Brain Teasers
Murder or Suicide?
Mystery
Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.Mystery
Detective Wesley carefully examined the scene before him. He was in a hotel room about 3 miles from the victim's home. The victim's body lay in front of him peacefully on the bed. It was January 7th, 3:15 PM, the body was discovered by a hotel maid. The man's name was Sean Donovin. He was in his late twenties, a successful business owner, a Sunday school teacher, and was soon to be married. The detective shook his head in disgust. He whispered to himself, "Why would anyone commit suicide when they had everything going for them?"
The detective saw this as suspicious. The only potential suspects would have to be people he trusted. According to testimony from his coworkers and friends, he only trusted 3 people: his sister, Hannah, who was very close with the victim and who often assisted him while he taught at the local church; his brother, John, who owned a smaller, semi-successful business; and his fiance, Jenna.
The apparent cause of death was by injection of poison. At least his death was peaceful, the detective thought. The detective continued to search the hotel room, when he stumbled upon a suicide note. It read:
Jan 04/2009 4:10 AM
My loved ones,
Jenna, Sis, John, I would just like to tell you how sorry I am. Blame God for why I am to die today. Blame Him. Seek Him if you want to know why I did leave you. Do not mourn my death. Please move on.
Goodbye,
Sean
The detective saw this letter as somewhat suspicious. His last words were abrupt, almost impersonal. Why would a Sunday school teacher blame God?
The body was taken in for medical examination. Days later, the coroner would determine that the body died from a poison which killed instantly. The coroner would also determine that the body was only dead a mere 3 hours before it was discovered.
The detective then realized that the date and time used on the note were completely false. All 3 of those mentioned in the letter agreed the handwriting was indeed Sean's.
The detective realized that the identity of the murderer was given inside the suicide note. After a thorough examination of the note, Detective Wesley quickly arrested the murderer.
Who was it?
The detective saw this as suspicious. The only potential suspects would have to be people he trusted. According to testimony from his coworkers and friends, he only trusted 3 people: his sister, Hannah, who was very close with the victim and who often assisted him while he taught at the local church; his brother, John, who owned a smaller, semi-successful business; and his fiance, Jenna.
The apparent cause of death was by injection of poison. At least his death was peaceful, the detective thought. The detective continued to search the hotel room, when he stumbled upon a suicide note. It read:
Jan 04/2009 4:10 AM
My loved ones,
Jenna, Sis, John, I would just like to tell you how sorry I am. Blame God for why I am to die today. Blame Him. Seek Him if you want to know why I did leave you. Do not mourn my death. Please move on.
Goodbye,
Sean
The detective saw this letter as somewhat suspicious. His last words were abrupt, almost impersonal. Why would a Sunday school teacher blame God?
The body was taken in for medical examination. Days later, the coroner would determine that the body died from a poison which killed instantly. The coroner would also determine that the body was only dead a mere 3 hours before it was discovered.
The detective then realized that the date and time used on the note were completely false. All 3 of those mentioned in the letter agreed the handwriting was indeed Sean's.
The detective realized that the identity of the murderer was given inside the suicide note. After a thorough examination of the note, Detective Wesley quickly arrested the murderer.
Who was it?
Answer
John, his brother, was the murderer.The time 4:10 AM didn't refer to the time but rather to the biblical passage Genesis 4:10, which is an excerpt from the story of Cain and Abel, where an envious Cain kills his brother Abel. Many things point to this. AM referred to the Old Testament.
In the suicide note, Sean, being a Sunday school teacher, hinted to search for God to determine who killed him with "Seek Him if you want to know why I did leave you", which refers to the Bible. Furthermore, he intentionally did not mention the name of his Sister, Hannah, when he noted "Jenna, Sis", which sounds like "Genesis".
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Comments
This is my first teaser in this genre, so don't be too hard on me
Hope you guys enjoy it.
Hope you guys enjoy it.
i did like it--it was well written but as i'm not Christian and I haven't studied the Bible, I was at a bit of a loss. i thought it was John, but for the wrong reasons.
i was a little confused? how did he have time to write the note if the poison killed him instantly? was john making him write it? and if so, why didn't john dictate..
all in all, nice job
i was a little confused? how did he have time to write the note if the poison killed him instantly? was john making him write it? and if so, why didn't john dictate..
all in all, nice job
I wanted to make it seem like Jogn made him write it, however didn't dictate to make his writing style seem consistent. If John looked over the letter, he would have no idea about what it really said.
Hey, good job! I got it after, "Him", but then again, I'm addicted to mysteries and almost always solve them before I read the answer. Hope to see more!
Well written, though I wouldn't have got it since I'm not religious.
I did wonder why it said 'Sis' rather than 'Hannah', so I thought it was his sister...
Good job
I did wonder why it said 'Sis' rather than 'Hannah', so I thought it was his sister...
Good job
It actually makes sense! i was expecting something more forensic but i mean come on! the man was religious!! job well done
Brilliant. Blame HIM is a bit of a giveaway, but it's a good teaser. Nicely done
That was very clever.
that was very good. biblical references two thumbs up yo!
Wow, that was hard. I sort of gave up in the end and just said God was the culprit
The note ticked me off, but, wow, that was a good one.
it would have never made sense for the fiance to have killed him, no motive. Only the brother or sister, someone that would have benefited from his death.
I still did not guess correctly. Great Teaser.
I still did not guess correctly. Great Teaser.
nice one . i couldn't figure it out lol .
I was completely stumped, so I randomly guessed the brother.
Once again, once you read the answer you go "Well, duh! How could you have missed it?" to yourself.
Once again, once you read the answer you go "Well, duh! How could you have missed it?" to yourself.
Brilliant riddle
I loved it! And my friend got a laugh when she saw you used the wesley childrens names! She is a HUGE harrypotter fan!
I got it and I loved it!
Thanks for a good one.
Thanks for a good one.
awesome puzzle!!
so only a person who keeps a bible at home gets to solve the teaser... please be more universal next time :S
Try an online Bible, maybe?..like biblegateway
One thing that still doesn't make sense. How was the note in Sean's handwriting? And he died peacefully? No struggle? While his brother injected him with poison?!? I'm sorry, doesn't add up. I'm only giving this one thumb-up.
Apr 12, 2010
Nice teaser. But if I were the suspect, I wouldn't leave a clue in the suicide note.
Oh, I'm so sorry. Haha. I misunderstood the answer. It was the victim who wrote the note. I got the suspect right, though.
This one was really clever though i really thought it was hannah and not the brother cause i thought that maybe he was really mad at hannah for murdering him, but i really do like this one alot!
I Only Guessed Iht Was Tha Brother because tha note Said "Blame Him"..N He Was Thee only Boy..
Great Riddle,
Im lucky i read it out loud so could hear the biblical reference. It also struck me as suspicious that he wouldnt call his brother Bro. Well put together riddle enjoyed the misdirection as well
Im lucky i read it out loud so could hear the biblical reference. It also struck me as suspicious that he wouldnt call his brother Bro. Well put together riddle enjoyed the misdirection as well
Far too easy. Skimmed it and got it right. I was disappointed with this one What gave it away was the "Blame Him" and the fact that he only had one brother who owned a less-successful business. Didn't need the biblical references.
That was amazing. If I hadn't sort of remembered taking this one, I would've never known. Great job.
Great!
I was sitting at my computer for 30 minutes and still didn't figure that out!
I've read the Bible before but couldn't remember 4:10!
Really good teaser.
I was sitting at my computer for 30 minutes and still didn't figure that out!
I've read the Bible before but couldn't remember 4:10!
Really good teaser.
To all you people who have problems with the story: chill out! The point is, you didn't get it! You missed the answer! It's a fictional story with a hidden solution, not the NYPD's police log.
Anyway...
I liked it! I've never seen one like it before. Quite original. And good story-telling. Kudos!
Anyway...
I liked it! I've never seen one like it before. Quite original. And good story-telling. Kudos!
very good teaser, but since i'm not much of a bible guy, i didn't actually get the answer cu'z i thought it was hanah cu'z in the letter only hername wasn't mentioned.
I love it! Really hard, but it's going in my faves!
Hey, I just realized that in a whole bunch of Mystery teasers on Braingle, the murderer is named John. Coincidence?
Very very very clever, I loved it H...
I am not christian either but this riddle is a very clever idea!!!
The biblical references were not really required . The "blame him" gave it away. But if I had read the Bible more than once, I guess the allegories would be enjoyable. I loved the teaser!
The blame Him wasn't referring to the brother, though It was explained in the answer that the "Him" referred to God. I don't understand why people keep bringing that up.
This is brilliant
Very good riddle, weel thought out but i was wondering;
why would the murderer, john, atually give such big clues and why did he use the bible?
why would the murderer, john, atually give such big clues and why did he use the bible?
YES I GOT IT!
No joke.
And I didn't get the Jenna-Sis thing, all I had to do was see 'Blame Him' and I was done.
No joke.
And I didn't get the Jenna-Sis thing, all I had to do was see 'Blame Him' and I was done.
I sort of thought the "blame Him" thought masked as a reference to God, may in fact have been a veiled attempt at pointing to the brother. So I came up with the brother as my answer, but don't consider I got it since I was way off base as to why.
Hard but very very good. So well written and detailed. Perfect!
Yeah, I did think that the "blame Him" meant John. But still, really cool.
John's confession was too obvious.
i thought it was hannah until i noticed the part where it said jenna,sis. because i didnt see hannahs name
I got the right answer the wrong way
I thought "Seek Him if you want to know why I did leave you." was referring to John being the only "him"
I thought "Seek Him if you want to know why I did leave you." was referring to John being the only "him"
Solution was unnecessarily convoluted. It would make just as much sense to say that "Blame Him" referred to John, the only male suspect.
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