FILE No.76Unsolved
At night, a theft occurred on the 4th floor of an apartment building. A resident, Mr. Saeki, came home and found the manager lying on the floor of his room.
Mr. Fujita, who lives on the same floor of the building opposite, told the police:
"I was lying on the sofa in my room. Without getting up I looked out the window and saw the manager lying on the floor of the room across, and I could clearly see his face. Then I saw someone leaving the room."
On investigation, the two facing rooms were built as in the diagram. The floors of both rooms are at the same height. Mr. Fujita’s eye height was 40 cm from the floor, and the position of the fallen manager’s face was 20 cm from the floor.
The windows and curtains were open, but the wall at the outer edge of the balcony is 110 cm tall from the floor, opaque concrete without gaps. He did not see it through a mirror or video equipment but directly through the window.
Which part of Mr. Fujita’s testimony is not compatible with the structure of this scene?
If you get stuck, open the hints one at a time, in order.
Is an open window the same as being able to see the floor of the room?
If you connect the eye and the face with a straight line, can it pass over the balcony wall?
Which part of Mr. Fujita’s testimony is not compatible with the structure of this scene?
Choose the answer closest to the truth.
That without getting up he could see the manager’s face on the floor
The answer is “that without getting up he could see the manager’s face on the floor.”
His eye is 40 cm from the floor and the manager’s face 20 cm. A straight line directly connecting those two points stays at 40 cm or lower from the floor everywhere. In between is an opaque wall 110 cm high, so the line of sight is blocked. Even with the windows and curtains open, he cannot see through that wall to a face on the floor. It is no contradiction that it was night or that he lived on the same floor. What is known is that at least part of the testimony does not match the facts. Whether Mr. Fujita is the culprit must be confirmed by other evidence.
Your attention goes to “the window and curtains were open,” and you do not check that a floor-level line of sight is blocked by the wall.
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