FILE No.3Unsolved
Miura, a wealthy man, built a small underground room in the basement of his mountain villa that doubles as a nuclear shelter. Its only entrance is a lift connecting it to the surface. It has no window and no hidden passage.
Miura invited his friends Fujita and Harada and, calling it “an experiment on a week of life in a closed space,” sent the two underground. Food and water were sent down on the lift every day.
After seven days, Fujita’s body was found underground. There were stab wounds from a blade. Harada was distraught and could barely speak.
Investigation confirmed the following:
Fujita was found underground where there was no weapon. Given these conditions, what course of events is possible?
If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.
Organize the confirmed conditions person by person.
Who and who are confirmed not to have used the lift?
What is “not written” can be a clue too.
Fujita was found underground where there was no weapon. Given these conditions, what course of events is possible?
Choose the answer closest to the truth.
Fujita went up once, was stabbed on the surface and was returned underground
The answer is “Fujita went up once, was stabbed on the surface and was returned underground.”
For Miura and Harada, it is confirmed that they did not ride the lift after the experiment began. But nothing is written about Fujita. If Fujita was stabbed on the surface and sent back down on the lift, the scene can be explained without bringing a weapon underground. Options 1 and 4 break the weapon condition, and option 3 breaks the condition about Miura’s movements. Still, this information does not identify the culprit.
Your eyes go to the two suspects, and you overlook that nothing has been confirmed about the third person’s use of the lift.
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