[Aaryan]

You are detective Smith. Officer Jones, sheriff of Anytown, gives you your new case.

"Mr. Whitecombe was found dead at his desk just yesterday", says the sheriff. "You're our best agent. We need your help."

Case:

The death of Mr. Ray Joseph Whitecombe

Suspects:

Mrs. Barbara Whitcombe, Ray's wife.

Mr. Jason McCubbins, Ray's business partner.

Mr. Harold Nichols, Ray's best friend.

Information:

All three suspects visited Mr. Whitcombe the day of his murder.

All three provide the police with stories of explanation as to the reason for their visit.

Evidence:

Police found Mr. Whitcombe with his wrist watch still on his right arm, a torn up picture of his wife laying on the floor beside the trash can, and an ink pen in his right hand. On the desk, the police found a name plate, a telephone that was off the hook, and a personal calendar turned to the July 5th page with 7B91011 written on it.

"A very interesting case" you say. "But Mr. Whitecombe knew who killed him. And now so do we."

Who was it?

Edited January 31, 2011 by Aaryan

[wolfgang]

You are detective Smith. Officer Jones, sheriff of Anytown, gives you your new case.

"Mr. Whitecombe was found dead at his desk just yesterday", says the sheriff. "You're our best agent. We need your help."

Case:

The death of Mr. Ray Joseph Whitecombe

Suspects:

Mrs. Barbara Whitcombe, Ray's wife.

Mr. Jason McCubbins, Ray's business partner.

Mr. Harold Nichols, Ray's best friend.

Information:

All three suspects visited Mr. Whitcombe the day of his murder.

All three provide the police with stories of explanation as to the reason for their visit.

Evidence:

Police found Mr. Whitcombe with his wrist watch still on his right arm, a torn up picture of his wife laying on the floor beside the trash can, and an ink pen in his right hand. On the desk, the police found a name plate, a telephone that was off the hook, and a personal calendar turned to the July 5th page with 7B91011 written on it.

"A very interesting case" you say. "But Mr. Whitecombe knew who killed him. And now so do we."

Who was it?

his wife was the killer,because the code written on the calender contains the first letter of her name.

[Aaryan]

Nope. Good idea, but it's a little harder than that.

It's not one of those riddles that makes you overthink and then the answer is simple.

[Guest]

It was Mr. McCubbins.

If his watch is on his right hand, he's probably left handed. But, since he was writing with his right hand, what he wrote might be a bit off. The B is supposed to be an 8, so he wrote 7-11 on a calendar. The first letters of the months corresponding to the numbers spell out J-A-S-O-N.

I have an unfair advantage: that's my name, too, so I always notice the name in calendars.

[Guest]

His business partner did it because his best friend and wife would have know he was left handed.

[Guest]

Are all of the evidence useful? Or just one/a few?

While I'm here, might as well take a guess.

the business partner? Most people put a watch on their hand opposite from the one they write with. I would expect the wife and friend to know their husband/friend's dominant hand. Also, the wife probably wouldn't tear up her own picture, and if the friend's motive was the wife, he, too wouldn't tear up his lover's photo(unless it was a set-up). No idea about the other pieces of evidence.

[Guest]

The killer is Jason:

July

August

September

October

November

which is 7B91011 =

07 -> July

08 -> August

09 -> September

10 -> October

11 -> November

[Aaryan]

Yep, Carbon got it. You know, I might start a series of these detective Smith mysteries

I though this post might last a bit longer, like

Edited January 31, 2011 by Aaryan

[Guest]

I think It's his business partner ,because

He was left handed as he wore his watch on right hand

If murderer would have been his wife or friend they would have kept fountain pen in his left hand ,but his partner didn't knew this

And the code 7-8-9-10-11 clears the name

it is really an interesting one