Crime Riddles

All of us watch detective documentaries or crime dramas on Netflix and know we would be able to solve the crime quicker than the professionals. Everyone has a moment where they believe they are the best sofa detective that has ever graced the earth.

Being a stay at home detective is something than none of us add to our CV but we probably should as we are all qualified to have the skills based on how many different crime documentaries, we all watch. 

To test that theory, we are providing you with 20 thought provoking crime riddles to see if you are the true crime detective.

Is it murder?

A woman is found dead in her house with a gunshot wound to the head. The gun is found in her hand, along with a note nearby. The note says, “I can’t take it anymore” and is signed with the woman’s name. However, the detective knows she didn’t commit suicide. How does he know?

Answer: The woman was left-handed, but the gun is found in her right hand.

The Scientist.

A scientist is found dead in his lab. There is evidence of a struggle, but no murder weapon is found. The detective immediately knows it’s murder. How?

Answer: The scientist is wearing gloves but there are scratch marks to his face highlighting a struggle.

The Package

A man is found dead in a field with no tracks around him. The only object near him is an unopened package. How did he die?

Answer: The man was skydiving and his parachute failed to open.

The Funeral

A boy at the funeral of his mother, met a girl that he had never met before. The boy fell in love with the girl and desperately wanted to contact her but didn’t have her details. A few days later he kills his brother. Why did he do that?

Answer: He was hoping she would come to the funeral again.

Who is it?

On a day in December a man arrived and stood in the middle of someone’s garden. He stood there for weeks without moving, the homeowner was starting to get irritated but did not call the police. Who was he?

Answer: A snowman.

Theft?

An elderly couple went on holiday for two weeks. Their house was locked, and their friend would visit to check the place whilst they were away. When they returned, the wife was upset to discover all of her jewellery had gone even though she had hidden it in a safe, secretive place. There was no sign of a break in. What happened?

Answer: The wife hid her jewellery in the freezer but due to a power cut the food had spoiled and the neighbour binned the contents of the freezer not knowing the jewellery was hidden in there.

The darkness.

A man eats his dinner, gets into bed and turns off the light and goes to sleep. When he wakes in the morning, he looks out the window and is heartbroken by what he sees. He is later found dead, why did he kill himself?

Answer: The man is a lighthouse operator and should not have turned off the light. Seeing the devastation, he has caused by doing so, he ends his own life. 

Shot!

A husband shoots his wife, then holds her under water for 5 minutes. Shortly after they sit down and have a cup of tea together. How is this possible?

Answer: He is a photographer and the shot her with the camera and then develops it.

Burgled by who?

A young man reports a burglary. He tells the police that the intruder as come through the window as the glass has been broken. The policeman didn’t believe that this was the case, why did the police man think this?

Answer: Because the glass fragments were on the outside of the house not the inside, suggesting the window was broken by someone in the house.

Who done it? 

A man comes running into the hospital shouting ‘who shot her? I need to know’. The police rush out to speak to the man about his wife who is in a critical condition. When asked where he was the man responded he had been with a friend, he explained their son had rung and explained his mum was unwell and was at the hospital. The police then arrest the man. Why was he arrested?

Answer: Nobody told the man his wife had been shot so how did he know?

Taped

A man was found dead with a tape recorder next to his body. The police pressed play and heard the man explaining why he couldn’t live any longer, the end of the recording a loud gunshot sounds. How did the police know this was not suicide as the tape suggests?

Answer: Who would have wound the tape back to the beginning if the man recording it was dead?

The car

A woman was shot whilst in her car. There were no powder marks on her clothing and all the windows and doors on the car were locked. The woman had not shot herself as there was no gun. There were no bullet holes in the car but the woman had not been moved since she had been killed. How was this possible?

Answer: She was driving a convertible car. 

The money trick

The local casino owner invited a group of friends over for a high stakes game. The friends all put their money in the middle of the table but due to a power cut the lights went out. When the lights came back up the money had gone. The casino owner wanted to know who stole the money, so he put a dog inside a rusty bucket. He told everyone to touch the bucket and the dog would bark when the robber touched the bucket. He turned off the lights and one by one the friends touched the bucket. The dog did not bark When the lights came up with owner knew how the robber was by examining their hands. How did he know?

Answer: The robber never touched the bucket due to fear of the dog barking. This meant he had not rust on his hands, but the others did.

No, John, Don’t!

The police were called to an altercation in the car park. As they arrived, they heard a lady shout ‘No, John, don’t’ this was quickly followed by several gunshots. When the police arrived to the scene, they saw a lady laying on the floor with a shop worker, a doctor, a cyclist and a DJ standing around her. The police arrested the shop worker immediately. Why?

Answer: He was wearing a name badge that said John.

Crime Lane

Its 12pm on a Saturday afternoon, and in the middle of Crime Lane a robbery has taken place. The residents of the Pink House, Green House, Purple House and Blue House all saw the robbery take place. Which house had an unrestricted view of the crime?

Answer: The Green House because it is made of glass. 

Alibi 

A man is found dead on a Sunday morning in his house. The police question his family who give the follow alibis:

1.     The wife was sleeping.

2.     The daughter was getting the mail.

3.     The son was playing computer games.

4.     The sister was preparing vegetables in the kitchen.

Based on the alibis, who committed the murder?

Answer: The daughter as the mail isn’t delivered on a Sunday. 

How?

Dave killed his wife in front of a large crowd of spectators, however no one can charge him with the crime. How can this be?

Answer: Dave is an executioner and his wife had been sentenced to death.

Discovery

Mary lived alone in her flat and spent most of her time home alone. On Friday whilst delivering the mail the postman noticed Mary had passed away through the window. 

Detective Smith arrived to the scene and he found 2 bottles of warm milk, Tuesdays newspaper and 3 days of unopened mail. Detective Smith knew who the killer was straight away. Who was it?

Answer: The newspaper man as he stopped delivering the paper so clearly knew she was dead. 

Choices

A murderer is sentenced to death. He must choose between three rooms on how he will die. Room one is full of flesh eating insects, the second full of fire and the third is full of starved lions who haven’t eaten in years. Which room does he choose?

Answer: Room three as the lions will have starved to death already. 

Knock, Knock.

Why did a man call the police over a man who knocked on his door and stated the house was his?

Answer: If it was his house he would not have knocked.