Brain Teasers
Help By the Beach
Fun: (3.07)
Difficulty: (1.63)
Puzzle ID: #17868
Submitted By: thegermangemini Corrected By: JessicaLynn
Submitted By: thegermangemini Corrected By: JessicaLynn
Mystery
Mystery teasers are little stories where you need to figure out what happened based on the given clues.Mystery
Detective Mick Mace was called to the scene of a beach murder. Two uniformed officers were already there, piecing together the chain of events that lead to the victim's death.
"Her name is Jina Lange," the first officer tells Mace, "a 27 year old waitress from 'Jake's Palace.' She was running from someone, but they got her, all right. Knocked her to the ground hard, gashing her head open, and wrapped a belt around her neck. Tried to strangle her to death, but she didn't die when the perp thought she did. She must have crawled 20 feet or so, but she was going toward the water by mistake. When she realized this, she was probably fading in and out of consciousness, and knew she wasn't going to make it. Looks like she wrote the word "help" in the sand with her finger, but it has been partially washed away by the approaching tide. See there? The h is half gone already, and the p is missing the stem. We took some pictures for record, though."
Mick Mace looked down at the woman who lay dead, shuddering as he thought of what it must be like to die at someone else's hand. What were her last thoughts? What did this woman have to say that someone didn't want the world to hear?
Suddenly, more cops arrive, with three men in tow. One, they called Jersey, was throwing a fit, his loose pants practically down to his knees in the struggle. "I wasn't with her! I bought her a drink, but she left without even saying thanks!" The other, older gentlemen, was the club owner. "Name's Shelby, detective. She was a great lady. This is a tragedy, but I will do anything to help. I saw her leave the club with that guy right there, but that's all I have." He pointed to the third man. "Yeah, so? She left with me, but only for a sec, to get some smokes from my car. She came right back, honest!"
At that moment, Mace thinks of a very important clue, and knows exactly who is responsible for Jina's death. What does he figure out?
"Her name is Jina Lange," the first officer tells Mace, "a 27 year old waitress from 'Jake's Palace.' She was running from someone, but they got her, all right. Knocked her to the ground hard, gashing her head open, and wrapped a belt around her neck. Tried to strangle her to death, but she didn't die when the perp thought she did. She must have crawled 20 feet or so, but she was going toward the water by mistake. When she realized this, she was probably fading in and out of consciousness, and knew she wasn't going to make it. Looks like she wrote the word "help" in the sand with her finger, but it has been partially washed away by the approaching tide. See there? The h is half gone already, and the p is missing the stem. We took some pictures for record, though."
Mick Mace looked down at the woman who lay dead, shuddering as he thought of what it must be like to die at someone else's hand. What were her last thoughts? What did this woman have to say that someone didn't want the world to hear?
Suddenly, more cops arrive, with three men in tow. One, they called Jersey, was throwing a fit, his loose pants practically down to his knees in the struggle. "I wasn't with her! I bought her a drink, but she left without even saying thanks!" The other, older gentlemen, was the club owner. "Name's Shelby, detective. She was a great lady. This is a tragedy, but I will do anything to help. I saw her leave the club with that guy right there, but that's all I have." He pointed to the third man. "Yeah, so? She left with me, but only for a sec, to get some smokes from my car. She came right back, honest!"
At that moment, Mace thinks of a very important clue, and knows exactly who is responsible for Jina's death. What does he figure out?
Hint
Obvious clues don't always point to the answer. Think about it: If you were about to die by murder, wouldn't you want to let someone know who did it? I think Jina would have too. Mace realized this.Answer
When Mace saw Jina lying in the sand, he knew she had been aware that she didn't have much time left. So if you wanted help, why not shout out for help? What good does it do to write it in the sand? Wouldn't she much rather finger the person who did this to her? Mace thought so, and so realized that she had not written "help" in the sand, she had written "Shelby" to finger her killer. However since they found her a bit late, some of the letters had washed away with the waves. Shelby killed her in a fit of rage, when she found out he was stealing money from his own employees at the club.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
i love these kind of teasers. i would have never been able to figure it out if the clue wasn't there...
good teaser
Thanx bunches!
This one was somewhat misleading because when it said that Jersey's loose pants were practically down to his knees in the struggle, i thought that it might be because he had used his belt to strangle her, which was one of the clues.
True, platinum, but two things...first, this is a situation teaser, so it should be one of those where it is easier to solve when questions are first asked like that one. Second, the hint is essentially explaining that the obvious should be avoided, and that is the obvious I meant. Thanx for all the comments guys! Appreciate it! Keep them coming!
Pretty good but I got it.....Anyway good job.
That was a really good teaser... I would give it 100 smiley faces if possible!
really really easy, but fun. I think you should have tried to make it less obvious that the "help" was a clue. Btw, when someone's dead, you don't say "she is a nice lady," you say "she was a nice lady." Just for future reference.. im not poking fun at you, since english isn't your first language
Hellooooo! I didn't say it! Shelby did! But seriously, english IS my first language, I didn't learn German until I was 3. But way to give me an easy out there, Omega! LOL
You give two clues. The belt one, which makes it look like Jersey's the killer, and then the help one. I thought it was Jersey-Good surprise ending!
Hey, good one!
Anyway, here are a couple of points.
1. Nowadays all youngsters use the pants loose, and in no place you said that the belt was left in the victim. Not a strong enough clue to think about Jersey.
2. If She was heading to the beach, the the upper part of "help" would be washed away rather that the lower part, so the p would have the stem in place The police would see something like "neio". So, it fits the tale, but makes the cop that made the "help" guess not very helpful in police
Anyway, here are a couple of points.
1. Nowadays all youngsters use the pants loose, and in no place you said that the belt was left in the victim. Not a strong enough clue to think about Jersey.
2. If She was heading to the beach, the the upper part of "help" would be washed away rather that the lower part, so the p would have the stem in place The police would see something like "neio". So, it fits the tale, but makes the cop that made the "help" guess not very helpful in police
Nov 30, 2004
A fun teaser... Good story!
Uh huh, Willy, I AM ony 23 so I am aware that "young people" wear their pants loose. That was just a bit of a ploy to get some people off track. But, yes, it does actually say that a belt was wrapped around her neck when she was found. But what you say about the beach thing is true, and good observation! Love the constructive criticism everyone! Thanks for stopping by, and keep those comments coming!
I agree with those woho say that the belt thing is misleading, but I didn't read the hint. I'm new, forgive me. but, now, I know what to do in the future! Great Story! I watch Law and Order: SVU a lot- very realistic. Hey- I'm a Gemini to, but I'm only 17
fun! good story, but kind of easy
ummm...ok....
Hehe. I like this one a lot. I got it right away before I even finished. Very good.
Hey! Great teaser! Made me think for a while, but I got it after about 5 minutes! LOL!!!!!
I headed for the whole message in the sand was misread theory too, and immediately thought of Shelby, but I thought it was too easy, so I decided to go back and read it again....and fell upon the whole loose pants thing. So I blamed an innocent man, I suppose. I also didn't read the hint. This was a good one though. Very fun.
If anything, the help clue was the too obvious one. I was hoping for some kind of clue relating to the fact she was going towards the water, but that never panned out, so the Shelby thing was the only thing left.
hey, great teaser! I never really thought anything about the pants falling down though, I just thought it was weird. As soon as I heard that Shelby said she was a nice girl and didnt really say anything else more sad or sypathetic I right away suspected her. WhenI read the hint it reminded me of the 'help' in the sand and, since the word was parcially washed away, and the word 'shelby' parcially washed away would look like help, I was certian I was right, anyway it was really fun thanx for posting it!
Good one.. I did actually figure it out w/o th hint... made me think though!
shewas killed with a belt. would it not be the suspect with the sag?
nice teaser. The misdirection with the belt was good, and it wasn't too hard to see that the "p" stem couldn't have washed away in the same direction as the top of the h. The puzzle was to identify the real message.
(one thing I don't like about your solution: yeah, she wouldn't have any reason to write "Help" , but since she was strangled she probably couldn't shout it either)
(one thing I don't like about your solution: yeah, she wouldn't have any reason to write "Help" , but since she was strangled she probably couldn't shout it either)
that was confusing...
that was confusing...
too easy....too much emphasis on the spelling of help in the sand
that was soooo good i got it when Shelby's name came up but it was still really good!
How did the one cop know so much. I think he actually did it ant threatened Shelpy so he would confess with the FAKE clue the cop planted.
Great teaser!
great teaser. love the story it kept me entertained from beginning to end.
i thought rite from the word "help" that she probaly ment to write something else so i looked at names and knew it was shelby easy for me but i thought it was a good teaser but i did not think of the money stealing part nobody could guess that from the clues only who did it
Hint totally gave it away. I like easy teasers though, nice one
I got it right away-without the hint this time too . Great teaser
i'm with willymapo. As soon as i saw "the tail of the p" after reading that she was headed TOWARDS the water, i knew that either someone else wrote help, or help wasn't what she had written.
Either way, good story.
Either way, good story.
I liked it, not too easy and not too hard. Good job, keep it up!
I cant believe im the first person to comment on the fact that this person unfortunatley stole this entire riddle.
soz gemini but even tho u re-worded it u still just stole the riddle off Fraiser. The episode called "Retirement is Murder" in season 2 disc 3. i love Fraiser and have watched the eppy many times, i couldnt believe it when i started reading this...it was weird because i was watching Fraiser while i read it well anyway u worded it ok and sutff, just a bit annoying how u were claiming it was urs when it wasnt.
soz gemini but even tho u re-worded it u still just stole the riddle off Fraiser. The episode called "Retirement is Murder" in season 2 disc 3. i love Fraiser and have watched the eppy many times, i couldnt believe it when i started reading this...it was weird because i was watching Fraiser while i read it well anyway u worded it ok and sutff, just a bit annoying how u were claiming it was urs when it wasnt.
I liked it a lot thanks.
How was she claiming it was hers?IM GEMINI TO only im 12
im 12 too but i didnt get the end bit all those he's and she's i didnt know who was stealing from who lol
lol..once i saw da hint i waz lyk OMG diz iz lyk case colsed(detective conana) and i new it write away once i saw da clue..
I thought she had written "belt" and the guy with the pants falling down was the killer! Great mystery.
I thought it was the guy with no belt also. I didn't think about writing a name in the sand.
Let me guess. The guy with the loose pants, because he used his belt to strangle her.
nvm take back
ugh creepy
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