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        riddles >> what happened >> Stolen stamp
        
(Message started by: hiyathere on Sep 14th, 2007, 10:18am)
Title: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 14th, 2007, 10:18am
A thief stole a very valuable stamp from a museum. When the police got the call, they went straight to the scene of the crime. When they got there, they saw a car speeding away from the museum. They chased the car all the way to an apartment building and saw a man wearing a sweater getting out of the car and running into the building. The police followed him into his apartment, where they saw the man sitting in a chair, casually, as if nothing had happened. It was very hot that day, and there was no A/C in the apartment, and even with several fans blowing, it was still very hot inside the apartment. Both the police and the man were sweating a lot.

Once inside, the police searched all over the apartment. There were many objects hanging on the wall, including several framed rare postage stamps, although none of them were the stolen stamp. After searching thoroughly through the apartment, the police were about to give up when one of them realized something. After confirming the suspicion, they arrested the man.

Question 1: How did they know that the man stole the stamp from the museum?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by thecow135 on Sep 14th, 2007, 6:01pm
the stamp was stuck to his body by the sweat =P
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Aurora on Sep 15th, 2007, 3:48am
He was trying so hard to make himself look innocent that he sat there the whole time sweating buckets without thinking to take is sweatshirt off.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 15th, 2007, 11:39am
The wall was covered with sketches of the floor plan of the museum with details of the cameras, the alarms, a step-by-step intrusion plan, and a photo of the stamp.

or

They realized the man is the only person in the building.

or

The police remembered that the man stopped at a letterbox to post a postcard.

but

What the hell was the guy doing with a sweater on such a hot day???
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 15th, 2007, 4:12pm
No to all of the above. The police didn't find the stamp yet, but they found proof that he stole the stamp. Thecow was close, though.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 17th, 2007, 4:47am

on 09/14/07 at 18:01:04, thecow135 wrote:
the stamp was stuck to his body by the sweat =P


This won't work because the sweat would ruin the stamp.


on 09/15/07 at 11:39:39, Grimbal wrote:
What the hell was the guy doing with a sweater on such a hot day???


Grimby's got a point here. There is a reason that he's wearing the sweater on such a hot day, but I have to admit, the answer's a bit abstract.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 17th, 2007, 5:10am

on 09/17/07 at 04:47:40, hiyathere wrote:
This won't work because the sweat would ruin the stamp.

Who said it wasn't ruined?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 17th, 2007, 5:33am

on 09/17/07 at 05:10:38, Grimbal wrote:
Who said it wasn't ruined?


I repeat, the police didn't find the stamp yet, but they did find proof that the guy stole the stamp. They did find the stamp a bit later, in good shape, but I will get to that later, after this.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 17th, 2007, 5:39am
The policeman realized that the temperature was dropping in the room.  That means that the fans were turned on only shortly before the police entered the room.  And that would mean the man just arrived.

They stopped the fans and one of them had a stamp stuck on it.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 17th, 2007, 9:41am

on 09/17/07 at 05:39:18, Grimbal wrote:
The policeman realized that the temperature was dropping in the room.  That means that the fans were turned on only shortly before the police entered the room.  And that would mean the man just arrived.

They stopped the fans and one of them had a stamp stuck on it.


I was going to ask where the stamp was hidden as question 2, but you answered it already.  :P

But that was not how the police figured out the guy stole the stamp.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 18th, 2007, 4:33am

on 09/17/07 at 09:41:59, hiyathere wrote:
I was going to ask where the stamp was hidden as question 2, but you answered it already.  :P

But that would ruin the stamp!
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Iceman on Sep 18th, 2007, 5:36am
Did the poor sod eat the stamp?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 19th, 2007, 4:58am
lol. Grimby already found the stamp. But, saying this for the 3rd time in a row  :P, the police found evidence that he stole it before they found the stamp. What is it?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 19th, 2007, 5:42am
The evidence:
- The police got a call to start with.  So they have a withess.
- They saw him run away and followed him.
- The sweater he is wearing is on the videos of so many museum thefts that they had to open a special section for them in the archives.
- All stamps plastered on the walls, all without a single exception, are identical with famous stamps stolen from museums around the country.  And it strikes the policeman as a suspicious coincidence that the museums in question are the same as those who provided the aforementioned videos.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 19th, 2007, 10:31am

on 09/19/07 at 05:42:30, Grimbal wrote:
The evidence:
- The police got a call to start with.  So they have a withess.
- They saw him run away and followed him.
- The sweater he is wearing is on the videos of so many museum thefts that they had to open a special section for them in the archives.
- All stamps plastered on the walls, all without a single exception, are identical with famous stamps stolen from museums around the country.  And it strikes the policeman as a suspicious coincidence that the museums in question are the same as those who provided the aforementioned videos.


None of the above is true, and he had a clean record. But when they found the evidence, they did know he was planning this for a long time. And also, they did follow a car speeding away from the scene of the crime, but they didn't know who was in it till the man got off. The police in the apartment didn't have a description of what the thief looked like, and they didn't stop at the bank, because they went after the speeding car as soon as they got to the bank, so witnesses never got a chance to say what the person looked like.

The key to this riddle: [hide]Why the hell was he wearing a sweater on a hot day?!?!?!?![/hide]
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Sameer on Sep 19th, 2007, 11:22am
Maybe the stamp required cold storage?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 19th, 2007, 11:31am

on 09/19/07 at 11:22:13, Sameer wrote:
Maybe the stamp required cold storage?


?

No...
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by JiNbOtAk on Sep 19th, 2007, 5:46pm
Maybe he's a she ?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 20th, 2007, 5:00am

on 09/19/07 at 17:46:39, JiNbOtAk wrote:
Maybe he's a she ?


You mean hermaphrodite? No lol. It was obvious that the person was a man. A man who was sweating buckets.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 20th, 2007, 7:58am
Was the guy still wearing his sweater when they found him?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 20th, 2007, 10:20am

on 09/20/07 at 07:58:04, Grimbal wrote:
Was the guy still wearing his sweater when they found him?


Yes, and the guy was sweating a lot.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 20th, 2007, 8:46pm
Well, then, since the probability that 2 people wear the same sweater (or a sweater at all) on such a hot day is almost zero, the guy who runs out of the museum and the guy in the room must be the same.

Else, are there dogs involved?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by JiNbOtAk on Sep 20th, 2007, 9:01pm
He's packing a piece ?

He stole the stamp by threatening to blow up the bomb strapped to his body. The sweater is to cover it up.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 21st, 2007, 4:57am

on 09/20/07 at 20:46:47, Grimbal wrote:
Well, then, since the probability that 2 people wear the same sweater (or a sweater at all) on such a hot day is almost zero, the guy who runs out of the museum and the guy in the room must be the same.

Else, are there dogs involved?

As I said earlier, the police didn't know what the thief looked like or was wearing, and there were no dogs involved.


on 09/20/07 at 21:01:38, JiNbOtAk wrote:
He's packing a piece ?

He stole the stamp by threatening to blow up the bomb strapped to his body. The sweater is to cover it up.


Good guess, but no.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 21st, 2007, 5:38am
Maybe they noted that the left arm of the sweatshirt was dry while the right arm was wet.  The way this can happen is if the guy drove with the left arm leaning out of the window.  (for some countries, reverse left and right).

By the way, did the police stop to see whether something had been stolen?  Or can we assume that the call to the police also informed them that a stamp was stolen?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 21st, 2007, 10:09am

on 09/21/07 at 05:38:08, Grimbal wrote:
Maybe they noted that the left arm of the sweatshirt was dry while the right arm was wet.  The way this can happen is if the guy drove with the left arm leaning out of the window.  (for some countries, reverse left and right).


The sweater did have a bit of moisture on it, presumably sweat, but it was evenly distributed.


on 09/21/07 at 05:38:08, Grimbal wrote:
By the way, did the police stop to see whether something had been stolen?  Or can we assume that the call to the police also informed them that a stamp was stolen?


They only got a 911 call.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by denis on Sep 21st, 2007, 10:38am
Since it was a hot day, the thief stole the stamp in daytime while the museum was opened. The stamp was framed and the thief therefore needed bulky clothing to hide the frame without drawing attention. When the police saw the sweater, it aroused their suspicion.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 21st, 2007, 10:44am

on 09/21/07 at 10:38:53, denis wrote:
Since it was a hot day, the thief stole the stamp in daytime while the museum was opened. The stamp was framed and the thief therefore needed bulky clothing to hide the frame without drawing attention. When the police saw the sweater, it aroused their suspicion.


Nope. If the thief had hidden the frame in the sweater, there would have been a square-shaped part bulging out of the sweater, and it would have been noticed instantly. Besides, the stamp was found on the ceiling fan, as Grimby found out.

Hint: [hide]Even though the man was sweating like hell, he still wouldn't take his sweater off. WHY?[/hide]
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by JiNbOtAk on Sep 21st, 2007, 6:23pm
He got sprayed with flourescent paint when removing the stamp ? ( Okay, so that's more inline with money, but the museum could have that safety measure )

He likes to wallow in his own sweat ?

The sweater was stuck on him ?

The sweater was painted on him ?  :P

I guess this guy is a bit like Hercules, the sweater was the cause of his downfall.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by mikedagr8 on Sep 22nd, 2007, 1:06am
He had a skin condition. Plain and simple.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 22nd, 2007, 7:02am

on 09/21/07 at 10:09:40, hiyathere wrote:
They only got a 911 call.

Did it say: "My neighbor just went out for stealing a stamp in a museum.  He is crazy, he is wearing sweatshirts in the middle of summer!  Please stop him."?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Dawn Panic on Sep 23rd, 2007, 3:43am
Does he have the blueprints of the museum or something tattooed on his body like Prison Break?

Or was he afraid his sweat would get on the stamps and wanted the sweater to absorb his sweat?

If the sweat is evenly distributed, (what weird sweat pores), was the sweater actually soaked with some other kind of liquid, NOT sweat?

(it's not a pun thing, is it? some kind of 'the sweater-wearing sweater?')
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by gotit on Sep 23rd, 2007, 9:21pm
The policemen realized that the fan was turned on by the man after he arrived in the room. This implies that the man was feeling hot. Even then he did not take off his sweater. This strange behaviour created a doubt in their mind.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 24th, 2007, 4:54am

on 09/22/07 at 01:06:15, mikedagr8 wrote:
He had a skin condition. Plain and simple.


You are actually pretty close.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 24th, 2007, 4:54am

on 09/23/07 at 21:21:32, gotit wrote:
The policemen realized that the fan was turned on by the man after he arrived in the room. This implies that the man was feeling hot. Even then he did not take off his sweater. This strange behaviour created a doubt in their mind.


This is true. But why didn't the man take off the sweater?


on 09/22/07 at 07:02:57, Grimbal wrote:
Did it say: "My neighbor just went out for stealing a stamp in a museum.  He is crazy, he is wearing sweatshirts in the middle of summer!  Please stop him."?


It's just a normal 911 call made by the museum's curator, reporting a theft. He didn't specify what the thief looked like, most likely because he didn't check the security tapes yet.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 24th, 2007, 5:22am
Under the sweatshirt he had a museum guardian uniform, that he used to get to restricted areas.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by mikedagr8 on Sep 24th, 2007, 6:27am
He had rub on tattoos which he had just applied on? ???
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 24th, 2007, 6:44am

on 09/24/07 at 06:27:45, mikedagr8 wrote:
He had rub on tattoos which he had just applied on? ???


I'll count this answer, although the real answer is that he had detailed tattoos of floor plans of the museum all over his body, which was why he was wearing a sweater.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Dawn Panic on Sep 24th, 2007, 6:57am
Sorry to be like this but, didn't I mention this earlier?



Quote:
Does he have the blueprints of the museum or something tattooed on his body like Prison Break?  
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by mikedagr8 on Sep 24th, 2007, 7:04am

on 09/24/07 at 06:57:23, Dawn Panic wrote:
Sorry to be like this but, didn't I mention this earlier?


Quote:
Does he have the blueprints of the museum or something tattooed on his body like Prison Break?  

You sure did. I think it is just hiyathere missed the post. Well done.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 24th, 2007, 10:07am

on 09/23/07 at 03:43:38, Dawn Panic wrote:
Does he have the blueprints of the museum or something tattooed on his body like Prison Break?


Ya... Sorry about missing this, but you're absolutely right. Also, I love the show. They finally got new episodes of it last Monday.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Dawn Panic on Sep 25th, 2007, 6:43am
:) COOL!
But.... WHY? Why would he tattoo the plans on his body for this theft when he can't get rid of this evidence? Was he planning on selling photocopies of his body to other stamp thieves?  ;)
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by mikedagr8 on Sep 25th, 2007, 7:19am

on 09/25/07 at 06:43:48, Dawn Panic wrote:
:) COOL!
But.... WHY? Why would he tattoo the plans on his body for this theft when he can't get rid of this evidence? Was he planning on selling photocopies of his body to other stamp thieves?  ;)

Which is why I said rub on tattoos.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 25th, 2007, 10:34am
Good point. Temporary tattoos are better than permanents.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by JiNbOtAk on Sep 26th, 2007, 6:45pm
Hmm.. <nitpicking mode> If he didn't have an accomplice, wouldn't it be a bit hard for him to read the map tatooed to his body ? Why not just carry something printed on paper ?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Sep 27th, 2007, 1:32am
Aaah, maybe he hid the maps under his sweatshirt.  Because of the heat, and the sweat, the map was transferred on his body.  When coming back, he destroyed the maps but realized the evidence on his body.  He had to keep the sweatshirt to hide what I would call tattoos to make it fit the answer.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by mikedagr8 on Sep 27th, 2007, 1:35am

on 09/27/07 at 01:32:56, Grimbal wrote:
Aaah, maybe he hid the maps under his sweatshirt.  Because of the heat, and the sweat, the map was transferred on his body.  When coming back, he destroyed the maps but realized the evidence on his body.  He had to keep the sweatshirt to hide what I would call tattoos to make it fit the answer.

So that they would be called "rub-on" tattoos? ::)
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Sep 27th, 2007, 10:13am

on 09/27/07 at 01:32:56, Grimbal wrote:
Aaah, maybe he hid the maps under his sweatshirt.  Because of the heat, and the sweat, the map was transferred on his body.  When coming back, he destroyed the maps but realized the evidence on his body.  He had to keep the sweatshirt to hide what I would call tattoos to make it fit the answer.


About that...

Won't the ink be all dissolved if his sweat soaked the map? Even if the ink stayed on him, it would be illegible.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Aurora on Sep 28th, 2007, 7:44am

on 09/27/07 at 10:13:04, hiyathere wrote:
Won't the ink be all dissolved if his sweat soaked the map? Even if the ink stayed on him, it would be illegible.

But if he had ink all over him, the police would know that he had had hidden something under his sweatshirt.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by thecow135 on Sep 28th, 2007, 4:21pm
that wont hold up in court
innocent until proven guilty
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Aurora on Sep 29th, 2007, 2:54am
What better proof than the stamp being stuck to his fan! ;D
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Oct 1st, 2007, 5:02am
They only found the stamp after they found proof that he stole it.  :P
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Aurora on Oct 1st, 2007, 8:37am

on 09/14/07 at 10:18:16, hiyathere wrote:
After searching thoroughly through the apartment, the police were about to give up when one of them realized something. After confirming the suspicion, they arrested the man.

The policeman realized something: that he had marks underneath the sweatshirt.

Then they confirmed the suspicion: they found the stamp on the fan. :P

Hang on, I'm starting to sound like MD-S*. This is not good....

*The initials of a person in half my lessons that has a habit of driving everyone up the wall with pointless arguements. Good job I thrashed him in SATs.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by thecow135 on Oct 1st, 2007, 7:16pm
how would the policeman find the marks before the stamp? look at the fan and you see a stamp, look at the sweater and you see... a sweater. unless they pulled some wierd twisted xray up in there.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Dawn Panic on Oct 1st, 2007, 8:40pm
I think the fan is on so it'll be moving too fast to see a small stamp stuck on it.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Oct 2nd, 2007, 5:08am
They take pictures with a flash.  If you look at a rotating fan while the flash is ... well ... flashing, you can see a still picture of the fan for a split second.

But if I were the thief, I would stick the stamp on the upper side, where it is invisible even when the fan stops turning.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by thecow135 on Oct 3rd, 2007, 6:56pm
what i meant is...
how does the police see the ink under his sweater? did it start bleeding out?
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Aurora on Oct 4th, 2007, 7:40am

on 10/03/07 at 18:56:01, thecow135 wrote:
what i meant is...
how does the police see the ink under his sweater? did it start bleeding out?

Someone noticed that it was really strange that he was sweating so much, yet was still wearing a sweater. The obvious reason for this would be that there was something hidden underneath it, so they looked and found the tattoo/ink.
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Grimbal on Oct 4th, 2007, 7:43am
The police realizes that someone who keeps his sweatshirt with such a heat must have something to hide.

- Hey, why do you keep your sweater?
- Uh... I don't feel hot...
- Come on, you are sweating like a roasted pig!  You should take it off.
- Uh... (twisting uneasily)... no, it is ok, I like my sweater.
- (hard look).  Take it off, it is an order!
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by hiyathere on Oct 4th, 2007, 10:06am

on 10/04/07 at 07:43:34, Grimbal wrote:
The police realizes that someone who keeps his sweatshirt with such a heat must have something to hide.

- Hey, why do you keep your sweater?
- Uh... I don't feel hot...
- Come on, you are sweating like a roasted pig!  You should take it off.
- Uh... (twisting uneasily)... no, it is ok, I like my sweater.
- (hard look).  Take it off, it is an order!


Exactly what I was thinking when I wrote the riddle.  :P
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by Dawn Panic on Oct 5th, 2007, 5:29am

on 10/04/07 at 07:43:34, Grimbal wrote:
- You should take it off.
- Uh... (twisting uneasily)... no, it is ok, I like my sweater.
- (hard look).  Take it off, it is an order!


Start the bow-chicka-bow-wow porn music!
Title: Re: Stolen stamp
Post by mikedagr8 on Oct 5th, 2007, 6:36am

on 10/05/07 at 05:29:24, Dawn Panic wrote:
Start the bow-chicka-bow-wow porn music!

A Lynx ad? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTGC7R9toSk)


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