Brain Teasers
Enter Pepper
Mystery
Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.Mystery
In the city of Extremum, capital and largest city of the Mauve Empire, there lives a man named Pythagoras Euclid Pepper. "Doctor" Pepper, as his friends called him, was a bit eccentric and absent-minded, but his eclectic knowledge of a wide array of minutiae paired with his apparent complete lack of common sense seemed to give off an aura of delight that caused many with whom he had spoken to have felt a keen interest in the unique way his mind operates. Pepper did not have a terminal degree from any university in the Mauve Empire, but the people who knew him best insisted upon calling him "doctor" nevertheless. As will hopefully be shown, he was not, however, completely ignorant in terms of practical judgment.
One day when Dr. Pepper was walking to the Extremum Public Library, he noticed a team of firefighters and paramedics outside the door of what appeared to be a rather well-fortified residence. As far as Pythagoras could see, there were no windows, and only one door, which was made of solid steel.
"What's going on here?" Dr. Pepper asked a fire/rescue lieutenant who was standing on the sidewalk in front of the house. Their conversation is as follows:
Lieutenant: "We got a call from this address about a man who has fallen and broken his leg," the lieutenant said. "But he keeps his door securely locked most of the time, and he can't get to the door to let us in!"
Dr. Pepper: "If he needs medical attention, can't you just kick the door in?"
Lt.: "That's what we'd ordinarily do, but this door swings outward. We can't use axes to break the door in, either, due to its strength. We're going to have to call for some special equipment to get in there. I don't think we have anything powerful enough to get us in there in our regular equipment engines."
Dr.: "Actually, if my suspicions are correct, I have a feeling that you do have everything you need to get into that building, and it won't require destroying the whole house in the process!"
What is Pepper's idea?
One day when Dr. Pepper was walking to the Extremum Public Library, he noticed a team of firefighters and paramedics outside the door of what appeared to be a rather well-fortified residence. As far as Pythagoras could see, there were no windows, and only one door, which was made of solid steel.
"What's going on here?" Dr. Pepper asked a fire/rescue lieutenant who was standing on the sidewalk in front of the house. Their conversation is as follows:
Lieutenant: "We got a call from this address about a man who has fallen and broken his leg," the lieutenant said. "But he keeps his door securely locked most of the time, and he can't get to the door to let us in!"
Dr. Pepper: "If he needs medical attention, can't you just kick the door in?"
Lt.: "That's what we'd ordinarily do, but this door swings outward. We can't use axes to break the door in, either, due to its strength. We're going to have to call for some special equipment to get in there. I don't think we have anything powerful enough to get us in there in our regular equipment engines."
Dr.: "Actually, if my suspicions are correct, I have a feeling that you do have everything you need to get into that building, and it won't require destroying the whole house in the process!"
What is Pepper's idea?
Answer
Dr. Pepper took a quick glance at the door, and turned back to the lieutenant."That's what I thought. Look! The hinges are on the outside of the door. If you have something in your truck that can function as a wedge, you should be able to pry the hinges apart and take the whole door off."
"Right, I knew that," the Lieutenant said as he ran back to the fire truck and got a screwdriver out of a toolbox. Just then, the Mauve Police Department arrived at the scene.
"We're ready with the explosives," an officer said as he exited his car.
"That won't be necessary," the lieutenant said as he removed the door and ran in to check on the victim.
Incidentally, Dr. Pepper is not a physician, but the victim thought he was just the man he wanted around the next time he should need emergency medical care.
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Comments
Hey ......
I think "Doc" Pep is exactly the kind of man I would like to hang out with.
Not too many people think about the "easy" way to open obstinate doors.
I always laugh when seeing the original Hollywood film "The Thing" when carrot-monster simply opens the barricaded door TOWARD himself and then bats down the planks nailed over the opening.
GREAT story. I gave it tops for fun !!
BB02
I think "Doc" Pep is exactly the kind of man I would like to hang out with.
Not too many people think about the "easy" way to open obstinate doors.
I always laugh when seeing the original Hollywood film "The Thing" when carrot-monster simply opens the barricaded door TOWARD himself and then bats down the planks nailed over the opening.
GREAT story. I gave it tops for fun !!
BB02
That's ridiculous. Why would anyone fortify his house so securely, and then make a door with the hinges on the outside? It is easy to get a hinge for a door that opens outwards, but still the hinge in not accessible. In any case, with a truly fortified door, even with the hinges off you would still not be able to open the door.
I had thought you were going to ask the fireman to use a fire extinguisher to freeze the door. Since normal steel shrinks significantly, that might shrink the door enough to get it open. For that to work, though, you would have to say something along the lines of, "The firemen had widened the door frame enough that they could see the deadbolt was only holding on by less than a quarter of an inch."
I had thought you were going to ask the fireman to use a fire extinguisher to freeze the door. Since normal steel shrinks significantly, that might shrink the door enough to get it open. For that to work, though, you would have to say something along the lines of, "The firemen had widened the door frame enough that they could see the deadbolt was only holding on by less than a quarter of an inch."
Well I liked it!
This teaser was intentionally somewhat ludicrous. I apologize if you didn't enjoy it.
Why couldn't they use ropes to scale from the ceiling?
Wow, I thought my answer was ridiculous and a little to easily thought of to be right, but it was! Love it.
ahahaha. Dr. Pepper! I LOVE IT!
I was wondering along the lines of, maybe there was someone else inside the house, because otherwise 'who made the call if there were no windows?
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