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Who Kidnapped John?

Category:	Mystery
Submitted By:	grilledcheese
Fun:	(3.08)
Difficulty:	(2.16)

"I know we should have called the police," Eric Wembly admitted as he nursed a bump on the back of his head. "But the kidnapper said he'd kill my brother if we did. And it's not like we couldn't afford the ransom."

John Wembly, the elder son of Jonas Wembly, had been missing since Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, a lone kidnapper telephoned the mansion and made his demands. The younger Wembly son, Eric, was to bring the money in unmarked bills in a duffel bag. He was to take a specific route from the mansion, parking in a downtown lot and carrying the bag through an alley to a drop site in a nearby park.

The normally cheap Jonas Wembly was frantic and willingly agreed to the terms. A midnight pay-off. Half a million dollars. And no police.

"I was halfway through the alley," Eric testified, "when I heard footsteps. Before I could turn around I was hit on the head. I fell down. But it didn't quite knock me out. I could see his back by the light of a street lamp. Never got to see his front. He was running away with the duffel bag. A tall guy with white sneakers. He was wearing blue jeans and a dark cardigan. Sorry I can't be more specific."

In the case's one lucky break, a police officer came across Eric shortly after the attack. He called in the crime and a patrol car responded immediately. Two suspicious-looking characters were apprehended in the vicinity, both resembling Eric's description.

"So, I was running," Petey Bordon said angrily. He had been found two blocks from the attack and started running as soon as he saw the patrol car. Petey had a string of priors, all misdemeanors. "I'm on parole," he admitted, "And I was carrying a knife -- for my own protection at night. That's a violation. Can you wonder why I ran away?"

The second suspect was Arnie Acker, a homeless drifter. "I wasn't even wearing this sweater," he protested as he unbuttoned his moth-eaten cardigan. "I picked it out of the garbage just before you guys pulled me in."

"We didn't find money on either one of 'em," the chief of police told Jonas Wembly. "And we didn't find the duffel bag. But I got a pretty good idea what happened. Don't worry. We'll get your son back."

Who kidnapped John Wembly?

Answer:

Eric Wembly.

Eric's testimony about the cardigan sweater gave him away. If Eric saw his attacker only from the rear, as he claimed, then it would have been impossible to tell if he was wearing a cardigan or a pullover. Eric was obviously lying.

Eric eventually confessed, admitting that he and John had staged the entire kidnapping scene in order to extract money from their cheap father.

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Comments on this teaser


Posted by sourdough	07/09/08
Fun & Easy! $ourDough loved this one, yes indeedly doo! 8) :D Three Thumbs Up! 8) $D :o

Posted by kiddo230508	07/10/08
This was another good teaser from you grilledcheese! I loved it! it was medium difficulty, my sister didn't get it, haha :P Can't wait for more!!!!!!

Posted by xdbtcp	07/11/08
I guessed Petey Bordon - it said his "string of priors" were all misdemeanors, which (granted I don't know much about the law) means he was lying when he said he was on parole...do you get parole for misdemeanors?? :-?

Posted by parktell	07/11/08
that was fun...I love mysteries :)

Posted by getoffursausage	07/11/08
That was very clevey and well written!! I always get confused with the cardigan and pullover and blouse terms ect, so that didn't help me :lol:

Posted by cecepeach83	07/15/08
Great great great! Not as easy as some of the other mysteries I've seen here lately but still easy enough where I don't feel like a dummy! lol. keep up the great job. :P

Posted by xxhartbrakrxx	07/18/08
Really Cool!!!!

Posted by al111	07/22/08
Itwas alright well done

Posted by brain23	07/22/08
I got it by the hint because it said "read each TESTINOMONY" and you said Eric testified, and I thought testified was related to testinomony, so I thought it was Eric.

Posted by kankuro94	07/24/08
awesome :D

Posted by zaan	07/29/08
hehe very cool.... :lol: :roll:

Posted by june12	08/29/08
i enjoyed it and got it pretty quick

Posted by zxyggrhyn	09/09/08
I blame it to my ignorance on cardigans (and pullovers). :( ):

Posted by johnyboy44311	09/28/08
Hehehe..I don't really know what candigan is. That's why I didn't realize it quickly.

Posted by elwxxxswimchick	09/30/08
yah i was right about john being a part of it...

Posted by labgeek	10/14/08
really good mystery - nice job

Posted by Calehay	11/10/08
Brilliant!

Posted by keeperofdeath	11/16/08
heh, that one was pretty easy

Posted by aderby	12/16/08
Really great teaser...But if John and Eric staged the kidnapping together, then no one really kidnapped John... :-?

Posted by precious1026	03/04/09
:evil: Finally, got one on the first attempt. Yea, I knew the only way Eric could tell the sweater was a C. he would have had to see the front, because that is the only way one knows if a sweater is a C is from the Front. Thief :evil:

Posted by precious1026	03/04/09
:roll: Great Caper :evil: :evil:

Posted by EienNiKirei	03/08/09
I got it right! This one was really fun. :lol:

Posted by BlackCamaro	06/29/09
I guess I got it half right since I thought John was the culprit... don't know the difference between cardigans and pullovers. Maybe Eric just said the name of the first one that came to his mind.

Posted by trewq	07/27/09
i think i got it because of the lack of motive/opportunity for anyone besides the brothers also, it mentioned a street light. I haven't seen many street lights in alleys, but that might just be my town

Posted by rp2x1	10/20/09
Great teaser! The evidence was just vague enough to not be too easy! Enjoyed it :D

Posted by animallover2000	11/21/09
My grandma got it right, she told the exact answer. No fair! Hahaz... But I thought it was Arnie Acker. Dang! :)

Posted by grungy49	12/15/09
I thought it was Arnie Acker, he stated that he had just found it outside before he had been pulled in but yet he was already unbuttoning it whilst talking at the police station. I was wrong. :(

Posted by MusiK	01/08/10
I had a feeling it was eric, but I couldn't figure out why, lol

Posted by scallio	02/16/10
Doh! How did I miss that one?! Of course he would not have known the sweater had buttons if he only saw the back. This was a great teaser. Well written and very fun. :D

Posted by BeanSC	05/23/10
Well done!

Posted by Marple	08/23/10
Wow! that was hard! :(

Posted by Riddle	11/22/10
It was a great teaser, I thought it was the homeless guy! :D

Posted by YoyoY	12/03/10
That was cool. I seriously didn't get the answer correctly (prolly since I'm living in a tropical country and rarely wears sweater or the like). Great job.

Posted by Candi7	06/10/12
There are a lot of people named John in these puzzles