FILE No.36Unsolved
On Sunday morning, a warning letter from a phantom thief arrived at a mansion.
The letter read:
"I hear the mansion will hold its annual masquerade ball tomorrow.
But I will not take the jewel on that day.
Counting from today, the day I am writing this letter, the deed will be done two days after the day before the day after tomorrow."
The letter had no date written on it.
Using the evidence too, what day of the week has the thief announced for the theft?
If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.
A postmark does not directly tell you the day the letter was written.
Compare the line "The ball is tomorrow" with the mansion’s record of the ball.
Work out the weekday the letter was written, then follow "the day after tomorrow," "the day before" and "two days after" in order.
Using the evidence too, what day of the week has the thief announced for the theft?
Choose the answer closest to the truth.
Monday
The answer is: Monday.
The envelope has a Saturday postmark, but the day the letter was written is not necessarily Saturday.
The letter says, "The masquerade ball is tomorrow." The ball was actually held on Saturday, so the letter must have been written on Friday.
Starting from Friday, follow the phrase in order.
So the deed will be done on Monday.
If you count from the Saturday postmark, you get Tuesday, which is wrong. What matters is telling the postmark date apart from the day the letter was written.
You take the Saturday postmark for the day of writing and miss the one-day gap.
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