Yes his name is McGuffin yes yes yes
I'm doing this thing now where I post little two-minute mysteries at the start of every workday. I'll post the mystery and hide the comments; the next day, I'll post that day's mystery, and then put the answer to the previous day's mystery under a cut. Why am I doing this? Because.
My first source for these mysteries is The Little Giant Book of Whodunits, by Hy Conrad (ISBN 0-8069-0473-9). Sadly, this one is dumb, fittingly, since it's about college sports.
The Coach's Last Play
Juliet Bricker watched as her husband dawdled over his Saturday morning breakfast. "What's wrong, dear?"
Coach Bricker could never hide anything from Juliet. "It's one of my star players. I found out the boy's involved with gamblers. Maybe he's not trying to throw games, but it's still enough to get him suspended and ruin his chances with the pros."
Juliet was sympathetic. College football was his whole life, and for the first time in years, Halberton State had a great team. "What are you going to do?"
"We're meeting at the field before practice. I have to hear his side of it."
Bricker kissed his wife good-bye, picked up his latest paperback novel, and headed for the door. Bricker was always reading -- a holdover from his days as an English professor.
The team coordinator showed up half an hour before practice and found him lying in the middle of the field, his head bashed in.
"He didn't die instantly," the police chief said as he examined the scene. A ten-foot-long blood trail showed that Bricker had been crawling toward the fieldhouse. "What's this in his hand?" The chief peered in the clenched fist and saw the last page of Coach Bricker's paperback. The rest of the book lay back at the scene of the attack.
The Halberton team had three star players and these three became immediate suspects.
"I was in my dorm room all morning," said quarterback Matt McGuffin. "Coach said I had to spend some time reviewing the playbook."
On hearing the news, Alfie Goodall, defensive lineman, broke down and could barely blubber out his alibi. "Coach told me I had to lose some weight. I was out on the road this morning, running."
Donny Emory, tight end, claimed to be sleeping in. "Me and my roommate had a late night. He's still fast asleep. I barely got here in time for practice."
The chief thought over the case until it dawned on him. "Holy cow! Before he died, Coach Bricker identified his killer. Very clever."
Whom does the chief suspect?
Solution to "High Rise Homocide"
Even though the knife had severed an artery, there was only one isolated pool of blood. So, how did the victim get 15 feet away from the telephone base without leaving a blood trail? He didn't. Someone placed the receiver in the dead man's hand, someone who needed an alibi.
The police concentrated on the suspect with the alibi. Alex Torful eventually confessed. He had killed Xavier in a fight over business. Alex put the phone receiver in Xavier's hand, then went to his own apartment to change his bloody clothes. After leaving the building via the fire exit, Alex called the doorman from a payphone, pretending to be the victim. When he walked into the building seconds later, he assumed he had the perfect alibi.
My first source for these mysteries is The Little Giant Book of Whodunits, by Hy Conrad (ISBN 0-8069-0473-9). Sadly, this one is dumb, fittingly, since it's about college sports.
The Coach's Last Play
Juliet Bricker watched as her husband dawdled over his Saturday morning breakfast. "What's wrong, dear?"
Coach Bricker could never hide anything from Juliet. "It's one of my star players. I found out the boy's involved with gamblers. Maybe he's not trying to throw games, but it's still enough to get him suspended and ruin his chances with the pros."
Juliet was sympathetic. College football was his whole life, and for the first time in years, Halberton State had a great team. "What are you going to do?"
"We're meeting at the field before practice. I have to hear his side of it."
Bricker kissed his wife good-bye, picked up his latest paperback novel, and headed for the door. Bricker was always reading -- a holdover from his days as an English professor.
The team coordinator showed up half an hour before practice and found him lying in the middle of the field, his head bashed in.
"He didn't die instantly," the police chief said as he examined the scene. A ten-foot-long blood trail showed that Bricker had been crawling toward the fieldhouse. "What's this in his hand?" The chief peered in the clenched fist and saw the last page of Coach Bricker's paperback. The rest of the book lay back at the scene of the attack.
The Halberton team had three star players and these three became immediate suspects.
"I was in my dorm room all morning," said quarterback Matt McGuffin. "Coach said I had to spend some time reviewing the playbook."
On hearing the news, Alfie Goodall, defensive lineman, broke down and could barely blubber out his alibi. "Coach told me I had to lose some weight. I was out on the road this morning, running."
Donny Emory, tight end, claimed to be sleeping in. "Me and my roommate had a late night. He's still fast asleep. I barely got here in time for practice."
The chief thought over the case until it dawned on him. "Holy cow! Before he died, Coach Bricker identified his killer. Very clever."
Whom does the chief suspect?
Solution to "High Rise Homocide"
Even though the knife had severed an artery, there was only one isolated pool of blood. So, how did the victim get 15 feet away from the telephone base without leaving a blood trail? He didn't. Someone placed the receiver in the dead man's hand, someone who needed an alibi.
The police concentrated on the suspect with the alibi. Alex Torful eventually confessed. He had killed Xavier in a fight over business. Alex put the phone receiver in Xavier's hand, then went to his own apartment to change his bloody clothes. After leaving the building via the fire exit, Alex called the doorman from a payphone, pretending to be the victim. When he walked into the building seconds later, he assumed he had the perfect alibi.