FILE No.33Unsolved
On a midsummer afternoon, the owner, Kubota, was found collapsed in a room of a suburban villa. A sliding bolt on the inside of the door was shut. The windows were closed. Kubota was the only person in the room.
On the floor, just inside the door, there was a small puddle. The room had no running water and nothing that uses water, and the cooler box was in another room. There was no air conditioning, and with the windows shut the room was hot.
The bolt’s metal fitting had one shallow scratch, as if a thin rod had been wedged against it. Kubota had been quarrelling with several guests since the day before and was resented by someone.
How did the culprit create a "door closed from inside"?
If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.
Where did the puddle on the floor come from?
In a hot room, what disappears as time passes?
What does the scratch on the bolt’s fitting suggest?
How did the culprit create a "door closed from inside"?
Choose the answer closest to the truth.
Held the bolt with a thin rod of ice so that it would fall and shut as the ice melted
The answer is: held the bolt with a thin rod of ice so that it would fall and shut as the ice melted.
Before leaving the room, the culprit left the bolt open and propped it with a rod of ice so that the fitting could not move. After going out and closing the door, as the ice melted in the heat, the prop disappeared and the bolt moved under its own weight and shut.
The puddle on the floor is the melted ice water. The scratch on the fitting is the mark where the ice rod was wedged. The midsummer heat helped the culprit buy time.
You look for mechanical tools such as threads and magnets, and the small clue of the puddle escapes your notice.
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