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        riddles >> what happened >> A Theater Crime Puzzle
        
(Message started by: K Sengupta on Jun 7^th, 2006, 9:13am)

Title: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by K Sengupta on Jun 7^th, 2006, 9:13am

Sid Shady slipped into the back row of the theater and strained his eyes to locate Sam Sham. Slowly, the image of Sam sitting 20 rows ahead came into focus. As soon as his eyes had adjusted, Sid pulled out his gun and methodically loaded three chambers. Sid didn't have anything against Sam personally, but everyone had to earn a living and Sid just happened to be a hit man. Besides, the pay was good and the hours were few. During a particular quiet scene when the loudest sound was crunching popcorns, Sid fired three shots into the back of Sam's head. Sid put his gun under his coat and calmly left the theater. It wasn't until the movie had ended that Sam's dead body was discovered. An autopsy confirmed that Sam had been shot 3 times and had died almost instantly.
Since Sid didn't use a silencer, how could he have left the theater unnoticed?

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Weazel on Jun 7^th, 2006, 10:24am

I'm guessing [hide]he was the only other person in the theater?[/hide] Or the other people were [hide]deaf?[/hide]

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by BNC on Jun 8^th, 2006, 4:45am

on 06/07/06 at 10:24:06, Weazel wrote:

I'm guessing [hide]he was the only other person in the theater?[/hide] Or the other people were [hide]deaf?[/hide]

I don't think that would work, as [hide]the shot noise would acho through the theatre, as wekk as the neighborhood.[/hide]

However, it was stated that [hide]Sam was shot with bullets[/hide]. So, maybe it was [hide]not a "regular" gun, but an injection gun, and Sam was shot with poison[/hide]?

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Grimbal on Jun 9^th, 2006, 12:45am

on 06/08/06 at 04:45:38, BNC wrote:

I don't think that would work, as [hide]the shot noise would acho through the theatre, as wekk as the neighborhood.[/hide]

But [hide]there might be plenty of shooting in the movie itself, so that a few more shots won't be noticed[/hide].

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by graphia on Jun 9^th, 2006, 3:07am

So how about a combination, there was no-one else in the theatre and he shot the guy with a poison-dart gun.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Lozboz on Jun 22^nd, 2006, 3:30am

Maybe there was noone else in the cinema and he left through the fire exit? Or maybe everyone else in the cinema thaught sam deserved it and had he been left alive they'd have done it themselves.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by towr on Jun 22^nd, 2006, 3:53am

on 06/22/06 at 03:30:23, Lozboz wrote:

Or maybe everyone else in the cinema thaught sam deserved it.

Maybe the crunching popcorn was Sam's. Serves him right getting shot, people should be quiet in the theater.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by alien on Jun 27^th, 2006, 5:13pm

It was dark.

Or a reporter turned on her microphone by mistake while she was eating the crunchiest popcorn.

Or Sid is a Romulan so he has a cloaking device attached to his belt.

Quote:

Since Sid didn't use a silencer, how could he have left the theater unnoticed?

No way he could, so he didn't. Not sure about the wording of the question though.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by alien on Jun 27^th, 2006, 6:02pm

I got it! [hide]To get more people to vote for him, the presidential candidate gave free tickets to the deaf. He also gave free tickets to the blind, so they thought that shooting was a scene from the movie.[/hide] 8)

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Ajax on Jul 8^th, 2006, 5:00am

[quote author=BNC link=board=riddles_whathappened;num=1149696823;start=0#2 date=06/08/06 at 04:45:38]
I don't think that would work, as [hide]the shot noise would acho through the theatre, as wekk as the neighborhood.[/hide]

Most theatres have special material installed on the walls to absorb the sound so that it doesn't echoe. Maybe it was such a top of the art hall that it absorbed 100% of the noise making it sound-proof.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by jess on Jul 11^th, 2006, 7:46pm

[hideb]the hit man had seen the movie before, so he knew when the loud part came, and he prepared to shoot him just before the loudest part came, so maybe he was perfectly in sinc with the movie and no one noticed because all they were focused on was the movie [/hideb]

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Lozboz on Jul 12^th, 2006, 12:48am

on 06/07/06 at 09:13:40, K Sengupta wrote:

... During a particular quiet scene when the loudest sound was crunching popcorns, Sid fired three shots into the back of Sam's head.

Sorry to spoil everyone's fun, but it does say it was a quiet part in the movie so the noise of the shot couldn't have been masked be the sound of the movie.
I came up with another idea: [hide] Maybe Sid was a cop and wasn't suspected or if he was he could have claimed Sam was a criminal or something. The riddle didn't say that hitmaning was his only job, it simply implied so.[/hide]

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Jul 13^th, 2006, 9:37pm

[hide]He also killed everyone else in the theatre?[/hide]

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Roy on Jul 14^th, 2006, 5:05pm

I google for lateral thinking puzzles and found a DIFFERENT puzzle to this but i reckon it's the same idea, [hideb]he was at a drive-in theater and shot sam who was in a convertable, by the end the ticket guy came to tell him to get out and saw he was dead![/hideb] ;D

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Roy on Jul 14^th, 2006, 5:13pm

also it was a [hideb]poison dart or something, but i reckon that's how he got out unnoticed.[/hideb]

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by cchris on Jul 16^th, 2006, 3:22pm

I think that [hide]the crunching popcorn was part of the movie, there were other louder movies around so the gunshot could've been assumed to be part of another one, in addition to there being only two people in the theater. Sid left before the movie was over, then someone cleaning the floors after the movie was done found his body.[/hide]

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by jascos8 on Jul 16^th, 2006, 3:28pm

Maybe it was an old Western.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Lozboz on Jul 16^th, 2006, 7:05pm

Perhaps Sam wasn't human, perhaps he was alien so nobody was sad he died. (sorry alien, they didn't get to kno ur personality and were too distracted by ur appearance) This is why they did an alien autopsy and Sid was awarded a medal for his bravery. He was the man hired by the government to kill him (kind of a hitman).

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by william11141 on Jan 6^th, 2007, 3:16pm

Probibly he took a gun with a camafloging bullet, so no one SAW the shot, and shot the guy. The people didn't hear it because the music was loud, and he slipped away with an invisability shield around him. When the thing was over, everyone got up and saw the body. The police later came and investagated him. The bullet disinagrated into thin air and left no trace of a gun shot, just a bullet shaped hole. There were no mysteryous footprints beacuse everyone steped on it. HE HE, just a thought.... :)

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by JiNbOtAk on Mar 22^nd, 2007, 3:42am

K Sengupta never did tell us the correct answer, did he ?

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by K Sengupta on Mar 22^nd, 2007, 8:00am

I furnish hereunder the solution to the puzzle in conformity with the
answer given in the book containing the problem.

SOLUTION:

Sid Shady shot Sam Sham with a blowgun using poisoned darts.

(NOTE:
It may be observed that an accurate solution to the foregoing problem
was already posted earlier in terms of the comments by BNC and graphia.)

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by tiber13 on Mar 23^rd, 2007, 3:10pm

i think that it would be during a gun fight, in a army movie, the loud fake gunshots would mask it, oh, and nice characters, where is Ari?

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Iceman on Mar 26^th, 2007, 4:52pm

I see. The silencer stereotype thing was holding me back. Blowgun is a much better choice, as it produces even less noise, I think. So you deliberately mentioned the silencer, just to mislead me, even though the answer is rather a similar one. This sure reminds me of some of the Conan Doyle stories. Not bad. 8)

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Grimbal on Mar 27^th, 2007, 12:56am

It says "the loudest sound was crunching popcorns". It could be the blowgun was loaded with popcorn. The scene was a very tense scene in a horror movie. When receiving popcorn in the hair at just that moment he died from a heart attack.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by JiNbOtAk on Mar 27^th, 2007, 1:57am

on 03/27/07 at 00:56:24, Grimbal wrote:

Again, leave it to Grimbal.. ;D

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Death on Apr 3^rd, 2007, 5:30am

So let me get this right; he loaded three chambers of his gun for no apparent reason AND THEN pulled out a popcorn filled blowpipe and shot the guy? ???

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Grimbal on Apr 3^rd, 2007, 5:47am

Obviously a popcorn gun with barrel and everything, but operated by blowing in a pipe.

No? :-/

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by K Sengupta on Apr 3^rd, 2007, 7:46pm

on 04/03/07 at 05:30:32, Death wrote:

....... he loaded three chambers of his gun for no apparent reason AND THEN pulled out a popcorn filled blowpipe and shot the guy? ???

It is clearly mentioned in the original problem text that Sid Shady earned his living as a hitman. It is also strongly implied in terms of the original problem, that Sam Sham was one of his targets.

Title: Re: A Theater Crime Puzzle
Post by Grimbal on Apr 4^th, 2007, 2:01am

He is therefore an expert in all possible (and even impossible) weapons, from the bazooka to the dart gun or Bulgarian umbrella. He carefully chooses the most adequate weapon for each situation. In this case it was required that the death looks natural. He decided that the popcorn blowpipe with a barrel was the best choice: it works at a safe distance, it is silent, and the projectiles will disappear among the other popcorns littering the ground. Only lieutenant Colombo would notice that while the cinema sells salted or sweet popcorns, these 3 are neither salted nor sweet.