Note: Last time Colorado Linda chose a medium mystery.
The Case:
Elderly Nigel Harper-Smith is found dead of a heart attack in front of his TV set.
The Mystery:
Who killed Nigel and how?
The Solution:
Thirty-year-old Christina Poore had married the wealthy Nigel, expecting him to drop dead from a bad heart any minute. But the curmudgeonly old man lived on, with the help of his pacemaker, to criticize her every move.
When Nigel’s TV set went on the blink, Christina told him the repair shop had loaned him a small TV so that he could watch his Saturday football game. Then she swung into action. First, she secretly switched his eyeglasses with hers – they had identical frames but opposite prescriptions. Then she switched the TV for a microwave oven, and put his radio next to it. Finally, she tuned in the game on the radio, then placed a frozen turkey into the microwave and set it for three hours.
Unable to see, (but too vain to admit it,) Nigel believed that the microwave was the loaner TV. He immediately fell asleep, and when the microwave signaled “done,” so was Nigel – his pacemaker had become erratic, and his heart had stopped.
Christina switched the microwave and the TV, figuring she had committed the perfect crime. But she was arrested when police discovered that Nigel was wearing her glasses. She just wasn’t farsighted enough to remove them.
Hint #1: Nigel’s own TV was in the repair shop
Hint #2: Nigel and his wife had eyeglasses with identical frames but opposite prescriptions
Note:
You’re free to ask anything, (please keep it to one question a post for simplicity’s sake,) but Jurd can only answer your questions with:
- Yes
- No
- Yes and No
- Irrelevant
- I don’t know
- Rephrase your question
- Define what you mean by…
Disclaimer: Monday Mysteries are culled from the 1993 Milton Bradley game, Crack the Case – but don’t go peeking.
Skinner Co. makes no claim to the intellectual property presented here, we’re just a number of friends playing a board game in a digital living room.
Did Nigel take medication for his heart?
No
Was the television on?
Yes
Was the person who killed Nigel, physically in the room when he killed him?
No
Is the fact that his last name is hyphenated relevant?
No
Did something he see scare him to death?
No
Was he watching an x rated movie? O.o
Unfortunately, no.
Did Nigel win the lottery?
No
Was Nigel poisoned?
No
Was Nigel electrocuted?
No
Was an advertisement responsible for Nigel’s death?
Fun notion, but no
First hint is up!
So if Nigel was found dead in front of his tv, was he found dead in the repair shop?
Hmm – I hadn’t noticed that wording (though it is what it says on the card.)
As such, for clarity’s sake, I’m going to provide a little more answer than normal: The TV Nigel was found in front of was a loaner from the TV repair shop.
Or perhaps was he found outside of the t.v. repair shop?
No
Was Nigel married?
Yes
Did anyone profit financially from Nige’ls death?
Yes
Did Nigel’s wife kill him?
Yes!
Let’s put this delicately, did Nigel’s wife perform an act that over strained his heart? Such as a scantily clad little jig?
Ha! Nope.
Did a venomous critter crawl out from the TV and kill Nigel?
Fun! but no.
Was Nigel epileptic?
No
Was he startled into a heart attack?
No, but note that I hesitated before giving the answer.
Was Nigel watching a recorded program on the t.v.?
No
Was Nigel’s wife much younger than him?
Yes
Was Nigel’s wife having an affair?
No
Second hint is up!
Did the loaner TV have a small screen?
Not unusually so
Did Nigel have to “strain” to see the picture?
Yes, though I’ll give you one for free and clarify that the strain wasn’t what killed him.
Were there any alterations to the loaner TV, i.e., it was not a standard TV?
No
Was he near sighted?
The card doesn’t specify. Just know that his vision required glasses, and that his prescription was opposite to that of his young wife.
Was his heart failure caused by a drug?
No
Because of the blurred vision, did Nigel misunderstand something he saw on the tv?
Yes!
Did Nigel accuse his wife of having an affair?
No
Was Nigel having an affair?
No
Did Nigel lean forward to see better and his wife put something on his chair which killed him as he leaned back?
Nay
Did Nigel see someone on TV who looked like his wife in a compromising situation with someone else?
Nope
So, Nigel’s wife killed him by giving him the wrong glasses by which he saw misinformation on t.v. causing him to have a heart attack.
No, but getting warmer.
I’ll give you, “Nigel’s wife killed him by giving him the wrong glasses.”
Was the original television replaced by the time the body was discovered?
He was found in front of the loaner
Was Nile watching a horror show?
Or Nigel.
Did Nigel have any other health issues?
Yes!
Did he perhaps take a medication at the wrong dosage because he could not see it properly?
No
Was Nigel a diabetic?
Nay
Was the something he saw on tv that he misunderstood anything to do with his finances?
No
Was the program on the tv perhaps in 3D?
Nope
Was Nigel found sitting in a chair?
Yes
Was Nigel found laying on the floor?
No, in his beloved TV-watching chair.
I’m pumped that you guys are on the cusp of beating this thing – this mystery is heating up.
Was the loaner TV displaying a program at the wrong time (e.g. connected to a VCR), which led Nigel to not take medication he should have taken at the right time?
Clever, but no
Was Nigel watching a horror show?
No
Did Nigel have high blood pressure?
Nay
Was Nigel watching a lotto drawing?
Nay
Did Nigel think his t.v. was on fire?
Nope
Medium, huh? 😉
I know, right?!?
OK, I am stumped, so time to recap what we know. Chime in if you disagree with any of my assumptions or if I missed anything…
Nigel was killed by his wife, who swapped glasses with him.
Nigel’s wife, who was much younger than him, profited financially from his death.
She was not having an affair
She was not in the room at his time of death.
He died in a chair, from a heart attack, while watching a live program on a loaner TV.
He had to strain to see the picture, but this did not cause his death
His death was caused by something he misunderstood seeing on the TV (blurry vision caused this)
He did not think he saw his wife in a compromising situation on the telly
His misunderstanding was not financial in nature
He was not watching a horror show
The loaner TV was not modified
He did not take medication for his heart.
His heart attack was not caused by a drug
He did not see something that scared him to death.
He was not watching an x-rated show.
He did not win the lottery (or think he did)
He was not poisoned or bitten by a venomous creature
He was not electrocuted
He did not die because of an ad on the TV
He was not epileptic
He was not diabetic
He did not have high blood pressure
He was not startled into a heart attack, but JRD felt the need to caveat this with the comment that he hesitated before answering
He was not killed by something in the chair
Nigel did have other health issues
“He died in a chair, from a heart attack, while watching a live program on a loaner TV.”
I might phrase it ‘the police found him dead in his chair, from a heart attack, while a live program played on a loaner TV.’
“His death was caused by something he misunderstood seeing on the TV (blurry vision caused this)”
I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear on this one – his inability to understand what he was looking at was definitely part of the murder method, but I don’t mean to imply that he saw something specific that caused the heart trouble.
I think the key items to focus on are why did it matter that his TV was a loaner and what did he misunderstand seeing on the TV.
Was Nigel’s original TV a black and white unit?
The card doesn’t specify
Was the loaner TV a color model?
The card doesn’t specify
Was Nigel color blind?
No
Did he think something came out of the tv?
I wish this mystery ended with ‘and then the girl from The Ring appeared,’ but no.
No need to pace yourselves – make some waves.
Did the loaner TV have a remote?
Nope
Because of blurry vision, did Nigel hit the wrong button on the remote and increase the volume?
Nay
Did Nigel think he had won (or lost) the lotto?
Nevermind — I see that this was asked above.
No
Did Nigel become woozy because of the blurry image on the TV?
Nope
Was Nigel’s wife an actor?
Nay
A small man in a rumpled raincoat wanders through waving a cheap cigar.
“The thing is, you see, the man had a bum ticker, but the doctors had dealt with that…”
Unfortunately you can hear no more as he steps out of frame.
So, he had a pace maker that was interfered with by the TV?
Hmm – define “the TV.”
Did Nigel have a pacemaker?
Yes!
I already asked if the loaner TV was modified, answer was no. Was the loaner TV defective in any way?
Nope, loaner TV was well maintained when the cops inspected it. No defective components, and only prints from the victim’s wife and the repair shop guy on it.
Nigel was not electrocuted, but did he receive an electric shock powerful enough to stop his pacemaker?
Nope
Was Nigel sitting to close to the t.v. and it interfered with his pace maker?
Define “TV” and “it”
Did the loaner TV have a frayed power cord?
Nay
Did the loaner TV have antenna?
No
ok, was Nigel sitting to close to the television screen?
He was very close
Was Nigel too close to the television remote control?
No
Was Nigel too close to the television antenna?
Nay
Was Nigel too close to the television cable box?
Nay
Was Nigel too close to the television speakers?
Well, only in that he was very close to the TV
Did the loaner TV have bad shielding, and thus gave off too much electricity, screwing up his pacemaker? He drew the TV close to watch, turned it on, and died.
We’re getting so close!
But no.
ARG!!!!!
Things are heating up – the right brainwave will hit.
Was the pace maker involved in his death?
Yes!
Was there another electromagnet planted close to the TV set, so that when Nigel moved close to the TV, his pacemaker failed?
NOT QUITE BUT SO CLOSE.
I can hear the hum as the last few seconds count down.
Ok, so…
Nigel was killed by his wife for his big bucks. She killed him by giving him the wrong glasses which made him sit too close to the television. The interference from the hum of the t.v. frequency caused his pacemaker to malfunction causing him to have a heart attack. Just give it to me already!!!!
A little extra thought, the tone that used to ring from the t.v. signaling the end of the broadcast day was just at t he right pitch to screw up the pace maker.
Was the replacement TV actually a microwave? 😉
I think encaf1 has hit the nail on the head. The t.v. was next to microwave! Nice catch!
Encaf is so close I’m going to call it – solution posted momentarily.
Solution is up!