Kogorous Riddle Thread and eworms Deduction Thread

[Togop]

Nobody?

By the way, I've been trying to find eworm's so-called brain-frying riddles. Since the link in his signature is broken, I tried searching for post by eworm containing the word brain and riddle in the "forum games" forum, but I was only able to find the 3rd and onwards riddle... Where are the first and second ones (since it says the third requires knowing the previous..)?

[Iwamoto Yuri]

I don't remember, I wasn't around then

[Raifuujin]

Here are the first 2
1st
2nd

[Togop]

OK... I'll give you another riddle - this time I have a criminal case for you. But whoever solves it, make sure to have the next riddle prepared to post.

Sakamoto Kensetsu was a prosperous company. It was founded by Sakamoto Kenji, together with his two partners - Kamada Yuko and Peter Smith - soon after the death of Sakamoto's wife. Its headquarters were located in a large building in Tokyo. Conan and co often passed around it, and were, especially Mitsuhiko, impressed by its majestcness and its tough security.

Unfortunately, the more prosperous the company became, the more the relationships between the partners worsened. And, apparently, the company had become too prosperous... When the Detective Boys passed by it one Monday morning, instead of the usual closed, guarded front door, they found a police line, and many officers entering or leaving the building. Sakamoto Kenji was dead.

The body was found in Sakamoto's office on the fourth floor. He had been shot from contact to his right temple while sitting in his chair. There were two empty chairs - one to his left for Kamada Yuko, and one to his right for Peter Smith. But the detective boys would find that out from Takagi later. Now they were eavesdropping on his questioning of some solid man.

"My name is Date Satoshi. I am the chief of security of Sakamoto Kensetsu Headquarters."
"And, you can confirm that yesterday afternoon everyone left the building by 5?"
"Yes, everyone except Sakamoto-san, Kamada-san, and Mr Smith."
"And nobody could have sneaked back in?"
"Absolutely not."
"Can any of the security personnel be the murderer?"
"No. The security department is located on the first floor. When somebody goes to another part of the building, they always do so in pairs. And if somebody left the security department alone, I'd know."
"So, what happened after the employees left?"
"Sakamoto-san, Kamada-san, and Mr Smith had some sort of meeting. Around 11 o'clock, Sakamoto-san and Kamada-san came to the first floor together, then Kamada-san left the building, and Sakamoto-san went back upstairs - I presume, to his office."
"So, between 11 and midnight, only Sakamoto and Mr Smith were there?"
"Yes, and the guards. Then Mr Smith left seven minutes before midnight."
"And half an hour later, Sakamoto was found dead?"
"Yes. Kamda-san came back around half past midnight, went to his office, and called in, saying he's dead..."

While Genta was considering whether he should be a good boy, or keep eavesdropping (only good boys get to eat eel, after all), somebody in a uniform approached detective Takagi.

"The time of death was between 23 and midnight. We have confirmed the alibis of all security staff, as well as Kamada-san for that period."
"What about the murder weapon?"
"We found the gun, the bullet, and the cartridge outside, under Sakamoto's office's window. They were wiped clean."
"Who ownes the gun?"
"It's Sakamoto's. He has a license for it, but it seems he wasn't following all the rules, and was leaving it unlocked in a drawer. Both his partners could have taken it."


Soon after that, Conan solved the case for Takagi... Be like Conan, and do the same !

You are allowed to check things that the police can check by asking questions like "What would *** say if inspector Takagi asked him ***?" or "Whose prints can be found on ***?". When you solve the riddle, your answer should include a proof of correctness of your deduction, and all facts you use in that proof should be either stated in this post, or you should have checked them in one of your questions.

[Togop]

Edit... I wrote point-blank shot but I thought it meant something different. Apparently the correct English term in contact shot.

[Iwamoto Yuri]

hmm, that makes me wonder where you're from togop
*puzzles*

[knight baron]

Seems to be an interesting case .. The setting suggests either suicide or murder by Mr.Smith, so following Conan cases pattern it is clear that the killer is Kamada san
Anyhow just to check: Was there any sign of struggle or fight?
Was the air conditioner working when Conan and Co arrived? and were the windows closed? " basically was the room very cold?"
And was Sakamoto san right handed?

[Togop]

Seems to be an interesting case .. The setting suggests either suicide or murder by Mr.Smith, so following Conan cases pattern it is clear that the killer is Kamada san
Anyhow just to check: Was there any sign of struggle or fight? Yes.
Was the air conditioner working when Conan and Co arrived? and were the windows closed? " basically was the room very cold?"The AC wasn't on. The window was open, but the room was not unnaturally cold.
And was Sakamoto san right handed?Yes.

[miyano_shiho]

Are there enough clues given to solve the case? Or is it necessary for us to ask questions?

Not really trying to solve it but... :x
Were Kamada-san and Mr. Smith also right handed?
Are there any other clues that can be found near the chairs or on the floor, perhaps?
Can I also ask what was the meeting about, why Kamada left early, and why Mr. Smith stayed?
And what kind of 'struggle or fight' can be observed?

[Togop]

Are there enough clues given to solve the case? Or is it necessary for us to ask questions?

Not really trying to solve it but... :x
Were Kamada-san and Mr. Smith also right handed?
Are there any other clues that can be found near the chairs or on the floor, perhaps?
Can I also ask what was the meeting about, why Kamada left early, and why Mr. Smith stayed?
And what kind of 'struggle or fight' can be observed?

Well, you could guess what has happened without asking anything. I think you need to ask questions to prove it.

Kamada and Smith are right-handed.

Well, Sakamoto has fallen to the left and is lying on the two chairs - his and Kamada's. Obviously blood has come out of the wound and has covered a small part of the floor. One could observe that the leftmost chair hasn't been moved since the blood was spilled.

I could tell you Kamada and Smith's testimony about that.
According to Smith, one of the three partners had been stealing money from the company. The situation had become so bad that the seemingly prosperous company was close to bankruptcy. They called the meeting to sort out this issue, and hopefully, get the money back. Apparently, Sakamoto had implied that he was the one responsible, but had absolutely no intention of returning the money. At that time, Kamada had left the meeting angrily, while Smith had remained in the room to try to convince Sakamoto. Failing to do so, he punched him once in the chest and left.
Kamada's testimony is basically the same, except that she doesn't know what happened after she left.

As for the 'struggle or fight' - it seems Sakamoto has been punched in the chest and has a broken rib.

[dumytru]

If he was shot and there were guards in the building, how come nobody heard it?

[Iwamoto Yuri]

sound damper I guess?
Did they find one?
This can't be a suicide considering they found a gun outside, unless the bullets matched markings? (did they?)
Does either of the two have gun powder on them and if not, are the clothes they wore last night still around to check for gun powder?

[Togop]

If he was shot and there were guards in the building, how come nobody heard it?

Detective Takagi was once again talking to the chief of security.
"Date-san, isn't the security here way too strict?"
"I was also surprised initially. Apparently Sakamoto had caught a spy before and became a little paranoid. He even made his office, where important meetings are held, sound-proof just in case someone tries to eavesdrop. You see, a spy could cause a lot of trouble in this business."

sound damper I guess?
Did they find one?
This can't be a suicide considering they found a gun outside, unless the bullets matched markings? (did they?)
Does either of the two have gun powder on them and if not, are the clothes they wore last night still around to check for gun powder?

"Did everyone know that the room is sound-proof?", continued detective Takagi.
"Most people did."
"So both Smith and Kamada would have known that nobody would hear shots in the victim's office?"
"I believe so."

Soon after that, the police confirmed that the guards on the first floor couldn't have heard any shots made in Sakamoto's office. No silencer was found.

----

I'm not sure what do you mean by "bullets matched markings", Yuri. I presume you ask whether the bullet found outside was the one that killed the victim?

On the bullet found outside, traces from Sakamoto's blood and brain tissue were found. It was fired from the gun found outside, which belonged to Sakamoto. Sakamoto died from his single shot wound in the head.

If this doesn't answer your question, can you explain it better?

-----

Neither Mr Smith, not Kamada-san have any gunpowder on them. However, Kamada changed her clothes after she left the meeting, but before she found the body (she lives close to the headquarters). Smith changed his clothes after he came home from the meeting and went to sleep.

[dumytru]

You said all the security staff has alibi..
Is Date-san included?
If not, I believe that he is the murderer, since he's a masive guy, who could've broke Sakamoto's rib.

But I only have indirect evidence. I'll try to think it later.

[Togop]

You said all the security staff has alibi..
Is Date-san included?

Ooops, that was a big slip on my part, sorry. No, Date-san is the only security staff member without an alibi - after all, he would know if anyone left the security department alone, but he could leave it alone unnoticed (although the way I wrote it it seemed he has an alibi). However, all of his testimony so far can be verified by other security staff members and is thus reliable.

As for the rest of your deduction, you need a lot of explaining to do. For example why did Mr Smith say he hit Sakamoto-san's chest, one would assume he broke the rib... Also, why did Date-san leave the gun there? And what was the motive? Oh, and what's the proof?