Deduction Showdown

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

Well this game is very easy... someone will be post a case and people will try to solve it. The max guesses are only 10 (all not each person) and the max time limit is a week per case. Once at least one of these things are reached or once the right answer was guessed, the answer will be revealed. The one with the right answer will be given a rep by the one who made the case. (It now depends on the one who made the case whether he/she wants to give one or not)

 

I will start

 

A male bank accountant was shot dead on his house-style apartment with his laptop still on. A notepad (a program) was still open in and it's written cvq2.RE, in there. The estimated time of death was around 5:00 am.

 

The Victim - Daniel, he was a rich man who is around 50 years old. He isn't married and many person is indebted to him in regards of money.

 

Three person was near on the apartment on that time.

The Suspects:

1.) Benji -

Age: 26 years old.

Job: Car Mechanic

Additional Details: He's a car mechanic who always visits Daniel for maintenance of his sports car. He was poor but came from a rich family and his mother and father, who owns a car company, has died from a car crash when he was a kid (around 6). An unnamed man witnessed it.

 

Testimony: He stated that the reason why he is near the apartment is that he was checking on the sports car and saw a suspicious man. He visited around 4:30 am and left around 4:50.

 

2.) Carl -

Age: 44 years old.

Job: Bus Driver

Additional Details: He's a gadget enthusiast who always visits Daniel to offer him the latest gadgets that the market has. He owns a pistol which went missing on a friend gathering on his house. He is indebted a lot and has been borrowing sums of money from Daniel.

 

Testimony: He stated that the reason why he is near the apartment is that he heard a loud argument that stopped abruptly. He visited to take a look and it was around 4:30 am to 4:40 am.

 

3.) James -

Age: 60 year old.

Job: He worked as a butler, before, but left the job for unknown reason.

Additional Details: He's a typewriter collector. He can't stop buying antique typewriters which resulted him from borrowing lots of money, from Daniel also. They were good friends, though, since they were kids.

 

Testimony: He stated that the reason why he is near the apartment is that he was just passing by. He said that he didn't hear the argument and he was sure that it was around 4:20 - 4:50 am.

 

Clues:

• Benji, Carl and James are all good friends and they are neighbors. Carl and James, though, shares more of a brotherly friendship.
• Benji and James were also present in the friend gathering on Carl's house
• When the three were brought to the crime scene, James was shocked and started crying while shooking his head when he looked at the monitor of the laptop.
• The Pistol owned by Carl is found inside Daniel's Sports car. The side window in the front right seat is also a bit open.
• The bullet from the Pistol matches with the one which penetrated Daniel's head
• The garage and the room where Daniel is killed is side by side and an openable large window separates them.
• The three are also adept in firing pistol from a far range.
• The only one who was positive in gun powder test was James. Carl tried to defend him by saying that they went together in a firing range. James was silent about it
• The events is in this order  James seeing the monitor of the laptop --> Carl's Testament --> James' Testament --> Benji's Testament --> Gun powder test
• The victim's hands are placed on the keyboard

[Kenzi 146]

•  Estimated time of death was at 5:00 (meaning that the body was discovered at or after 5:00)

            -Since James left around 4:50, that would give him time to change clothes so that he could be ruled out as a suspect

            -James is also skilled at firing pistols, so he should be aware that there would be gunpowder on his clothes if he shot Daniel

            -Carl also claimed that the two of them went in a firing range, which may or may not have been a lie since James neither confirmed nor denied it

•  Carl can't possibly be stupid enough to leave his own pistol on the victim's property

            -Plus, it was also stated that his gun went missing during the gathering

•  James was passing by between 4:20-4:50, so that gives him a 20 minute time frame to miss the argument that Carl heard between 4:30-4:40. This is also assuming that "passing by" means a roundabout trip since it probably doesn't take a half-hour to "pass by" the single apartment.

 

Benji was the only person described that was actually in Daniel's apartment (assuming that the car he checked on was located in the garage). As a result, that gave him the best opportunity to frame Carl by putting his pistol into the car--which was probably obtained during the friend gathering in Carl's house. The suspicious man that Benji saw was likely James as he was passing by. The loud argument that Carl heard was probably between Benji and Daniel, but was stopped abruptly by the gunshot (which I assumed wasn't heard because a silencer was used).

[Kirsch 95]

Question: If Daniel is around 30, and James is around 60, what do you mean by they were friends since they were kids?

[Kenzi 146]

Question: If Daniel is around 30, and James is around 60, what do you mean by they were friends since they were kids?

I would assume that it's just a fluke and/or arbitrary information that doesn't contribute much to the case.

[Kirsch 95]

I would assume that it's just a fluke and/or arbitrary information that doesn't contribute much to the case.

Okay. Reading through the info, I got so confused by some things (how/why do you have a sports car in an apartment?).

[Kenzi 146]

Okay. Reading through the info, I got so confused by some things (how/why do you have a sports car in an apartment?).

I've lived in areas where apartments looked like houses. Since you obviously can't park a car in a stacked apartment lol (unless it's for showcasing), he's probably referring to the house-like apartments. Either that, or it's another fluke.

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

sorry... I made that around night xD and I was sleepy... I'm gonna correct some mistakes. Also, please decode the dying message.

guesses: 1

time limit: 6 days

EDIT: Fixed some inconsistencies and added some few info.

@Kenzi-lol. I cannot imagine a car on a stacked apartment

[anonymously anonymous 34]

what is really bugging me is:

why is the RE capital in the DM (dying message)

I am actually not good at deductions but I am really interested in codes and such things

 

anyway this post will be of no use, so I wanted to ask MK... can I do what I just did, and of course it won't count as a guess, right?

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

what is really bugging me is:

why is the RE capital in the DM (dying message)

I am actually not good at deductions but I am really interested in codes and such things

 

anyway this post will be of no use, so I wanted to ask MK... can I do what I just did, and of course it won't count as a guess, right?

Well if you decode the message... It'll be easy to know the culprit.

 

Anyway, guesses: 1

Time Limit: 4 days

[Kirsch 95]

My guess is Benji.

By shifting the letters 2 to the right on the keyboard, you get this:

c ---> b

v ---> n

q ---> e

2 ---> 4, or in Japanese, "shi". If you add the little marking on "shi", you get "ji".

Rearranged the letters and you get "Benji".

The .RE part of the name can be explained as an abbreviation for the domain name "reunion". I'm guessing that Benji's parents' death had something to do with Daniel. James knew about it, but remained silent (hence his reaction) because he expected more. However, in the end, he decided to protect Benji by countering Carl's testament. When Daniel was killed, he realized Benji was the boy from so many years ago, so "reunion".

EDIT: James thought it was Benji (note was definitive proof), but had a soft spot for him, being the 'unnamed man'. He probably got Benji the job to work for Daniel. He shot the gun to get powder on himself, just in case it came to that.

There are so many flaws in this deduction, so can I change it later? As long as it's before the time limit's up?

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

My guess is Benji.

By shifting the letters 2 to the right on the keyboard, you get this:

c ---> b

v ---> n

q ---> e

2 ---> 4, or in Japanese, "shi". If you add the little marking on "shi", you get "ji".

Rearranged the letters and you get "Benji".

The .RE part of the name can be explained as an abbreviation for the domain name "reunion". I'm guessing that Benji's parents' death had something to do with Daniel. James knew about it, but remained silent (hence his reaction) because he expected more. However, in the end, he decided to protect Benji by countering Carl's testament. When Daniel was killed, he realized Benji was the boy from so many years ago, so "reunion".

There are so many flaws in this deduction, so can I change it later? As long as it's before the time limit's up?

haha sure. But guesses ticks up so include an edit line noting the changes.

Guesses: 3

Time Limit: 0

Anyway, I've had more clues around. Visit my profile feed and search for it.

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

Anyway, Time Limit is over

 

Answer:

Dying Message:

The dying message points to Benji. cvq is the main code in the message, if you place your finger onto those letters, in the keyboard and shift 2 (it's the 2 in the message) places to the right or east (the RE (RightEast) in the message... that's why it is separated). You get bne, rearrange it and it results to Ben.

 

• Once you decoded the dying message, you got a starting point where you can build your deduction up.

 

• If we assume that James' knew what the dying message is about, and since he trembled and stuffs, it's a big possibility that he is somewhat connected to the culprit.

 

• By looking at the info given about Benji, you'll notice that his family was wealthy and James is a retired butler. This might be the connection between them. As for the unnamed witness, It could either be James, Carl or the Victim, himself.

 

• In the testimonies given, there's a contradiction; James' Statement and Carl's. Since James' has a close relationship with the culprit before, there's also a possibility that he is covering everything up. Assuming that, then, Carl's statement is true, he really heard an argument and James' statement is false.

 

• Since James negated Carl's statement about the argument Carl heard, then, he, most likely, was present at the time of the crime and that argument was the cause of the murder.

 

• Since James is not the culprit, the Gun Powder found on James' clothing isn't related to the case but the reaction he put up gives more evidence that he was covering things up.

 

• James showed empathy to the Culprit by covering things up this is a definite evidence that he had a close relationship with Benji.

 

• It's already obvious that the one who stole the gun is the culprit.

As for 'how Benji killed Daniel', after having an argument, he went inside the sports car (he had a spare key and can access it without asking permission since Daniel trust him to maintain it) slightly opened the right front window of the car, which was parallel to the window of the room where Daniel was killed, took the gun and slid his hand (with gloves) through the small opening and fired directly towards Daniel's head.

 

As for the motive, there are lots of possibilities.

 

Since you guys tried, I'll give you all reps (except for shahd ) But anyway, Kirsch was the closest one... almost got it.

 

Anyway, I'll probably think of another case... soon.

[Kirsch 95]

I get it now... The cvq2.RE got me for a while. Still did...

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

I get it now... The cvq2.RE got me for a while. Still did...

haha told you to relook at things

I even gave a hint on WoYM thread, if you remember.

[phantomlady1101 59]

I missed it :( But I'll wait for the next one Good one MK ^^!!!

[Nara-chan 38]

I can't think of a case to put here, but I can give a code:

91___<OSOE

It's a name.

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

I can't think of a case to put here, but I can give a code:

91___<OSOE

It's a name.

A name of what? More details please.

[Nara-chan 38]

A name of a person.

[Metantei Kiddo 147]

A name of a person.

A popular name?

[Nara-chan 38]

Ummm, yes.

No more hints for you! Get going!