[andromeda]

24 hours earlier...

Homicide detectives Cherry Lane and Yoruichi-san arrived at the crime scene. The hallway leading to the chemistry lab was packed with police officers surveying the area and taking statements from the witnesses, including the six student-assistants that arrived at work that morning.

Chemistry laboratory in the Natural Science Institute was immense. The entire inventory in the lab was new. Everything was prepared for the Professor and his student-assistants to start working on their new project. But something went terribly wrong that morning...

As soon as CL and Y-san stepped into the lab, CL’s hawk eyes immediately noticed something: “ They have everything that’s necessary to conduct the experiments, but still something of the essential is missing Y-san!” Y-san nodded agreeing with this observation, snapped on a pair of latex gloves and went strait to the Professors body to inspect it.

The Professor was laying face down on a yellowish-green floor. His right hand was forming a ‘character’ (his index finger and his middle finger were prominent with the thumb clinched between them, while his ring finger and his little finger were folded back under his palm). “Looks like we have a murder case”, CL stated.

His left hand was closed in a fist holding a small metal item. “Well isn’t this ironic!”, said Y-san amused, while placing the object in a small evidence bag.

CL squat down to check Professors lab coat pockets. In his right pocket she found a prescribed medication. “It looks like he was misdiagnosed”, said CL rattling the plastic vial.

And what she found in his left pocket vividly consumed both of their minds! Five items not bigger that 2 inches each. At first glance they looked like garbage and if so, what would they be doing inside Professors pocket?!

After placing the objects in the evidence bag and still puzzled by this unusual finding CL stood up and went to the coat hanger. There they were. Six pristine-white lab coats with name tags on them. Y-san approached and started reading them out loud:

“Ashli P. Olin,

Carl B. Menoi,

Marge C. Lafont,

Owen F. Rulss,

Scilene N. Harpper,

Stan T. Dresher.”

As Y-san finished reading they startlingly looked at each other. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?!”, needlessly asked CL. “Our job here is finished my dear”, contently replied Y-san.

As they walked out the lab towards the unsuspecting suspect standing in a hallway, they both knew without even discussing it among themselves who did it, how and why!!!

Do you know?

Edited September 18, 2008 by andromeda

[Guest]

No! I said (wrote) in one of the previous spoilers that

But what I find fascinating is that you (all of you) find things that I did even know they were there. And Owen (O, N) two elements (but it's not a clue).

HINT

What is odd about their names! Don't you find those names a bit odd?!

there is only a little bit of chemistry in how he died and in cracking the compound!

Yes,

their family name, right? Only if I figure out why are they so odd....

One suggestion, while I thinking about your murder case. Would you consider to think about my murder case

[andromeda]

Ok I think I know, but I think I have some holes (unless all the info is not truly needed to solve)

It was Stan

- In his left pocket were 5 items that represented the nametags of the people who did not kill him.

- He made the K with his right hand.

- I am not really sure of the object clenched in his left unless it was to point the detectives to the left pocket.

- The pills that killed him were also in his right pocket.

to me this is Right vs Left (or R vs L)

The only name without an L int it is Stan and since the K was made with the right hand, and the murder weapon (pills) were in the right pocket he was indicating that L's are ok.

WOW! I don't even know where to begin

In his left pocket were 5 items that represented the nametags of the people who did not kill him-YES-those items he wouldn't normally use except one of them maybe

- He made the K with his right hand-YES

- I am not really sure of the object clenched in his left unless it was to point the detectives to the left pocket-NO-they would have to check the pockets anyway

- The pills that killed him were also in his right pocket-YES-because if you are right handed it's more convenient to have your pills in the right pocket, but the pills didn't kill him, someone guessed how he died not sure who, check the spoilers

But it's not L v R (but amazing thinking, you connected some things that are not put together intentionally. When I said to read everything carefully you really did!

stan because "small" (from "small metal item) is spelled out by zig zaging through the names pulling a letter (in order i.e. ashli - take s next take M from menoi, and so on the only one left is stan)

Put yourself in CL's an Y-san shoes (figuratively speaking) read those clues as they were!!! You are the detective!!! You are taking those items and think what a... and then you go to the coat hanger...

Edited September 19, 2008 by andromeda

[Guest]

One more thing.

Remember CL told to Ysan about something essential is missing for conducting the experiment.

Is this another clue?

[andromeda]

Yes,

their family name, right? Only if I figure out why are they so odd....

One suggestion, while I thinking about your murder case. Would you consider to think about my murder case

Yes... kinda! But you have to take the entire name in consideration! Remember when you asked me

"...is it in some letter code, or anagram or something?" My answer was that I'm not gonna tell you... and I WON'T tell you! But...

Gladly

Edited September 19, 2008 by andromeda

[andromeda]

One more thing.

Remember CL told to Ysan about something essential is missing for conducting the experiment.

Is this another clue?

Essential! but

not for conducting the experiment (all the chemistry inventory is there, something else that you don't really need for experiments but you kinda do need those thingS!!!)

Edited September 19, 2008 by andromeda

[Guest]

24 hours earlier...

Homicide detectives Cherry Lane and Yoruichi-san arrived at the crime scene. The hallway leading to the chemistry lab was packed with police officers surveying the area and taking statements from the witnesses, including the six student-assistants that arrived at work that morning.

Chemistry laboratory in the Natural Science Institute was immense. The entire inventory in the lab was new. Everything was prepared for the Professor and his student-assistants to start working on their new project. But something went terribly wrong that morning...

As soon as CL and Y-san stepped into the lab, CL’s hawk eyes immediately noticed something: “ They have everything that’s necessary to conduct the experiments, but still something of the essential is missing Y-san!” Y-san nodded agreeing with this observation, snapped on a pair of latex gloves and went strait to the Professors body to inspect it.

The Professor was laying face down on a yellowish-green floor. His right hand was forming a ‘character’ (his index finger and his middle finger were prominent with the thumb clinched between them, while his ring finger and his little finger were folded back under his palm). “Looks like we have a murder case”, CL stated.

His left hand was closed in a fist holding a small metal item. “Well isn’t this ironic!”, said Y-san amused, while placing the object in a small evidence bag.

CL squat down to check Professors lab coat pockets. In his right pocket she found a prescribed medication. “It looks like he was misdiagnosed”, said CL rattling the plastic vial.

And what she found in his left pocket vividly consumed both of their minds! Five items not bigger that 2 inches each. At first glance they looked like garbage and if so, what would they be doing inside Professors pocket?!

After placing the objects in the evidence bag and still puzzled by this unusual finding CL stood up and went to the coat hanger. There they were. Six pristine-white lab coats with name tags on them. Y-san approached and started reading them out loud:

“Ashli P. Olin,

Carl B. Menoi,

Marge C. Lafont,

Owen F. Rulss,

Scilene N. Harpper,

Stan T. Dresher.”

As Y-san finished reading they startlingly looked at each other. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?!”, needlessly asked CL. “Our job here is finished my dear”, contently replied Y-san.

As they walked out the lab towards the unsuspecting suspect standing in a hallway, they both knew without even discussing it among themselves who did it, how and why!!!

it's kinda nice to have the puzzle on the page so you don't go back and forth through pages...

the objects were name tags or some identification tag thing maybe a nickname or code name that is traceable to the murderer's name. also, why was ysan amused after she found the object? it's not that funny to me <_<

so

Edited September 19, 2008 by RiddL3R

[andromeda]

it's kinda nice to have the puzzle on the page so you don't go back and forth through pages...

the objects were name tags or some identification tag thing maybe a nickname or code name that is traceable to the murderer's name. also, why was ysan amused after she found the object? it's not that funny to me <_<

so

As soon as CL and Y-san stepped into the lab, CL’s hawk eyes immediately noticed something: “ They have everything that’s necessary to conduct the experiments, but still something of the essential is missing Y-san!” - something was missing in a lab!!!

His left hand was closed in a fist holding a small metal item. “Well isn’t this ironic!”, said Y-san amused, while placing the object in a small evidence bag. - she had found something that is otherwise related to those objects missing, but since those object were not here, that object he was holding had no purpose

But don't ponder on that, pay attention on the COAT HANGER.

You wrote: "...the objects were name tags or some identification tag thing maybe a nickname or code name that is traceable to the murderer's name"- YES, and the objects found in the Professors pocket were in fact items you would probably through away if you would come across, but they were important to the Professor. WHY would the Professor have those items in his pocket that somehow point to every and each of his students- CHECK HIS OTHER POCKET!

Edited September 19, 2008 by andromeda

[Guest]

the objects were name tags or some identification tag thing maybe a nickname or code name that is traceable to the murderer's name. also, why was ysan amused after she found the object? it's not that funny to me dry.gif rolleyes.gif

how about

“Ashli P. Olin, = As, H, Li, I, P, O, Li, I, N

Carl B. Menoi, = C, Ar, B, N, O

Marge C. Lafont, = Ar, Ge, C, O, N

Owen F. Rulss, = O, W, N, F, Ru,

Scilene N. Harpper, = Sc, C, I, N, N, H, Ar, P, P

Stan T. Dresher.” = N, H, He

it appears as the only name that can be entirely comprised of elements is Ashli's

am i barking up the wrong tree?

Remember CL told to Ysan about something essential is missing for conducting the experiment.

Is this another clue?

beakers or flasks?

[Guest]

But don't ponder on that, pay attention on the COAT HANGER.

You wrote: "...the objects were name tags or some identification tag thing maybe a nickname or code name that is traceable to the murderer's name"- YES, and the objects found in the Professors pocket were in fact items you would probably through away if you would come across, but they were important to the Professor. WHY would the Professor have those items in his pocket that somehow point to every and each of his students- CHECK HIS OTHER POCKET!

You say that you would probably throw them away, but the professor kept them to identify his students. Did he perhaps have some sort of problem/illness that required him to keep something from each of them to identfy them?

I think the chemical symbols is a good option and there are certainly plenty of chemical symbols in their names. But they also strike me as words that have a lots of anagrams.

I can't see any common themes, but I like:

Marge C. Lafont = Fractal Gnome , and

Owen F. Rulss = Sunflowers.

oooh. and Stan has 'death' in his name.

[andromeda]

how about

“Ashli P. Olin, = As, H, Li, I, P, O, Li, I, N

Carl B. Menoi, = C, Ar, B, N, O

Marge C. Lafont, = Ar, Ge, C, O, N

Owen F. Rulss, = O, W, N, F, Ru,

Scilene N. Harpper, = Sc, C, I, N, N, H, Ar, P, P

Stan T. Dresher.” = N, H, He

it appears as the only name that can be entirely comprised of elements is Ashli's

am i barking up the wrong tree?

beakers or flasks?

You are wrong about everything! Their names have nothing to do with the PTE symbols! But keep barking and I'm glad you joined us in our pursuit to track down the Professors killer!

You say that you would probably throw them away, but the professor kept them to identify his students. Did he perhaps have some sort of problem/illness that required him to keep something from each of them to identfy them?

I think the chemical symbols is a good option and there are certainly plenty of chemical symbols in their names. But they also strike me as words that have a lots of anagrams.

I can't see any common themes, but I like:

Marge C. Lafont = Fractal Gnome , and

Owen F. Rulss = Sunflowers.

oooh. and Stan has 'death' in his name.

YES! & YES!

"...some sort of problem/illness that required him to keep something from each of them to identfy them?- yes he was, that illness is not so important to solve the crime but to understand why the Professor did what he did!

And you have the first major brake through!!!

Owen F. Rulss = Sunflowers- 100% correct!!!

You were wrong about the other one but keep going!!!

:D

[Guest]

I think I have it, or at least am nearly there

Ashli P. Olin - nail polish

Carl B. Menoi - marble ?? or ?? cream

Marge C. Lafont - coal fragment?

Owen F. Rulss - sunflowers

Scilene N. Harpper - pencil sharpener

Stan T. Dresher - ether strands ??

so maybe he died of an allergy. The only metal one is a pencil sharpener, but I'm not sure how that would kill him?

edit: I'm off to bed now, so will leave the rest for someone else and hope it's all cleared up by the time I wake up! Thanks Andromeda, good puzzle.

Edited September 19, 2008 by foolonthehill

[andromeda]

beakers or flasks?

Sorry I forgot this one

NO.Everything needed for the experiments was there. I had to check the dictionary to find out what you wrote

[Guest]

I think it's already been figured out that he was killed with a Potassium compound (potassium chloride). This would also cause the yellow green floor.

But I think the thing missing would be paper or a notepad

Wouldn't it be ironic if there was no notepad and the prof was holding a pen/pencil in his left hand?

Perhaps one of the students wanted to steal the experiment formula and stole the notepad.

One of the names also happens to descramble to pencil sharpener.

Scilene did it,

in the laboratory

with the KCL

for the formula

[Guest]

I think I have it, or at least am nearly there

Ashli P. Olin - nail polish

Carl B. Menoi - marble ?? or ?? cream

Marge C. Lafont - coal fragment?

Owen F. Rulss - sunflowers

Scilene N. Harpper - pencil sharpener

Stan T. Dresher - ether strands ??

so maybe he died of an allergy. The only metal one is a pencil sharpener, but I'm not sure how that would kill him?

edit: I'm off to bed now, so will leave the rest for someone else and hope it's all cleared up by the time I wake up! Thanks Andromeda, good puzzle.

If based on what foolonthehill wrote.

Marge C. Lafont is the one. You don't expect to have coal fragment in the lab. The prof is holding the small portion of a coal

[preflop]

I think I have it, or at least am nearly there

so maybe he died of an allergy. The only metal one is a pencil sharpener, but I'm not sure how that would kill him?

edit: I'm off to bed now, so will leave the rest for someone else and hope it's all cleared up by the time I wake up! Thanks Andromeda, good puzzle.

let me see if i can add on to this

Ashli P. Olin - nail polish

Carl B. Menoi - marble coin or marble icon

Marge C. Lafont - coal fragment?

Owen F. Rulss - sunflowers

Scilene N. Harpper - pencil sharpener

Stan T. Dresher - three strands

so it must be the pencil sharpener - because that could be metal, or wooden, or plastic as stated earlier.

so Scilene did it.

Unless this is like murder on the orient express and they all did it http://brainden.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif

[andromeda]

WOW you guys, nice thinking! I'm going to put the entire answer together, it's gonna take a while, but you GUESSED IT!

However, none of you got the entire story straight and all the facts together, so I'm gonna give some time to others to figure it out, how it went down. There are a lot of answers and I decided not to reply individually to each and everyone of you!!!

Nice work, it wasn't too hard, was it?

[Guest]

I know you said that it was solved, but there are some things that are still bugging me.

Is it curious that the professor had his lab coat on but the assistants weren't wearing theirs?

I think that we know the KCl killed the professor but how? Was it injected? And why was the floor yellow green? Did he fall and slip in it? Why was it on the floor?

And you said that there was something wrong with the professor's "software" not his "hardware". So does that mean there was nothing wrong with him physically but mentally or emotionally? Could the medicine have to do with depression?

These thing may mean nothing...but I still had to ask.

[Nikyma]

it's kinda nice to have the puzzle on the page so you don't go back and forth through pages...

the objects were name tags or some identification tag thing maybe a nickname or code name that is traceable to the murderer's name. also, why was ysan amused after she found the object? it's not that funny to me <_<

so

If you switch your view to Linear+, which you'll find in options at the top of the OP, the OP is always at the top of the page.

[andromeda]

This is the riddle

24 hours earlier...

Homicide detectives Cherry Lane and Yoruichi-san arrived at the crime scene. The hallway leading to the chemistry lab was packed with police officers surveying the area and taking statements from the witnesses, including the six student-assistants that arrived at work that morning.

Chemistry laboratory in the Natural Science Institute was immense. The entire inventory in the lab was new. Everything was prepared for the Professor and his student-assistants to start working on their new project. But something went terribly wrong that morning...

As soon as CL and Y-san stepped into the lab, CL’s hawk eyes immediately noticed something: “ They have everything that’s necessary to conduct the experiments, but still something of the essential is missing Y-san!” Y-san nodded agreeing with this observation, snapped on a pair of latex gloves and went strait to the Professors body to inspect it.

The Professor was laying face down on a yellowish-green floor. His right hand was forming a ‘character’ (his index finger and his middle finger were prominent with the thumb clinched between them, while his ring finger and his little finger were folded back under his palm). “Looks like we have a murder case”, CL stated.

His left hand was closed in a fist holding a small item. “Well isn’t this ironic!”, said Y-san amused, while placing the object in a small evidence bag.

CL squat down to check Professors lab coat pockets. In his right pocket she found a prescribed medication. “It looks like he was misdiagnosed”, said CL rattling the plastic vial.

And what she found in his left pocket vividly consumed both of their minds! Five items not bigger that 2 inches each. At first glance they looked like garbage and if so, what would they be doing inside Professors pocket?!

After placing the objects in the evidence bag and still puzzled by this unusual finding CL stood up and went to the coat hanger. There they were. Six pristine-white lab coats with name tags on them. Y-san approached and started reading them out loud:

“Ashli P. Olin,

Carl B. Menoi,

Marge C. Lafont,

Owen F. Rulss,

Scilene N. Harpper,

Stan T. Dresher.”

As Y-san finished reading they startlingly looked at each other. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?!”, needlessly asked CL. “Our job here is finished my dear”, contently replied Y-san.

As they walked out the lab towards the unsuspecting suspect standing in a hallway, they both knew without even discussing it among themselves who did it, how and why!!!

Do you know?

EDIT: I removed 'metal' from 'small metal item'!

And this is the solution and some explanations

I don’t even know where to start. OK! I’ll start with his medication. It was some medication to control his paranoia. He was afraid that someone might kill him, hence the CL’s reaction after she found the plastic vial in his pocket! He had a good reason to be paranoid (the name of the medication is irrelevant, it was only there so we could understand why did he have all of those items in his left pocket). And he was warring his lab coat on because he got there early that morning before everyone else.

The Professor was a brilliant mind and since he knew that most of his time in the future he will be spending with his students he did the following things. He untangled 6 anagrams out of his students names representing 6 objects he would be carrying with him all the time.

Ashli P. Olin - nail polish (one of those really small kinds)

Carl B. Menoi - marble coin (hand carved)

Marge C. Lafont - coal fragment

Owen F. Rulss - sunflowers (two small attached together sunflowers detached from some ornament)

Scilene N. Harpper - pencil sharpener (metal, wood, plastic one - here I made a mistake indicating it’s a metal object cause the pencil sharpener would be the only one, and you were not supposed to know that until you crack the final clue)

Stan T. Dresher - Three strands (tied together in a knot)

Now, except the nail polish (which is a weird thing to find in the Professors pocket) and the pencil sharpener wouldn’t you say that the rest of the stuff does in fact look like garbage.

He was an awarded professor, brilliant mind, starting on a new project. And when that morning Scilene walked into the room confronting him that he stole her fathers work years ago he wasn’t surprised (however the Professor wasn’t aware that she was his former associate's daughter until she told him). Cause her father accused him of the same thing and even took it to the court but the Professor was found innocent (I’m just spicing it up ).

Scilene become a chemist and managed to become part of the Professors assembly and decided - it is time for revenge. She took a syringe filled with a high concentration of KCl solution. She chose that poison to make it look like a heart attack, and that was the exact thing that she told the Professor that no one will ever know that he was murdered (the Professor intentionally asked for the floor to be painted yellowish-green because KCl is one of the rare chemicals that are hard and nearly impossible to trace in blood unless you know exactly what to look for. But she didn’t know that the Professor was prepared, he wanted to make sure that the murderer will be punished!!!

He was in luck (is this an oxymoron?! ) cause she decided to kill him exactly with that substance.

So when she walked into the lab that morning confronting him with his past, he put his hand in his pocket and grabbed onto the pencil sharpener! It was an immense laboratory so there was no signs of struggle because there was enough maneuvering space. As he fell down on the ground he formed a ‘K’ with his right hand (after I read Woon’s riddle I realized I could have added a smile on his face, oh well... )

The final clue, finally - the thing that was missing from the lab. It’s simple, it was paper and pencils/pens (the lab was new and they still didn’t have any paper or pencils in it. Hence Y-san’s reaction (“Well, isn’t this ironic”) when she found the pencil sharpener in his hand. The Professor was murdered and in his hand she found one thing he couldn’t have used. In his left pocked CL found those five small items already mentioned that didn’t make sense until they read the name tags!

And that’s the whole story (well, stealing work and the reason why Scilene killed him is just a speculation and not so important, but it was fun putting the entire story together where every item and every word have their exact place)!

If you still think that some parts of the riddle don’t add up, please tell me so I could make it better next time!

I hope you had fun solving this crime and I hope you like the solution!

Edited September 20, 2008 by andromeda

[Guest]

I only have one problem. The ASL "K" is practically identical to the ASL "P". The fingers are in the position described: index and middle extended, thumb between them, ring finger and pinky folded back. If the index finger points up and the middle finger points sideways, it's K. If the index finger points sideways and the middle finger points down, it's P. You were quick to reaffirm that he had formed a K, though, so it wasn't really an issue. I just wanted to point that out for future reference. Nice puzzle.

[andromeda]

I only have one problem. The ASL "K" is practically identical to the ASL "P". The fingers are in the position described: index and middle extended, thumb between them, ring finger and pinky folded back. If the index finger points up and the middle finger points sideways, it's K. If the index finger points sideways and the middle finger points down, it's P. You were quick to reaffirm that he had formed a K, though, so it wasn't really an issue. I just wanted to point that out for future reference. Nice puzzle.

Thanks! To be honest I don't know ASL, but I used this manual alphabet to explain how did his fingers form a character! So if that is wrong... Thanks for pointing that out I'll double check next time.

[Guest]

Wow! nice one andromeda!, you really had me stumped for a while.

[Guest]

Not that it matters (or maybe it does?) most right handed people will carry their pills in their left pocket (if in pants or side pockets of coats.) So that they take the pills out with their left, and in a continuous motion, take the cap off with the right (their dominant hand.)

Unless it was in the inner chest pocket of a coat, in which case either left or right side would work under this theory. (Try it yourself, which side would you naturally, if both sides were available, put your pills in?)

Also, for this theory to work, the 6 objects and the pills would all have to have been on the same side - the non-dominant hand side since it can be assumed that the 6 objects would be in the less-used side. But that wouldn't make sense either I suppose. Unless...he was so paranoid that he kept the 6 objects on the dominant hand side. My guess then, is that the professor was left-handed. Again, not that it matters.

Edited December 8, 2008 by bruswain

[andromeda]

Not that it matters (or maybe it does?) most right handed people will carry their pills in their left pocket (if in pants or side pockets of coats.) So that they take the pills out with their left, and in a continuous motion, take the cap off with the right (their dominant hand.)

Unless it was in the inner chest pocket of a coat, in which case either left or right side would work under this theory. (Try it yourself, which side would you naturally, if both sides were available, put your pills in?)

Also, for this theory to work, the 6 objects and the pills would all have to have been on the same side - the non-dominant hand side since it can be assumed that the 6 objects would be in the less-used side. But that wouldn't make sense either I suppose. Unless...he was so paranoid that he kept the 6 objects on the dominant hand side. My guess then, is that the professor was left-handed. Again, not that it matters.

Not that it matters but for the riddles sake let's just say that he was ambidextrous

I'm glad you responded, I'm always trying to tie all the loose ends but somehow I always end up with some things dangling on the side.

My Wednesday Paper Headlines are even worse... I'm not even sure how to finish it and people are making inquiries and now I have to come up with a plausible explanation

Edited December 8, 2008 by andromeda

[andromeda]

OK I just thought about it some more and I'm right handed but I'm always taking pills with my left hand!

I hold the vial with my right hand, open it with my left and then shake one pill on my left palm. I don't know about other right handed people though...

Good question

Edited December 8, 2008 by andromeda