on the scene for some several years. Most people figured she had simply gotten bored. However, within days of the discovery of Damian’s body, the entire picture changed. One of his neighbors, a Miss Ivana Stealalot, revelaed that he was in fact a closet Romeo, a prim accountant by day, but a free-wheeling bon vivant by night. He was having dalliances with no fewer than three women at the time of his death, each one claiming to be Damian’s real girlfriend. Those three became the focus of an extensive murder investigation.
Fittingly, Damian had been killed on Valentine’s Day, and the murder scene was consistent with a classic crime of passion. His body lay on the kitchen floor with a knife in his back. The murder weapon was one of his own kitchen knives, which had been taken from its usual resting place on the magnetic rack. It appeared that someone had stabbed Damian when his back was turned. From the absence of a struggle, it was assumed that he knew whoever had murdered him.
The first of Damian’s mistresses to emerge was Evangeline Davidson, who worked at the Estee Lauder counter at the nearby Bloomingdale’s. She said that she had been seeing Damian for over a year, and was shocked to find out that there could have been other women in his life. But as she reflected on their relationship, she realized that his availability was sporadic. She had always chalked his busy schedule up to work-related maters, but now she knew better.
Then there was Daphne Richards, who had met Damian the old-fashioned way: as a tax client. She said she was absolutely convinced that he loved her the most, and to prove it, she brought out an emerald brooch he had given her for Valentine’s Day. Damian had bought the brooch while in South America a few months before.
The third of Damian’s girlfriends was Fia Miko, the only one of the three who was married. She also happened to be a city councilwoman, a highly visible role. Yet no one around her knew of her relationship with Damian. One interesting aspect of the case, which she shed light on, was that Damian had been in California on a business trip for several days prior to his murder. Originally, he was supposed to have returned on the 12th, but his client needed more help than he had planned, so he didn’t return until the 13th – just one day before he was killed.
The Puzzlemaster furrowed his brow upon hearing that little piece of information. He figured that this dead little Casanova might have had something going on in other ports as well, but that was never substantiated. Fia confirmed that Damian had been thinking about her during his trip, as she brought out a gold necklace he had bought for her while he was away.
It turned out that Damian had prevailed upon Evangeline Davidson to visit his house periodically while he was gone. Her main task was to water the plants, but he also wanted her to turn some lights on and off to thwart any potential burglars and even to watch TV to give the house a “lived-in” look. Davidson said she had done that same routine many times in the past, and expressed some feeling that she was being taken for granted. Damian didn’t call her while he was gone. However, he had unexpectedly stopped by her workplace on Valentine’s Day to give her a present – a red silk scarf.
Daphne Richards told the police that she and Damian had gone out to see the movie Bed of Roses the night before his death, and she produced the ticket stubs to prove it. Ivana Stealalot, the nosy neighbor, said that Daphne had stopped by Damian’s house earlier on the 13th, and she didn’t deny it. But she did deny having gone inside, saying that she just stopped by to drop off her Valentine present for Damian. Miss Stealalot confirmed that Daphne had a little smile on her face when she left the house.
According to the “rotation” that seemed to be developing, that left Fia Miko as Damian’s companion on the fateful night of February 14th, and, sure enough, she admitted that they, too, had gone to see a movie. When pressed as to the title, she stammered Dead Man Walking, not liking the irony of the title one bit. The movie was her treat, so she also had ticket stubs to present, which indicated to the authorities that Damian was still alive until at least 9:39 P.M., when the movie ended. The coroner had already estimated the time of death as being between 8:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. based on the preliminary examination of such factors as rigor mortis and eye fluids. So Damian clearly didn’t live very long after the movie. Miko also admitted that she left a message on Damian’s answering machine the night before he came home. The police located that very message on the machine.
Just when it appeared that the investigation was at a standstill, the Puzzlemaster, with a theory in mind, had a talk with one of the women. A confession resulted.
This time, you have 3 questions to answer (no bonus questions today, folks):
1) Who killed Damian Rutherford?
2) Damian’s personality played a role in his demise, in two distinctly different ways. Name them.
3) The testimony of two particular people would prove very helpful in bringing the guilty party to justice. Which two?
Post edited December 30, 2015 by zeogold
