Murder Mystery Riddles - General

I've always wanted to make a thread for some of the murder mystery riddles I have, I'll post a new riddle when the previous riddle is solved and I hope you guys find them interesting to solve. Anyway, the first riddle: Mr. Johnson was found murdered in his office when his colleague went to ask him about a project they were working on. His body was found lying on his desk with a knife protruding out of his back, and his head on the keyboard of his computer, having hitting a random bunch of keys causing the last line of the document on the computer to be "5y3ci8oo34c8wc48di" No fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, and there were no security footage of who had entered and left the office at the estimated time of murder. The police has narrowed down the prime suspects to the following: The colleague, after all he was the first to have found the body. Jill Mays, his ex-wife, who has filed for divorce a year ago and is filing a lawsuit over the division of assets. Rick Johnson, his brother, who was looked over for promotion a few months ago for the position that the deceased occupied. After a brief investigation, the police made an arrest. Who was it?

Well, the colleague who found him didn't have a motive and his wife probably didn't have access to his workplace whereas the brother did, he also had a motive and was around the workplace when the murder happened I assume

B, he tried to type "the killer is Rick" but he panicked and hit the letter above each time trying to type it quick enough before he bled out

Judging by the position he was found in he was either unaware of the attacker which seems unlikely, or ignoring them/continuing to work with the person still in the room. He'd probably pay more attention to his brother or ex-wife than a co-worker who probably visited his office all the time, so I'm guessing it was him

That was fast! Here's the next riddle: A detective arrived at the home of Mr. Smith, who had just reported that his wife has gone missing. The house itself was quite old. The furnishings were cheap, with white-painted that had gone yellow with time. To the far left was a worn mustard-yellow bean-bag chair, a relic of the seventies. To the right was a magohony table with a bowl of cornflake, half eaten bagel and an glass of ice water on it. And to the far right is a Samsung 42″ flatscreen TV with a hi-fi home stereo system, something that certainly stood out from the rest of the drab decors. "The last I saw my wife was this morning while she was having breakfast. I got home at 5pm and noticed that the front door was unlocked and her breakfast was still on the table. I think she might've been kidnapped!" Mr. Smith said in a panic. The detective, nodding, then proceed to ask Mr. Smith to follow him to the police station for further questioning. Though he didn't say it, he has already suspected that Mr. Smith had something to do with his wife's disappearance. Why?

Because an intruder probably would've nicked the telly as well?

Hmm... no not really.

A glass of ice water? Since morning?

Ohhhh because the ice water would be been room temperature by the time he got in from work

Bingo! That was fast as well. I should go for something more difficult next round.

Next Riddle: In 1973, an Austrian musician has returned home to his apartment after a week long tour only to find that his wife, a famous model, was lying dead on the floor. The bruise mark around her neck evidently showed that she was strangled, but other than a cigarette butt found outside the door of the apartment, there were no other clues as to who the murderer was. As the musician was gone for a week during the murder, he was cleared of suspicion by the police. When the police investigated the woman's contacts, it was revealed that the model had been seeing two man over the last few months. One of the man was her lover, whom she had been having an affair with over the last few months. The other was an admirer of her, whom she had met during an award show and kept in contact. The police knew that these two man are the prime suspects, the lover could've killed her when she tried to break off the affair but the admirer also could've killed her when she rejected his advances. However, only one of them can be the true culprit. Who is it? (Note: The time period is 1973, before DNA profiling is a thing so getting a saliva sample isn't possible)

Were both men smokers? Did the lady smoke?

Ah, I forgot about that. Both man are smokers, the lady isn’t.

If the cigarette butt was outside the front door of her apartment, then I'm guessing it was the admirer. Everybody knows that you smoke cigarettes after sex while still laying in bed, after all. Also, I don't think that she, or the person she was having an affair with, would want him to be seen by nosey neighbors smoking outside her front door for fear of her husband finding out about the affair.

I thought it mightve been that but it's not really airtight like the others, the admirer mightve visited just before the other bloke killed her, or maybe she didn't want him smoking in the bedroom because her husband would smell it. I honestly don't have a scooby doo with this one, I've been chewing on it for ages but nothing really clicks.

Both of them. One of them strangled her, while the other stood outside and kept watch. The one that was outside smoked a cigarette.

I could be completely wrong but it doesn't feel like the riddle provides any information. The only evidence is a cigarette butt which is not really any evidence, anybody could have thrown it there since it was outside and not inside of the apartment. We can make speculation but nothing feels airtight. Anyway, in my opinion the lover did it. If the admirer killed her and the lover tried into contact with the girl, the lover would have noticed she was missing. If the lover killed her, then it would be likely for the admirer to think that she just didn't want anything to do with him anymore. That's why there is a cigarette butt outside - he knocked on the door and maybe spent some time waiting for her to come back, but she never did. So he eventually just went away.

Yeah exactly we can speculate till we're blue in the face with this one. I liked the idea of her meeting a rabid fan at her husbands award do and waited months for him to go on tour, so when she was alone he broke in and choked her out of jelousy, having a puff beforehand to calm his nerves. Fun to think about but it's nothing really

This is more of a logical deduction question when you think about it. The first question we need to ask is, “Why is the cigarette butt outside?” BDA has the right idea of thinking how the cigarette would’ve differ in position with the two man but his reasoning is abit long winded and circumstantial (Not all smokers smoke after sex you know) The answer is that it was the admirer. To see why, we need to go back to the cigarette butt outside. When two people are in a relationship, both would likely be used to the various habits of their partners, even if it cause some nuisance, such as chewing gum, sleeping in and smoking. The lover would’ve no reason to put out his cigarette if he had entered the building as he knows that his lover would’ve expected him to be smoking and he could continue smoking indoors. However, for an admirer, who’s affection possibly remained one sided. If he were to try to woo the lady on his visit, making a good impression is important. And it’s go without saying that blowing cigarette smoke into the face of the person you’re chasing after isn’t the way to do so. Perhaps the question is abit too vague in its wording, so my apologies.

Yeah, that one's a bit of a stretch. There are a lot of reasons why either man may have smoked outside. If the husband didn't smoke, for example, she may have wanted her lover to smoke outside so her husband wouldn't smell it when he came home. Location of the cigarette butt is a clue to get you thinking, but not enough on its own to actually come to a solid conclusion.

Next Riddle: The body of 28 year old John Donovan was found in a hotel room by the hotel maid. The man has seemingly committed suicide according to the letter that was found next to his bed. The detective assigned to this case was puzzled, John was a successful businessman, and a well respected clergyman in the neighbourhood. He has no recorded cases of depression or any other mental disorder, so why would he kill himself when everything is going well for him? This was too glaring of an issue for the detective to ignore. He realised that if there were any potential suspects in this case, it would have to be among those he trust the most due to there being no signs of forced entry. According to his friends and coworkers, John only trusted 3 people: His sisters, Hannah and Jenna, and his brother, Jack The detective looked at the “suicide” letter for more clues, it reads: Feburary 5th 2016, 4:10 AM Jenna, sis and Jack. I would like to tell you how sorry I am for having to leave you. Blame God for why I have to die today, Blame him. Seek him if you want to know why I left you. Do not mourn my death, please move on. Goodbye, John This was even more suspicious to the detective, why would a clergyman blame God? The Detective checked the autopsy report as well, both date and time of death differed from the letter as well. Today is February 10th, 3:15pm and the estimated time of death was 6 to 8 hours ago. Handwriting test has proven the handwriting to be of John’s as well. Thinking more throughly, the detective realised that the letter pointed out clues to the identity of his killer. He immediately made an arrest. Who is it?

Was it Jack? The "hims" could of course refer to Jack. Usually if writing about God, people in a religious position like his would refer to God with a capital H in him.

is it Jenna? because she refers to the other sister as "sis", which is a strange distinction

Whops, that was a mistake on my part actually. Autocorrect attempts to “correct” it.

Hmm that's actually pretty stupid because hannah is the odd one out since she's not actually mentioned. I'm guessing this letter was dictated to him since it was apperently written days before?

Was it Jack, as 4:10 (the time on the letter) is about cain killing his brother abel in genesis ?