BRAIN TEASERS

BY SHEELAA.S
SOURCE: WWW.BRAINGLE.COM
CASE 1
"A punk who was caught holding up a filling station yesterday has confessed to several
unsolved crimes," Inspector Winters said to Dr. Haledjian. "He named Red Kirk as his partner in a
supermarket holdup a few years back. This morning, I picked up a search warrant and visited
Kirk's last known address, a boarding house on Waco. Kirk wasn't in but, his partner, Les Curran,
a counterfeiter, showed up at noon. He denied knowing where Red Kirk was."

"This is the last day of the month. So Kirk, who by the way is a vegetarian, has only to keep out
of sight and keep moving for 30 days. In another month, the statute of limitations on his
supermarket job will expire. He'll be in the clear."

"The part that baffles me is the groceries I found on his bed." concluded the Inspector. "I can't
figure them out. There were 6 coffee beans, 8 boxes of cocoa, 10 tomatoes, 4 pieces of toast,
5 boxes of hominy, 21 tea bags, and 27 cubes of sugar!"

After a moment's hesitation, Haledjian said, "Kirk plans to keep moving about the country next
month to avoid capture. But you should have no trouble apprehending him. The next place to
find him is-"
ANSWER

 Toast, NC.

Haledjian deduced that the foodstuffs were an itinerary in code for Kirk's roommate,
Curran. The number of each article stands for the day of the month in which Kirk would be
at a particular place:

Toast, NC; Hominy, OK; Coffee, GA; Cocoa, FL; Tomato, MS; Tea, SD; Sugar, ID.
CASE 2
THE UNKNOWN MESSAGE
The Seekers of Knowledge found themselves on another quest. This time they had to enter the great
wizard tower of Vanya. She was to be caught and brought back to the city of Raptin for justice to be
served.
Within the tower, the group had encountered many deadly traps and a few roaming monsters. These
monsters had been altered using alchemy and were no longer natural. The group had taken many injuries
and was having a hard time reaching Vanya.
They had entered a room that had a wooden chest in the right corner. It was a fancy chest with
engravings and pictures on it. On the top of the wooden chest was some writing. Unfortunately, some of
the letters were worn smooth and the message was unreadable.
Sid, being one of the smartest, realized it was a clue as to where they might find Vanya. The group
secured the room and began to work on the clue message.
Can you help find the missing letters indicated by the *'s to complete the message and help the group
find Vanya?
The wooden chest had the following written on the lid:
*h**e *o*r *e*r* i*, t***e i* yo** tr*a*u*e, w**re **ur *re*s*r* *s, t*e*e *s *o*r **ar*.

Missing Letters:
TTTYYYRRRRRWEEEEEEHHHHHUUUUAASSSOII
ANSWER

 Where your heart is, there is your treasure. Where your treasure is, there is your heart.

After solving the message, the group was able to open the wooden chest by pressing on
the engraving of a heart. Inside the chest, they found a few personal belongings of Vanya.
With them, they were able to discover what Vanya treasured the most and that she would
be with Darcon, her love.
CASE 3
MYSTERY OF PEARLS
Joseph went into the Jewel's Jewelry shop to buy a gift for his girlfriend, Amber. He knew that she
loved pearls of any color; it made no difference to her. After a bit of looking, a young lady came
over and asked, "May I help you?" He glanced up and said, "Yes, I am looking for a real pearl
necklace. Amber's birthday is coming up and I want to get something she would love."

She nodded to him, and said, "Well, we have a great selection of pearl jewelry over here. We also
have this beautiful white pearl necklace. The pearls are real," she said as she pulled it out from
under the counter to show it to him. He touched it and rubbed it some. The gold chain inlaid with
small white pearls was beautiful. "You're positive they are real?" he asked as he glanced at her. "Yes,
sir, they are real pearls; we don't sell imitation jewelry here." He nodded and said, "I'll take it, and
can you gift wrap it please?" he said as he pulled out his wallet and paid for it.

At Amber's birthday party she opened his gift. She hugged him and cried for the gift he gave her.

Later, Joseph told Amber that the pearls in the necklace were real and not imitations. Amber
laughed, "Who told you that?" He looked a little upset, "The lady at Jewel's Jewelry did." Amber said
nothing for a few moments and then said, "She lied to you, these aren't real, but imitation pearls."

How did Amber know that the lady at Jewel's Jewelry lied to Joseph?
ANSWER
The pearls on the necklace were smooth and slippery when Amber rubbed them gently across
her teeth. Amber knew then they were fake, for if they had been real, they would have been
gritty.
CASE 4
In the middle of New York City, police officers were called to a bank robbery. The thief had already
escaped with the contents of the bank's main vault minutes before the police arrived. They
received information from the witnesses and narrowed the suspect list down to two people. From
the information below, can you determine who committed the bank robbery?

SUSPECT #1:
"Hello, detective," said the first suspect.
"Good morning. Do you know anything about what happened in the bank earlier today?"
"Yes, but only what I've heard other people say. People were talking about it at work. I think they
said the suspect escaped in a red minivan, wearing a dark colored mask, and he had three large
bags of money."

SUSPECT #2:
"Sir, where were you at the time of the crime?" asked the detective.
"I was at work. I work down the road from the bank, at the insurance building," responded the
suspect.
"Have you ever been in that bank?" the detective asked.
"Never. I use another bank on the other side of town," he responded.
The detective continued his questioning. "Do you mind if we bring you to the bank to see if you
match some of the evidence left behind?"
"Go ahead," said the suspect, "take me back to the bank and see what you can find."
ANSWER
 Suspect #2 is the one who had committed the crime. He had said "take me back to the
bank" after he said he had never been inside of that bank.

The detective immediately caught this mistake and brought the suspect down to police
headquarters.
CASE 5
 Ray Whitcombe was found dead in his office at his desk. The police have narrowed the suspects
down to three people:
Mrs. Barbara Whitcombe, Ray's wife
Mr. Jason McCubbins, Ray's business partner
Mr. Harold Nichols, Ray's best friend

All three visited Mr. Whitcombe the day of his murder, but all three provided the police with
stories of explanation as to the reason for their visit.

Police found Mr. Whitcombe with his wrist watch still on his right arm, a torn up picture of his wife
laying on the floor beside the trash can, and an ink pen in his right hand. On the desk, the police
found a name plate, a telephone that was off the hook, and a personal calendar turned to the
July 5th page with 7B91011 written on it. After examining this evidence, the police knew their
suspect.

Who was it?

ANSWER
 Jason McCubbins, Ray's business partner.
The calendar was the clue to solving this murder. The police realized that since Mr.
Whitcombe was wearing his watch on his right arm, he must have been left-handed.
Realizing that the number on the calendar was written in a hurry and with his opposite
hand, police matched the written number with the months of the year. So the B was an 8,
thereby giving us 7-8-9-10-11: July, August, September, October, November. Use the first
letter of each month and it spells J-A-S-O-N.