Locked Room Murder Mystery Battle

[GuardianDreamer]

I suppose I could be your opponent when I have the time, but let me just say that I'm not very challenging to beat. I don't think my locked rooms through as deeply as a lot of other opponents do. Still, if it's just for fun, then I should be a suitable enough opponent.

[joseppey]

I'm perfectly okay with playing against you - I just want to play once, even if it is easy.

[GuardianDreamer]

Have you watched people play before?

[joseppey]

Yes, I watched one battle before.

[Enthalpy]

Jose VS GD, now on in the xat.

[GuardianDreamer]

I don't think there's ever been a battle with as many clarifications as this one. It feels like every other blue truth needs a clarification. But it's rather fun, in a way.

[Enthalpy]

It makes me feel like Luna Atmey.

[GuardianDreamer]

I feel sorry for you, Enthalpy. So many clarifications needed...

EDIT: Quote of the day: "Don't ask for more clarifications." -Blackrune.

[Enthalpy]

The 3+ game is finished.

Spoiler : Jose's Locked Room :

A person is in a room with one exit and a wodden fireplace. It has an electric starter and a wooden grate that can only be removed with a screwdriver. I previously sabotaged the room so that the chimney is clogged and the "off" on the starter doesn't work. When the person turns the fireplace on, smoke fills the room. I also have myself and an accomplice physically hold the door shut. An electric starter turns the fireplace on and off, but I tampered with it so that it can't be turned off. A grate that is screwed in front of the fireplace prevents manual removal of the logs.

Enthalpy Note: Due to the specific win conditions, GD did not need to figure out the last two sentences.

Spoiler : GD's Locked Room :

I am a train conductor. I call my depressed friend, waiting at the train station, and convince him to commit suicide by throwing himself on the tracks.

Spoiler : Colorless Log :

Jose: The victim was killed in a perfect locked room.
GD: The victim died in a perfect locked room.

Jose’s Victory Conditions: What killed the victim/what was the murder weapon, and how was I able to kill the victim?
GD’s Victory Conditions: What was the method of murder? How were we able to kill the victim?

Jose: There is only one entrance to the room.
Qualifications: Entrance is defined as a point through which any physical object may enter.
GD: There’s more than one way a normal person could enter.

GD: The victim died an instant death.
Jose: No, the victim did not die instantly.

Jose: The cause of death was stabbing.
GD: False. The cause of death was not stabbing.

GD: Poison was involved in the victim’s death.
Jose: No, no poison was involved in the victim’s death.
Enthalpy: Whether or not poison was involved in the death of Jose’s victim depends on how one defines poison.

Jose: The victim died instantly.
GD: True. The victim died instantly.

GD: Alcohol was involved.
Jose: There was no alcohol involved.

Jose: The victim died due to a gunshot.
GD: False. The victim did not die due to a gunshot.

GD: You were in the room with the victim when they died.
Jose: False, I was not in the room with the victim when he died.

Jose: The cause of death was blunt force trauma/crushing.
GD: Hm. Yes, that’s true.

GD: The victim was killed by severe injuries over time. (Example: You did something to wound him, left the room, and then he eventually died due to the injuries.)
Qualifications: Injuries is defined as stab wounds.
Jose: False, then.

Jose: The murderer was in the room when the victim died.
GD: False.

GD: There was more than one entrance to the room the victim was killed in.
Jose: True.
Qualifications: “Entrances” is defined as doors, windows, or holes in the wall or floor.
Enthalpy: In that case, there was only one entrance.

Jose: The murderer killed the victim directly.
GD: False. It was indirect.
Qualifications: “Directly” as defined as killing the victim without manipulating another person to kill the victim.
Enthalpy: It was direct.
Note: Jose added “and without suicide” after the gold was given. The comment was stricken.

GD: The victim was burned alive.
Jose: No, the victim was not burnt.

Jose: The murderer killed the victim directly, where directly is defined as killing the victim without manipulating the victim to kill himself, or another person to kill the victim.
GD: In that case, the murder was indirect.

GD: The murder weapon was something that you could buy at a normal store. (“Normal” including weapon stores, but not crazy weapons like pit traps.)
Jose: Yes, the murder weapon is something you could buy at the store.
Qualifications: It took a bit to determine what exactly the “murder weapon” was.

Jose: The victim fell from a tall height, which caused him to be killed.
GD: False.

GD: The victim’s corpse had blood on it.
Jose: False.

Jose: The murderer entered the room at some point.
GD: We did not enter the room at any point that is relevant to the murder.

GD: A projectile of some kind was involved in the victim’s murder.
Jose: False.

Jose: The murder weapon is something that could be held in one or both hands.
GD: False.

GD: Smoke was involved in the victim’s murder.
Jose: Acknowledged.

Jose: The victim tripped and fell, causing him to be killed.
GD: False.

GD: The victim died from inhaling too much smoke.
Jose: Acknowledged.

Jose: An object fell from a tall height, causing him to be killed, him being the victim.
GD: False.

GD: The victim was locked into a room, and there was a vent (or something that could cause smoke to enter the room, but not be used as a human passageway) that you used to send smoke into the room using a device of some kind.
Jose: False.
Enthalpy: The question needs general clarification.

Jose: One or more entrances to the room is located on the ceiling.
GD: The ceiling is irrelevant to the murder, and there was no entrance that was used there.

GD: The victim was locked into a room, or the room was barricaded, and there was a vent (or something that could cause smoke to enter the room, possible just the door itself) and you used a device to send smoke into the room.
Jose: Define device.
GD: Would electronic device be good enough?
Jose: It’s not entirely true, but it’s a bit tricky to say.
Enthalpy: The statement is false.

Jose: The murderer used equipment to cause the victim to kill himself.
Qualifications: “Equipment” is defined as anything that the murderer used for a specific purpose. “Cause the victim to kill himself” means that the victim would not have killed himself had this equipment not been used.
GD: Yes, equipment was used that was needed for the victim to kill himself.

GD: The smoke in the murder was caused by fire.
Jose: Acknowledged.

Jose: The equipment made a sound which caused directly or indirectly the victim to die.
GD: Acknowledged.

GD: There was a fire that trapped the victim in a room. They were able to avoid getting burnt by the fire, but they died due to inhaling too much of the smoke caused by the fire.
Jose: False.

Jose: One or more of the entrances to the room is a window.
GD: Windows are irrelevant to this murder.

GD: The fire was caused from a match being lit.
Jose: Irrelevant.

Jose: The equipment used by the murderer made contact with the victim.
Qualifications: “The equipment” is specifically defined as the equipment that made the victim kill himself.
GD: Denied.

GD: You caused a fire, and the fire caused smoke. The smoke ended up killing the victim.
Jose: Actually, one part of that statement is false.

Hint to Jose: The equipment was a cell phone.
Hint to GD: The part that was false was, “You caused a fire.”

Jose: The murderer called the victim right before he died.
GD: True.

GD: The victim caused the fire.
Jose: True.

Jose: The murderer made the victim want to kill himself.
GD: True.

GD: The victim caused a fire, and then you locked/closed the room the victim was in so that he would die.
Jose: True.

Jose: The victim was in the room when the murderer called the victim.
Qualifications: The room is the locked room.
GD: In that case, yes.

Hint: Both of the locked room mysteries presented in this match involve only one locked room.

GD: The victim started a fire in the room, and then you closed/locked the door to stop him from escaping. The victim died from the smoke as a result of this. Whether he died from the smoke relatively quickly, or due to the obviously bad health effects this would cause doesn’t matter.
Jose: True.
Enthalpy: You have not figured out the murder weapon. Also, think through your narrative. There are two things that don’t quite make sense.

Jose: The victim jumped from a high location which caused him to die.
GD: False.

GD: The victim started the fire by accident. It was not intentional.
Jose: False.

Hint: Jose, the victim alone couldn’t have killed himself in the manner in which he died.

Jose: The murderer was right outside the room when the victim died.
GD: True.

GD: The smoke came from the fire of a candle or torch.
Jose: False.
Thally-Hint: The victim started the fire, but he didn’t start it for light… So why?

Jose: The murderer gave the victim a set of directions to follow to kill himself.
GD: False.
Thally-Hint: No, true. It’s just that they weren’t very detailed. They didn’t have to be.

GD: The victim started a fire to burn down the room/building he was in.
Jose: False.
Thally-Hint: Okay, well there still had to be a reason why he set that fire, right?

Jose: The murder weapon was larger than the room.
Clarification: The room refers to the room the victim was in.
GD: The murder weapon was smaller.
Thally-Hint: Try putting together some of the miscellaneous facts you’ve found so far. For instance, the cause of death.

GD: The fire and smoke was caused by a cigar.
Jose: False.
Thally-Hint: Cigars. You don’t say those every day, but they’re not unfamiliar. DO you know anything else that fulfills those criteria?

Jose: The victim was crushed by an elevator.
GD: False.
Thally-Hint: Crushing seems good, but you should either get the crushing confirmed or think of other crushing things. Either way is good.

GD: The victim was trying to cook something.
Jose: False.
Thally-Hint: What kind of stove releases smoke, anyway?

Jose: The victim was ran over by a car.
GD: False.
Thally-Hint: Good guess, but either confirm crushing or think of other crushing things.

GD: The smoke/fire was caused by a pipe.
Jose: False.
Thally-Hint: Maybe the fire was more utilitarian?

Jose: The cause of death was crushing.
GD: True.
Thally-Hint: Now it’s a matter of figuring out how the crushing occurred. We know that the killer was in a different room, but the weapon wasn’t a car, and the victim couldn’t kill himself by himself.

GD: The fire came from a fireplace or chimney.
Jose: Correct.
Thally-Hint: Almost there!

Jose: The victim was killed in his house.
GD: False.
Thally-Hint: Go back to thinking about possible murder weapons.


GD: The victim started a fire in the fireplace in the room, and then you closed/locked the door to stop him from escaping. You blocked the fireplace earlier. The victim died from the smoke as a result of this. Whether he died from the smoke relatively quickly, or due to the obviously bad health effects this would cause doesn’t matter.
Jose: True.
Enthalpy: GD has won this round.

During that extremely long round, I thought of my own locked room that I'd like to try out some time.

[Ferdielance]

Spoiler : Hmm :

I think that there's something bizarre about similtaneously being the train conductor AND convincing a depressed friend to jump on the tracks. Surely you'd do it when someone else was driving, to avoid suspicion! An inquiry of your actions at the time of the murder/suicide would be likely to draw out the phone call, taken together with the "coincidence" that you knew the victim.

The blocked fireplace is elegant, as blocked fireplaces can and do accidentally kill. It would take a little more refinement to make it look like an accident, though.

[GuardianDreamer]

Spoiler : @Ferdie :

The fact that I was the conductor is not a necessary detail. And I honestly didn't think this crime through, since I'm rather bad at these, honestly. If Jose had said that I was a passenger (or, well, anything as long as he identified that I wasn't in the same room as the victim) then it would definitely have been his victory.

[Bad Player]

Spoiler : :

how are train tracks a locked room? o.O

[GuardianDreamer]

Spoiler : :

Train tracks weren't the locked room. The subway itself was. (I was originally going to go with just "the train station", until Enthalpy pointed out that it technically wasn't a Locked "Room" until I made it into a subway instead.

[Enthalpy]

Spoiler : :

And I'd have told Jose not to focus on the locked room aspect if he had started on it.

Also, could I get confirmation from the remaining people in the tournament, that they're still participating?

[kwando1313]

Yup. I just haven't had any time to do it... T_T