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        riddles >> what happened >> The will       
        
(Message started by: alien on Oct 9th, 2006, 12:49pm)
Title: The will      
Post by alien on Oct 9th, 2006, 12:49pm
Tom's rich uncle, a lawyer, whose hobby was painting, died, and left him the biggest peace of pie. He pretty much skipped his only son, Jim, who was angry because of this. Jim's father had a bit of twisted sense of humor and games, so in the will he left to Tom a note as well, which you can see below. He said that Tom should get the note right away, so the lawyer who was reading the will gave it to him. And these are the weird, and complex rules specified by his uncle, all in compliance with the local law, which affect several people:


  • I used to write in my diary, not so different from Tom, who is known for scribbling. So here is something for Tom, who knows to write only in English alphabet, and has no talent for drawing: In one week starting today, Tom may use a ballpoint only on this note, written on A4 paper, but he mustn't add new letters from English alphabet on it. This most important first rule supersedes all other rules described in the will. Jim gets Tom's cut if Tom doesn't honor this, regardless of possible mitigating circumstances, even though Tom is like the son I always wanted. If Tom messes this up, he will lose the money, even if Jim dies, in which case, Jim's wife gets my money. This is to say how eventual laziness can be Tom's downfall, as well as not trying to improve talents and quality of life, regardless of the money.


  • Regarding death, which brought all of you here, if Tom dies too in this week, Jim gets his cut. But I know my son, so this rule is canceled if Jim gets arrested for killing Tom. Bear in mind that Jim will become arrestee only if there is hard evidence supporting the above charge, and not because of suspicion. So if Jim gets arrested, Tom's daughter will get her father's cut instead. But if Tom messes up regarding a ballpoint writings, his daughter gets nothing, as mentioned earlier.    


  • My friend Montgomery will get the house, but only if he stays locked in my vault for five minutes three days from now, because I know he is claustrophobic. My friend lawyer, well, my former lawyer, must supervise this.



After hearing the will in the house of the deceased, everybody left except for Tom and Jim. Jim appeared really sad, and he asked Tom to stay a bit longer, because he didn't wanted to be alone. Then he asked Tom for a favor. He said a pen was important to him, because it belonged to his father, and would he be so kind as to get it. Tom does what he was asked to do, so he enters the illuminated empty vault, but Jim sneaks up to him and closes the door. Jim and some other people knew that Jim's father programmed these doors to close automatically, if they are not closed manually after 8PM. It was about 15 minutes to 8PM when he trapped Tom inside, but no one could tell the time difference, since there are no records about this instance, which looks like an accident. So Tom realizes he tricked him and that he would die, but he wanted his daughter to inherit his money. His daughter needs to undergo an expensive operation that can save her life, and operation should be done soon. He thinks of writing something on the vault with a sharp object, but he doesn't have any on him, and the bulb is out of reach. What Tom didn't realize, is that the vault is entirely smooth, and it is almost impossible to write anything at all. Tom remembered Montgomery saying, that he will certainly enter the vault, regardless of his claustrophobia. He then became more desperate, as his daughter will probably die too, even though he happens to have a ballpoint on him, due to his uncle's weird will. Tom knows that Jim has to catch a plane rather soon, having an important meeting, so if he arrives late there, it might be incriminating. He also knows Jim will be back in about four days. Is there a possibility for Tom's daughter to get the money?







Dear Tom,

  July is my favorite month. I just whished I had a favorite wife too. She is deceased for some time now, but I cannot get rid of the gore memories. Kidding aside, I do miss her, but you were my dearest, so I leave most of my possessions to you. Remember when we were in Khartoum, strolling near the Nile? I carry this picture in my heart. Little did I know, that I would meet my future fair wife there. Best of luck with the rest of your life, and hope your daughter gets well!


                                      Fletcher Jarvis



Title: Re: The will      
Post by towr on Oct 9th, 2006, 12:59pm
[hide]I would imagine it involves crossing out words/letter on the note Tom was given.

Not sure how he intends to die in the vault in a day though. But hey, 'write' the note, go to sleep.[/hide]
Title: Re: The will      
Post by alien on Oct 9th, 2006, 3:42pm

on 10/09/06 at 12:59:46, towr wrote:
[hide]Not sure how he intends to die in the vault in a day though.[/hide]

The vault is smallish, but I added three days just so he dies for sure. While I am at it, how about I add a sentence where you die too in three days towr? I cannot speak for others, but I myself will miss you.  ;)
Title: Re: The will      
Post by Grimbal on Oct 10th, 2006, 12:55am
Did Jim marry Tom's daughter? ;D
Title: Re: The will      
Post by Grimbal on Oct 10th, 2006, 1:21am
[hide]He could write whatever he wants on his own body.  Or if he writes on his underwear, he is sure that the message will be discovered eventually while preventing Jim to find and remove it before the body gets discovered.[/hide]

else:

[hide]
Dear Tom,

  July is my favorite month. I just whished I had a favorite wife too. She is deceased for some time now, but I cannot get rid of the gore memories. Kidding aside, I do miss her, but you were my dearest, so I leave most of my possessions to you. Remember when we were in Khartoum, strolling near the Nile? I carry this picture in my heart. Little did I know, that I would meet my future fair wife there. Best of luck with the rest of your life, and hope your daughter gets well!


                                      Fletcher Jarvis
[/hide]
Title: Re: The will      
Post by alien on Oct 10th, 2006, 4:49am

on 10/10/06 at 01:21:57, Grimbal wrote:
[hide]
Dear Tom,

  July is my favorite month. I just whished I had a favorite wife too. She is deceased for some time now, but I cannot get rid of the gore memories. Kidding aside, I do miss her, but you were my dearest, so I leave most of my possessions to you. Remember when we were in Khartoum, strolling near the Nile? I carry this picture in my heart. Little did I know, that I would meet my future fair wife there. Best of luck with the rest of your life, and hope your daughter gets well!


                                      Fletcher Jarvis
[/hide]

Not the letters I had in min. You got the [hide]Jim[/hide] part right though.

Title: Re: The will      
Post by SMQ on Oct 10th, 2006, 9:27am
Considering that, had he locked himself in the vault by accident, Tom would have a strong motive to implicate Jim in his death, I would be highly dubious of any claim he might make unless supported by physical evidence...

--SMQ
Title: Re: The will      
Post by alien on Oct 10th, 2006, 10:18am
Good point, but Tom is a good Christian, and others can testify this. So I doubt he would sentence Jim possibly to death or life imprisonment, even if he may save his daughter's life like that. Any way you put it, that evidence can get him arrested.  ;)
Title: Re: The will      
Post by denis on Jun 2nd, 2007, 7:33pm
Google "Columbo: Try and Catch me"

This case is eerily similar.

A guy gets pushed into a vault and dies. There was a similar piece of evidence that was found whereby the victim altered a written document to point to the murderer. In the episonde anyhow, this was considered strong deathbed evidence since the changes to the document could be linked to victim using fingerprints.  

Don't know about real life situation how strong the evidence might be.
Title: Re: The will      
Post by gotit on Aug 18th, 2007, 5:20am
Since the first rule supercedes all others it means that if  Tom writes something that is acceptable by rule 1, then he will own the money, irrespective of wheyher he lives or dies after that. So he will write the following:

"I am now the owner of Fletcher Jarvis's property and after my death, my daughter will own my property."


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