Brain Teasers
The Missing Pearl
Inspector Will was reading his email, when an urgent message arrived. It was from his friend, Dr. Mallone, the millionaire. It said:
"Hi, Will.
I need your help, you see, somebody just stole one of my pearls.
As you recall, I have a very special chest manually crafted by my old friend Delouresse. It is so exclusive, that he only crafted 3 identical chests before his death. Yes, I'm the proud owner of one of the Delouresse Ebony Chests.
In the chest I was keeping my pearl collar that had exactly 100 perfect pearls. The gold key to the chest I always carry tied to my neck, on a silver chain. I gave a party today, and the chest was in open view because it is a jewel by itself.
Someone then asked me to show her the contents of the little ebony box, and then I tried to open it with the key. To my surprise, the key lock was terribly worn out, like someone was trying to force it. My key got stuck, and I had no option but to break the gold lock. The chest contained my collar, which at first brought relief to my soul. But you know me, I was suspicious, so I counted the pearls twice: there were only 99! The thief managed to open the chest (destroying the valuable lock in the process), took only one pearl, and then closed it. Why?
Please, Will, help me, what can I do?"
Inspector Will searched the Internet about the Delouresse Ebony Chests, and from the page shown, he wrote 3 names. Then he went to Dr. Mallone's house, compared each person on the list with the Doctor's guest book, and found one that belonged to both lists. Inspector Will thinks that person was the thief.
How did he know that? What was the first list? Why did the thief only take one pearl?
"Hi, Will.
I need your help, you see, somebody just stole one of my pearls.
As you recall, I have a very special chest manually crafted by my old friend Delouresse. It is so exclusive, that he only crafted 3 identical chests before his death. Yes, I'm the proud owner of one of the Delouresse Ebony Chests.
In the chest I was keeping my pearl collar that had exactly 100 perfect pearls. The gold key to the chest I always carry tied to my neck, on a silver chain. I gave a party today, and the chest was in open view because it is a jewel by itself.
Someone then asked me to show her the contents of the little ebony box, and then I tried to open it with the key. To my surprise, the key lock was terribly worn out, like someone was trying to force it. My key got stuck, and I had no option but to break the gold lock. The chest contained my collar, which at first brought relief to my soul. But you know me, I was suspicious, so I counted the pearls twice: there were only 99! The thief managed to open the chest (destroying the valuable lock in the process), took only one pearl, and then closed it. Why?
Please, Will, help me, what can I do?"
Inspector Will searched the Internet about the Delouresse Ebony Chests, and from the page shown, he wrote 3 names. Then he went to Dr. Mallone's house, compared each person on the list with the Doctor's guest book, and found one that belonged to both lists. Inspector Will thinks that person was the thief.
How did he know that? What was the first list? Why did the thief only take one pearl?
Hint
It seems easier to take the chest than to try to open it.Or, to avoid suspicion, to switch it!
Answer
Another holder of the exclusive Delouresse Ebony Chests put inside his a copy of the collar (but unfortunately for him, with only 99 pearls) and then switched the boxes. The worn out lock was to make believe that a thief broke the lock.The list Inspector Will took was the one with the names of the proud owners of the Delouresse Ebony Chests. The person in the list and in the guest book then is the suspect.
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Comments
a treasure
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The puzzle didn't say that you got a pearl collar with the chest; so how was I supposed to know that the thief had a pearl collar too???
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Well....
1. The chest doesn't come with a collar. The collar was another collection piece that made our victim different.
2. The theift buyed/made/got a duplicate collar (not a real one) from someplace else to replicate the victim's chest. But it was not completely perfect replica
1. The chest doesn't come with a collar. The collar was another collection piece that made our victim different.
2. The theift buyed/made/got a duplicate collar (not a real one) from someplace else to replicate the victim's chest. But it was not completely perfect replica
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Good one! 3/3
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Editors are supposed to filter vague teasers like this. The "collar" came out of nowhere. You hadn't mentioned it before. No one had any idea what the heck the collar was for. And many of your sentences simply don't make sense.
What was his motive?
umm.....more info???
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It's all too vague.
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Hey, guys, I simply don’t get it!
Maybe the problem is how I wrote the story, because I read it and I understand all very clear, I see nothing vague (probably because I wrote it).
1.A guy has an almost unique chest (only 3 in the world).
2.In the chest, he was keeping a unique collar made with 100 perfect pearls.
3.The key to the gold lock of the chest, is a gold key He has around his neck.
4.He gave a party, leaving the chest in open view
5.When he was to open the chest, the gold lock was worn out, and the key got stuck. He broke it.
6.Inside the chest was the collar, but with only 99 pearls. First impression: the burglar forced the chest, took one pearl, and left the scene.
7.Inspector check on the chest on internet and found 3 names. Comparing the names He found that one guest of the guy was also in a list in Internet. Suddenly; he says that person may be the burglar. Why?
Is it clear? Of course, the case presented by the doctor doesn’t make sense. That is the idea. The thief was to obtain the collar, complete with the 100 pearls. Couldn’t do it during the party (Trying to open the chest in plain view? too obvious), so the fastest way was to switch the chest (Ja! The thief happens to own one of the other 2 chest in the world). Hummm, but what if the Dr. wanted to open the chest during the party? His gold key was not going to work in the burglar’s chest! A solution: to deform the lock so the Dr will think the key didn’t work due to the lock. But, What ff the doctor breaks the lock to check on the pearls? Well, a solution to that is to put a fake collar in the burglar’s chest, so the Dr, can be fooled for some days, or probably always. Bad luck the fake collar had only 99 pearls, not 100, and than the Dr. was so peeky to count the pearls.
Motive: 100 perfect pearls (a collector’s piece)
![](/images/emote/icon_rolleyes.gif)
Maybe the problem is how I wrote the story, because I read it and I understand all very clear, I see nothing vague (probably because I wrote it).
![](/images/emote/icon_cool.gif)
1.A guy has an almost unique chest (only 3 in the world).
2.In the chest, he was keeping a unique collar made with 100 perfect pearls.
3.The key to the gold lock of the chest, is a gold key He has around his neck.
4.He gave a party, leaving the chest in open view
5.When he was to open the chest, the gold lock was worn out, and the key got stuck. He broke it.
6.Inside the chest was the collar, but with only 99 pearls. First impression: the burglar forced the chest, took one pearl, and left the scene.
7.Inspector check on the chest on internet and found 3 names. Comparing the names He found that one guest of the guy was also in a list in Internet. Suddenly; he says that person may be the burglar. Why?
Is it clear? Of course, the case presented by the doctor doesn’t make sense. That is the idea. The thief was to obtain the collar, complete with the 100 pearls. Couldn’t do it during the party (Trying to open the chest in plain view? too obvious), so the fastest way was to switch the chest (Ja! The thief happens to own one of the other 2 chest in the world). Hummm, but what if the Dr. wanted to open the chest during the party? His gold key was not going to work in the burglar’s chest! A solution: to deform the lock so the Dr will think the key didn’t work due to the lock. But, What ff the doctor breaks the lock to check on the pearls? Well, a solution to that is to put a fake collar in the burglar’s chest, so the Dr, can be fooled for some days, or probably always. Bad luck the fake collar had only 99 pearls, not 100, and than the Dr. was so peeky to count the pearls.
Motive: 100 perfect pearls (a collector’s piece)
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Too vague!? I found this to be as clear as can be.
I think this riddle is better than most I have read. Some sentences were incomplete and poorly written but I was still able to follow the story.
I didn't get it
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i thought it was very good. Once i read the hint i thought it might have been switched it was fun to read thank you for the comment you put in too because that made it more clear and explained it to me ...nice...(iwrite poor sentences too, so i can understand them!!)
This teaser had me stupped, even after Iread the answer...lol. Well, all teasers can't be a dead give away....Great teaser
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it was a good one i liked it i thought for a while that someone actually had broken into the chest. GOOD ONe
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I loved It!!!! A real mystery- I thought it was a black pearl that was stolen!
not the whole necklace
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That was easy! I got it!
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At first I thought the thief had switched them because his lock was broken and he didn't want a broken antique, but then the collar part made no sense. I got it wrong but i thought it was a great story.
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This teaser came from a longer story and was simply edited down. Maybe a few clues got left out. It was an old radio program... Good mystery however.
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I didn't think this teaser was vague at all. I got the answer before I even finished reading the story (as soon as you started talking about the lock being terribly worn out....I instantly thought that was because it wasn't the correct key because the box with a fake pearl collar (or necklace) was switched by one of the owners of the three identical boxes. I liked it!! Thanks.
didn't have a clue. I thought that maybe a pearl had got stuck in the lock, therefore jamming it, but that obviously didn't make sense
a bit complicated, but well done
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This was clever, but the hint revealed a little too much. I was stuck until I read the hint, then it was solved all too easily.
Hi All.
Coming back to read some of the comments, and I found two very interesting ones!
First, OldChinaHand remembers this from an old radio program. That is awesome, since I made it up riding a bus while talking to a friend
I remember that the most difficult part was to "lock" part, because my friend told me that it made no sense all the boxes had the same key as I originally stated, so I came up with the worn out lock. If that story is so similar to this one, then it makes a huge coincidence
Second, Cyberstar mentions the clue gives away a little too much, so a read the hint again and that last part I don't remember I wrote it! Hummm. Maybe I'm too tired
But the greatest surprise is to see all those nice comments. I'm really glad many of you liked the teaser. I'll have to ride that bus again...
Cheers!
Coming back to read some of the comments, and I found two very interesting ones!
First, OldChinaHand remembers this from an old radio program. That is awesome, since I made it up riding a bus while talking to a friend
![](/images/emote/icon_eek.gif)
![](/images/emote/icon_cool.gif)
Second, Cyberstar mentions the clue gives away a little too much, so a read the hint again and that last part I don't remember I wrote it! Hummm. Maybe I'm too tired
![](/images/emote/icon_cry.gif)
But the greatest surprise is to see all those nice comments. I'm really glad many of you liked the teaser. I'll have to ride that bus again...
Cheers!
A very fine mystery!
Clear as clean window in daylight too!
The thief putting a necklace of fake pearls in their box and switching their box with Dr. Mallone's was easy... I did assume the key wasn't working because each box would have been made with a different key. I assumed that the doctor ruined the lock by trying to cram the incorrect key in the lock. (His key fit his chest and NOT the thief's chest.)
Clear as clean window in daylight too!
The thief putting a necklace of fake pearls in their box and switching their box with Dr. Mallone's was easy... I did assume the key wasn't working because each box would have been made with a different key. I assumed that the doctor ruined the lock by trying to cram the incorrect key in the lock. (His key fit his chest and NOT the thief's chest.)
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wow that was hard, my eyes hurt
grooooaaaaannnn!
im gonna exercize my eyes hold on
ahh that feels better
grooooaaaaannnn!
im gonna exercize my eyes hold on
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ahh that feels better
Mar 04, 2008
It appears to me that everyone is wrong... including the one who POSTED the official answer.
Here's what I got:
There were only 3 of these chests, one was the "victim". His name had to be on the first list. He also would have been at his party, and since there was only ONE common name, I came to the conclusion that he arranged the whole thing himself, hoping to cash in on insurance.
Here's what I got:
There were only 3 of these chests, one was the "victim". His name had to be on the first list. He also would have been at his party, and since there was only ONE common name, I came to the conclusion that he arranged the whole thing himself, hoping to cash in on insurance.
"There were only 3 of these chests, one was the "victim". His name had to be on the first list. He also would have been at his party, and since there was only ONE common name, I came to the conclusion that he arranged the whole thing himself, hoping to cash in on insurance."
The list is a guest book. Why would the host sign his own guest book?
The list is a guest book. Why would the host sign his own guest book?
it's so topsy-turvy
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yeah..I don't think there should have been three names on the list..only two. If three people owned the boxes, one of those people was the doctor. And, in keeping with the guest list theory, the detective can't have thought the doctor did it, so he would only have written down two names..
Good catch, trewqus! Actually you are right. Will wrote the name of the doctor too, and he didn't have to.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Hmmm... very nice mystery. I really liked it and I got most of it right. I thought that 100 pearls wasn't worth anywhere close to having 1 of 3 ebony chests in the world I figured that the suspect was one of the other owners but I mistakenly thought that the motive was more to destroy one ebony chest (the one the suspect owns and places a fake collar in) while swapping the chests. Thus with one chest destroyed, his chest becomes worth more because it is now only 1 of 2 in the world.
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