THE CASE OF THE MISSING POSTER
The greatest detective in the world was lounging on the couch in his office enjoying a few precious minutes of relaxation when a man suddenly burst through the door. He was tall, wore glasses and his short brown hair was covered with way too much hair gel.
"Detective!”, the man said. “Find the man that stole my wrestlin' poster. It's worth literally HUNDREDS of dollars, and I want it back. Quickly!"
Hold on!" the detective said, getting up from the couch and settling into the chair behind his desk. “Ya gotta give me the facts, man! Start at the beginning.”
“Ok, fine", the man said. He went over and plopped his skinny frame on the couch. “I’ll tell you everything. A short while ago, I was at a meeting of the wrestlin' club of Bearville. Each month we congregate to show off the new wrestling paraphernalia that we have acquired. Last week, I bought this wrestlin’ poster at an auction. Although the auctioneers didn't know it, this particular wrestlin’ poster is over 50 years old! It’s an antique! It's precious!!”
“I see,” said the detective. "So how did you lose it?”
"I didn't lose it,” the man said. “I told you, it was stolen. Pay attention, please. So I decided to bring my wrestlin’ poster to the auction and, you know, show it off. Anyway, there’s this guy at the wrestlin’ club, I think his name is Jim. So, Jim was showing off this trophy with the names of wrestlers written on it. The guy had gone around and asked wrestlers to sign his wrestlin’ cup with indelible ink. So far he’s collected fifteen signatures on the cup. Fifteen!”
The man suddenly got up from the couch and started pacing back and forth in front of the detective’s desk.
“So anyway, I was out checkin’ out this cup, when all of a sudden a girl came out of nowhere and fell right on top of me. She bowled me over, and knocked the wind right out of me!”
The man windmilled his arms around and mimicked falling over. Suddenly, he thrust his wrist towards the detective. “She broke her wrist too, and we had to call an ambulance. So, when everyone was yelling and I was getting jostled, I forgot to watch over my wrestlin’ poster. It was stolen from right under my nose, you see!”
The detective was quiet while he rubbed his chin. "Do you have any suspects?" the detective asked.
“Hmm,” said the man as he sat back down on the couch. He leaned back and considered the detective. "Well, there's Jim, I suppose, because he was there and I was distracted by his cup. Also, we could include the girl that fell on top of me. You know, the one I was telling out about who broke her wrist.”
The man got up and started pacing back and forth again. “But there were a lot of people milling around. Hell - I mean, heck! Anyone there could be a suspect!”
The detective nodded. “Well, I guess we just have to focus on the more obvious ones. Let’s start with the girl that broke her wrist. Where is she?”
The man stopped pacing and stood in front of the detective’s desk. "She’s in the hospital, getting a blood transfusion,” the man replied. “Apparently the injury was quite serious.”
“Oh dear,” the detective cried, shooting up from his seat behind the desk. “In that case, I shall go to the hospital immediately," the detective said. He grabbed his coat and hat and left the house with the wrestling fan.
At the hospital, the pair were warmly greeted by the secretary. She was always friendly with detective since he had apprehended the thief who had stole her watch one summer afternoon at the beach. After introducing the wrestling fan and explaining the situation, the detective inquired about the whereabouts of the girl who broke her wrist. According to the secretary, the girl was recovering, but she was still in the emergency room. The secretary gave them a room number on the third floor.
As soon as the pair stepped off the elevator, a frightful scream pierced the air. The pair rushed over and found a nurse sprawled over the floor. There was shouting and pushing to see what was wrong. The tall wrestling fan attempted to hold back the crowd while the detective leaned over to help the nurse as she regained consciousness.
Finally the nurse 's eyes opened and she lifted her head. “Oh!” she gasped. “There has been a dreadful mix-up. Absolutely dreadful!”
“Tell us what happened,” ordered the detective.
“I just came from the room with the patient with the broken wrist,” the nurse explained. “We are giving her a blood transfusion, and it appears we have been giving her the wrong blood type. The patient was supposed to receive type AB blood, as her blood is type AB. But instead we are giving her Type O blood. Her blood is going to clot, and she will die! It’s all my fault!" And with that final cry, the nurse burst into tears.
"Oh, poor nurse!" the detective said sympathetically. “Let’s go to the staff room where you can recover and hopefully come up with a solution to this tragedy.”
The detective reached out and helped the nurse get to her feet and they both started walking towards the staff room. As the detective passed the tall wrestling fan, he whispered into his ear, "Make sure the patient doesn't escape!”
He saw the eyes on the wrestling fan widen as he acknowledged the detective.
The detective guided the nurse to a secluded room. Upon their arrival he slammed the door, threw the nurse down on a couch and glared at her.
"Why are you are assisting a thief?" the detective snapped.
WHY DID THE DETECTIVE SAY THIS?
Solution - THE CASE OF THE MISSING POSTER
The nurse was upset about having given type O blood to a patient who was type AB blood, and insisting that the patient was going to suffer a blood clot and die.
This is incorrect, as type AB blood is the universal recipient. This patient could definitely receive type O blood, as this is the universal donor.