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riddles >> what happened >> Try and Catch Me 3
(Message started by: alien2 on Oct 27th, 2018, 4:34am)

Title: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by alien2 on Oct 27th, 2018, 4:34am
Tea asks her husband, whom she hates for reasons I will not mention in the riddle, aside for the fact that he is her rich husband, to retrieve something from her airtight walk-in safe. She then locks him in it before flying off to New York, celebrating right away by drinking alcohol beverage on her luxurious first class flight, believing, or at least hoping, she made it all look as if it were an accident. Yay!

As her bad luck would have it, Columbo is investigating the case. It all looks as though it really was an accident. Though not to Columbo, considering something that caught his eye inside the safe . . .  

And what was inside the safe, aside for the dead body? Well then. Many metal boxes, some of which held valuable possessions, including quite some money, mostly one hundred-dollar bills. Three $100 bills were on the floor next to the body, together with two dozen burned matches, forwhy the husband, that bastard! (according to his wife) had a matchbox on his person and, for some reason, used the mentioned matches. How? That is all on you now to figure it out! Furthermore, there was black paint under his fingernails which explained the name “TEA HEMTI” being written on one of the metal boxes. Still, her maiden name was Henti, not Hemti. Ah, is love not a beautiful thing!? It appears, as he was burning up his oxygen with matches, he misspelled her surname, well, just a bit. Or, at least, it seemed that way. As it happens the ceiling light bulb was, is and always shall be out of reach.

The name “TEA HEMTI” written on the metal box made the detective very, very suspicious. Later on, he solved the case. How? Just fill in the missing fact and don’t forget to have fun!    

Of course, the good and not so good husband thought that Tea will be the 1st person to open the safe. So you see, if he were up to send a message from the grave, it was not supposed to be obvious, easily detectable, if you will. Well then. No more hints from my lowly self. And please, whatever you do, be precise by explaining everything. Cheers!

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by Grimbal on Oct 30th, 2018, 9:26am
"TEA HEMTI" would be an anagram of the last message he scratched on the boxes.
The M can be read upside down.  He could mean:

Wait Thee: He is waiting for his wife ... in Hell!
Heat time: He prefers to die warmly and burn some cash.
Hate mite: He just discovered a hole in his sweatshirt.
Hematite: He thinks her heart is like iron.
Meet Thai: He wanted to introduce a thai friend to her.
Tweet a hi: He tweeted to Columbo's wife who did it.
Tea hit me: A direct accusation.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by alien2 on Oct 30th, 2018, 10:33am
You got the idea! You didn't solve the riddle though. Yes. It is an anagram, none of which offered does it. And don't neglect what was on the floor.  


on 10/30/18 at 09:26:03, Grimbal wrote:
Tea hit me: A direct accusation.

Nope. There were no bruises. Unless you mean "kill" by "hit", like, Bret the Hitman Hart? No. Not good enough. Everything has to fit. We need direct evidence people!

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by dudiobugtron on Oct 30th, 2018, 6:41pm
Along Grimbals' line of thinking, it could be:

Heat item: he has written a secret message on the money that will be revealed when it is heated.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by alien2 on Oct 31st, 2018, 8:38am

on 10/30/18 at 18:41:58, dudiobugtron wrote:
(...)

Heat item: he has written a secret message on the money that will be revealed when it is heated.

Very very original. Never heard of something like that before. Though not the intended answer. No sir. Not at all.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by dudiobugtron on Oct 31st, 2018, 6:30pm
Perhaps is is an anagram for 'emit heat' - perhaps the heat from the lightbulb can give some clue as to how long it was on for.  Maybe the hundred dollar bills give some clue as to when the husband died.  Not sure how to put it all together quite yet though.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by alien2 on Nov 1st, 2018, 10:34am
Consider what you can see and what you can't see.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by dudiobugtron on Nov 1st, 2018, 5:28pm

on 11/01/18 at 10:34:09, alien2 wrote:
Consider what you can see and what you can't see.


You can see (assuming there is enough light):
- Metal boxes.
- 3 $100 bills.
- 24 matches (burned for light, or to make 'paint' to write with, or both?).
- TEA HEMTI written on one of the metal boxes.
- The unreachable ceiling lightbulb.

You can't see:
- Anything else written on the other metal boxes. (because there is nothing, or because it was hidden by turning the boxes?)
- Anything at all, unless you have a light source from somewhere.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by alien2 on Nov 2nd, 2018, 10:31am

on 11/01/18 at 17:28:11, dudiobugtron wrote:
You can't see:
- Anything else written on the other metal boxes. (because there is nothing, or because it was hidden by turning the boxes?)
- Anything at all, unless you have a light source from somewhere.

There is definitely something hidden, that you can't see at first, not at all, and not what you mentioned. So, by utilizing logic and deduction, what is it? And - - - where is it?  

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by alien2 on Nov 4th, 2018, 8:54am
Try to make an anagram first out of "Tea", anything that comes to mind, really. That might help.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by Grimbal on Nov 5th, 2018, 4:48am
Anagram of Tea ?  Eat or Ate.

There are only 6 permutations: aet ate eat eta tae tea.

It could be ETA, the basque separatist group.
So that was it, THEY did it.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by towr on Nov 5th, 2018, 12:31pm
It could be [hide]I Ate them[/hide]
But I don't know what he'd be referring to.

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by dudiobugtron on Nov 5th, 2018, 1:07pm

on 11/05/18 at 12:31:06, towr wrote:
It could be [hide]I Ate them[/hide]
But I don't know what he'd be referring to.

Perhaps the [hide]doctors will be able to find out when Colombo tells them the clue.[/hide]

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by Vondell on Nov 5th, 2018, 5:01pm
My 2 cents:

[hide]He used the burnt matches to write a message on some bills which he then ate/swallowed.[/hide]

Title: Re: Try and Catch Me 3
Post by alien2 on Nov 6th, 2018, 4:32am

on 11/05/18 at 12:31:06, towr wrote:
It could be [hide]I Ate them[/hide]
(...)



on 11/05/18 at 17:01:07, Vondell wrote:
My 2 cents:

[hide]He used the burnt matches to write a message on some bills which he then ate/swallowed.[/hide]

Yes! I mean: oh no! Get her! It wasn't an accident. And yet, our Lord teaches us to forgive and love our enemies, even Oprah.

I reckon, since this was one of those riddles with omitted facts, one ought to have extrasensory perception in order to solve this one.




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