Brain Teasers
The Blue Tattoo
One day, a man, John, was shopping in Stuff-Mart looking for a curling iron for his wife Jules. As he looked around he decided to begin reading the signs above the aisles to see if he could find any clue as to where the curling irons might be located. When he looked up at one of the signs he noticed something quite strange in one of the mirrors mounted in the corner of the ceiling - a man with a large blue tattoo was placing a hairdryer inside his trench coat. Noting this as a suspicious action, the man went to Stuff-Mart Security and reported the incident. After hearing his testimony the local Police Department was phoned and asked to send out a detective. This is what took place when Detective Rodgers arrived:
"Hello, Mr. ..." said Detective Rodgers.
"Smith, John Smith", supplied John.
"Mr. Smith," Rodgers confirmed. "My name is Detective Rodgers. Why don't you tell me exactly what you saw."
"Well, Detective Rodgers, sir, I was looking for a curling iron for my wife Jules when I looked up at the aisle signs and noticed a man in the mirror placing an expensive-looking hairdryer in his coat."
"Was there anything noticeable about this man other than the fact that he was hiding a hair-dryer in his coat?" inquired Rodgers.
"Well sir, I did see in the mirror that he had a large blue tattoo of what appeared to be a Chinese dragon on his left arm." responded John.
"Thank you, sir. If you'll be so kind as to excuse me for a moment while I phone this into the station so they can be on lookout for anyone with a blue Chinese Dragon tattoo."
---Moments Later---
"Sir," Says Detective Rodgers. "Please come with me down to the station, we have picked up several suspects and we would like you to identify the man that you saw."
"Of course, Detective," replies Smith.
At the station, Detective Rodgers takes John into a room where he can look in on the suspects and ID the culprit. When he looks through the glass he sees five men all with blue Chinese dragons tattooed on an arm. After looking at the five men John points out the only one who had a blue tattoo on his left arm as the culprit. Detective Rodgers considered this for a moment and then asks John to retell the story of how he came to witness the theft. John, of course, eager to help, complies immediately. The Detective thinks over the tale careful before he comes to a conclusion.
"Mr. Smith," Says Rodgers in a thoughtful tone. "I regret to inform you that this cannot be the man you saw with the tattoo on his left arm in the mirror."
How did Detective Rodgers know that John Smith was mistaken in his identification of the culprit?
"Hello, Mr. ..." said Detective Rodgers.
"Smith, John Smith", supplied John.
"Mr. Smith," Rodgers confirmed. "My name is Detective Rodgers. Why don't you tell me exactly what you saw."
"Well, Detective Rodgers, sir, I was looking for a curling iron for my wife Jules when I looked up at the aisle signs and noticed a man in the mirror placing an expensive-looking hairdryer in his coat."
"Was there anything noticeable about this man other than the fact that he was hiding a hair-dryer in his coat?" inquired Rodgers.
"Well sir, I did see in the mirror that he had a large blue tattoo of what appeared to be a Chinese dragon on his left arm." responded John.
"Thank you, sir. If you'll be so kind as to excuse me for a moment while I phone this into the station so they can be on lookout for anyone with a blue Chinese Dragon tattoo."
---Moments Later---
"Sir," Says Detective Rodgers. "Please come with me down to the station, we have picked up several suspects and we would like you to identify the man that you saw."
"Of course, Detective," replies Smith.
At the station, Detective Rodgers takes John into a room where he can look in on the suspects and ID the culprit. When he looks through the glass he sees five men all with blue Chinese dragons tattooed on an arm. After looking at the five men John points out the only one who had a blue tattoo on his left arm as the culprit. Detective Rodgers considered this for a moment and then asks John to retell the story of how he came to witness the theft. John, of course, eager to help, complies immediately. The Detective thinks over the tale careful before he comes to a conclusion.
"Mr. Smith," Says Rodgers in a thoughtful tone. "I regret to inform you that this cannot be the man you saw with the tattoo on his left arm in the mirror."
How did Detective Rodgers know that John Smith was mistaken in his identification of the culprit?
Hint
Think back to how John Smith said he spotted the thief in a mirror.Answer
Detective Rodgers knew Smith was mistaken because John had said that he saw in the mirror that the blue Chinese dragon tattoo was on the man's left arm. Rodgers took into consideration one thing that John did not: In the mirror it would have seemed that the tattoo was on the thief's left arm, but in reality it would have been on the thief's right arm.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
What Next?
View a Similar Brain Teaser...
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Solve a Puzzle
Comments
Good job! I like it!
it was good,
but the hint gave it away
but the hint gave it away
Yes, the old mirror thing. Nicely done, Mr. Dogboy!
sooooooooooooo.......easy !!!!!
But fun.......definitely !
But fun.......definitely !
Maybe he took the mirror into consideration when he said left arm.
Maybe he figured that if the guy was wearing a trench coat it would be impossible to see a tattoo on his arm, thus John was trying to steal it himself and blame it on someone else....
easy but I like asy...very fun!
not to be a nag, but SO easy and obvious and it could have been shortened. Good try/job though
to see the man in the mirror, john would have to be facing it, just like the man himself. the problem with this riddle is that mirrors reflect exactly, and don't flip images. that means the left arm in the mirror would be the man's left arm in reality. look into a mirror and try it.
Well be all that as it may, I think it was very well written and I like it!! Good job Doggy
Did this trench coat NOT have sleeves??
well maybe smith knew the difference in looking in the mirror and not. i know i do! it was ok i guess. i honestly thought it was actually him looking at himself in the mirror and taking the hair dryer without noticing....like he's a skitzo or something....lol....that would've been a more interesting ending
Agreed... somehow I felt he was looking at himself taking a hair dryer.
it was okay i got it after awhile although my intial thoughts were the same i was thinking that he was looking in the mirror at himself lol. nice one
Yeah, I thought the same thing as cancerianmoon. That's why I didn't get it right. Grr.
A tad too easy. The last line gave it away.
It was a well written puzzler. Too bad the premise behind the answer was wrong. Should have been picked up on when edited.
I got that he would be wrong from the moment he said the man with a tatoo on his left arm was the culprit. It was really fun anyways.
that was kind of easy...but still fun to figure out
long..but good
Jul 06, 2006
yeah Annie was right, did the trench coat NOT have sleeves??? That should be taken out. But the rest was good.
Nice one, thanks!!
i didn't realize it but cancerianmoon was right....i even tried it...lol...but before i read the coments i thought it was a good one...easy but good..but u may have the wrong answer if cancerianmoon was right!
If you were to look at someone in a mirror you would still be able to easily tell their right from left arms. I'm not buying this answer...
(And good catch to those of you that noticed the trenchcoat didn't cover the arm and/or tattoo)
(And good catch to those of you that noticed the trenchcoat didn't cover the arm and/or tattoo)
I Loved it I thought it had great emotion!
Fun! and a good story line
Duh! So EASY
Aug 17, 2006
It says the man had a trench coat on. How could John see the tattoo through the coat?
....silly people....think about it....the man opens his trench coat and john can see it (at least part of it) on the inside of the man's arm.
Very badly written! The matter itself revealed it ALL!
I think that if you don't have something nice to say, that you should keep your rude comments to yourself!
Pretty fun. A little too easy though. Good job!
Easy but still cool!
Easy premise. Needs to be edited to make sense of it (like removing that jacket, and changing a little the crime so it can be commited without the jacket )
After all, good teaser.
Will
After all, good teaser.
Will
Yep... I agree that the part about the trenchcoat is an error.... but otherwise nice job Dogboy!
i dunno even know why i thought up a trenchcoat....i live on the Tex/Mex border.....we call 70 degrees F a cold day.....seldom even need a light jacket much less a trenchcoat....lol.
Im happy i gave some of you another useless thing to gripe about though...oh wait... I lie...whoops.
Im happy i gave some of you another useless thing to gripe about though...oh wait... I lie...whoops.
he was wearing a trenchcoat and yet john could still see a tattoo on the mans arm...
it was probably one of the best ive seen in a while thank dogboy
it wa the kooliest
Miss ya youngin! I mean dog. good teser anyways. I am picturing you in a trenchcoat and a cowboy hat
If its a coat wouldnt it have sleeves so you couldnt see the tatoo??
Story= Great! Loved it!
Puzzle/Answer= eh, not so much. As previously mentioned, not correct.
Puzzle/Answer= eh, not so much. As previously mentioned, not correct.
tooo easssyyyy
that was easy but fun
I loved it! =). It was kind of easy though. And i gree with the people who are wondering how John could've seen the tatoo if the man was wearing a trench coat.. did he X-ray vision of something? c(=,
very easy but nice story to go along with it!
Easy...I liked it
I'm not that smart, i could'nt figure it out!
That was easy hahahahahahaha!!!
Figured it out. Good teaser, it wasn't very tricky though.
nice one, but one of the easiest in this category. Fun anyways!
I've seen this one before
that was too easy, and, last time i checked, trench coats have sleeves. but other than that, it was a pretty good one!
good job, but wat if he saw the tattoo on his right arm and knowing it was a mirror told the police it was on his left arm????????
i got it right, but you didn't fully explain that the man could have seen the tatoo on his right arm and logically said it was on his left arm.
yey i got it!!! great teaser!!!!!!!
Nice quiz!
that one was soo easy
cancerianmoon is wrong, the answer is fine. Mirrors flip images. If you look at a mirror and raise you're right hand, it will be the mirror you's left hand. You can't think "oh, it's on my right, just like my arm." You have to mentally flip yourself and realize that the mirror flipped the image.
Real easy, nice try though.
Sorry. I'm being critical today.
But if he was wearing a trench coat, how could John have seen a tattoo on his arm? I'm quite certain the coat sleeve would have covered it...
But if he was wearing a trench coat, how could John have seen a tattoo on his arm? I'm quite certain the coat sleeve would have covered it...
Ditto to the trenchcoat
friesaregood is right and cancerianmoon is wrong. the answer as it stands is correct (even if the puzzle itself is too easy). If you look at yourself in the mirror and raise your right hand, the hand being raised is on YOUR right, but if your reflection was another person it would be it's left.
Did I explain that clearly? ...think about it.
Did I explain that clearly? ...think about it.
good one. believe u r a fan of agatha christie
friesaregood is correct, but what if the witness realized this and switched the arms accordingly?
Wouldn't the coat cover the tatoo?
Why get involved? He could have been killed watching a thief in progress of a crime. Besides, he should have known that the tatoo was on the right arm.
Moreover, isn't his wife waiting to tidy up her hair. He's lucky they didn't arrest him for ???
Moreover, isn't his wife waiting to tidy up her hair. He's lucky they didn't arrest him for ???
you had me waving my arms in front of my mirror like a lunatic..and I have come to the conclusion that this teaser isn't any good as a teaser. Sorry, but it is perfectly obvious in a mirror which arm is which. Even if it weren't, we can't just assume John is a simpleton. Still, it was nicely worded.
Well thought, but super easy
To post a comment, please create an account and sign in.
Follow Braingle!