Four at the Bar Counter

Difficulty ★★☆about 5 minFloor Plans & LayoutsSeating orderElimination

Forensics proved a drug was added from the right-end seat of a bar counter. Use four testimonies to work out who sat there.

Case Record

At the bar counter of "Kimado", a drug was slipped into a customer’s glass. There are four seats in a row, from left to right. The four people sitting there were Miyake, Yoshioka, Nishino and Otsuka.

A forensic examination of how the drug particles scattered in the glass scientifically proved that the drug was added from the right-end seat. So whoever sat at the right end did it.

All four testimonies matched the security camera footage.

Your question

Who sat at the right end? Look closely at the evidence.

Case Files

Evidence

E-1Miyake’s testimony"I was not sitting at either end."
E-2Yoshioka’s testimony"I was next to Nishino, but not at the left end."
E-3Nishino’s testimony"I was next to Yoshioka, but not at the right end."
E-4Otsuka’s testimony"I was sitting to the left of Miyake."

A photo of the counter seats at “Kimado”. The four seats are lined up in a row, from left to right across the picture.

Timeline

NightFour people are drinking at the bar counter.
The crimeA drug is slipped into a customer’s glass from the right-end seat.

Hints

If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.

Open hint 1

Which seats can Miyake take?

Open hint 2

Otsuka sits to the left of Miyake.

Open hint 3

Yoshioka and Nishino sit next to each other, and Nishino is not at the right end.

Solve It

Your question

Who sat at the right end? Look closely at the evidence.

Choose the answer closest to the truth.

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The Truth

Yoshioka

The answer is: Yoshioka.

Sort out the testimonies. Miyake did not sit at either end, so he is in the 2nd or 3rd seat. Otsuka sat to the left of Miyake.

If Miyake were in the 3rd seat, Otsuka would be in the 1st or 2nd, and the seats left over would be the 4th and one of the 1st or 2nd, so Yoshioka and Nishino could not sit next to each other. So Miyake is in the 2nd seat and Otsuka in the 1st.

Yoshioka and Nishino take the 3rd and 4th seats. Nishino is not at the right end, so Nishino is 3rd and Yoshioka is 4th (right end). From the left: Otsuka, Miyake, Nishino, Yoshioka. The one who added the drug was Yoshioka.

Diagram of the solution

Key Points

Settle the person with the fewest possible seats first
Treat "next to each other" as a pair
Eliminate arrangements one testimony at a time

Why people get fooled

People try to use all four testimonies at once instead of narrowing things down in order.

Similar tricks

The type that narrows seating by testimony
The type that decides by elimination

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