Locked room mystery - Citizendia

The locked room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction where a murder or other crime is apparently committed under impossible circumstances: no one could have entered or left the scene of the crime, and the death involved could not have been a suicide. Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder Such stories normally follow other conventions of classic detective fiction, in that the reader is presented with the puzzle and all of the clues, and so encouraged to solve it before the solution is revealed in a dramatic dénouement. Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder In Literature, a dénouement ( IPA:/deˈnuːmɑ̃/ consists of a series of events that follow the climax of a drama or narrative and thus serves as the

Typically, a locked room is a room in which a murder is committed. There are a limited number of suspects, some of them possibly having a water-tight alibi. But on closer inspection, it turns out that no one could possibly have perpetrated the murder because at the time the murder was committed, there was definitely no way of entering or leaving the room or area unseen or detected. The concept can be broadened to encompass the "sealed site" where the impossibility derives from the site being covered with new snow or sand with no trace upon it, or a crime committed in front of witnesses who do not understand or cannot explain what has occurred.

The prima facie impression almost invariably would be that the perpetrator has vanished into thin air. Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning "on its first appearance" or "by first instance" However, there is typically a rational explanation for the crime.

1 History
2 Examples
3 Authors and works
- 3.1 Classic specimens of the genre are listed below, alphabetically by category
4 Radio, television and film
5 Pulp magazines
6 Comic books/graphic novels
7 True crimes
8 External links
9 References

History

Even though the mystery or detective genre was not established until the 19th century, the apocryphal Biblical story of Bel and the Dragon has some similarities to locked room mysteries. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The tale of Bel and the Dragon incorporated as chapter 14 of the extended Book of Daniel was written in Aramaic around the late Second century BC and Earlier still, in the 5th century BCE, Herodotus told the tale of the robber whose headless body was found in a sealed stone chamber with only one guarded exit. The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Honore de Balzac in La Comedie Humaine – Maitre Cornelius (1846) and Alexandre Dumas, père in Les Mohicans de Paris – La Visite Domiciliaire (1854) may also be said to have included locked room elements in their novels, but the earliest full-fledged example of this type of story - indeed the first classic detective story - is generally held to be Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," which appeared in 1841. La Comédie humaine is the title of Honoré de Balzac 's (1799 – 1850 multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, " The Murders in the Rue Morgue " is a Short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841 After Poe, a number of authors, including major writers like Joseph Conrad and minor ones like Sheridan Le Fanu, Wilkie Collins and Dick Donovan tried their hand at the new genre, but their ingenuity only extended to secret passages, duplicate keys and diabolical mechanical devices. Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924 was a Polish-born English novelist Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (28 August 1814 &ndash 7 February 1873 was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels William Wilkie Collins ( 8 January 1824 &ndash 23 September 1889) was an English Novelist, Playwright, and James Edward Preston Muddock also known as "Joyce Emmerson Preston Muddock" and "Dick Donovan" ( May 28, 1843 &ndash January 23, It was not until 1892, in Israel Zangwill’s seminal The Big Bow Mystery that the hallmark of every great impossible crime - misdirection - made its appearance, introducing a murder technique much emulated since. Israel Zangwill ( January 21, 1864 - August 1, 1926) was an English -born humourist and writer The other great early work, Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune (The Mystery of the Yellow Room ) was written in 1907 by French journalist and author, Gaston Leroux and it, too, has had many imitators. The Mystery of the Yellow Room Extraordinary Adventures of Joseph Rouletabille Reporter (in French Le mystère de la chambre jaune) is one of the first Locked Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux ( 6 May, 1868, Paris France &ndash 15 April, 1927) was a French Journalist

In the Golden Age of Detective Fiction impossible crimes were mainly solved by brilliant amateur sleuths who were inexplicably given free rein by Scotland Yard and, to a markedly lesser extent, the New York Police Department; puzzling mysteries were solved by sheer reasoning and brain power. The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels produced by various authors all following similar patterns and style New Scotland Yard or Scotland Yard, informally known as The Yard and NSY, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible Such creators of famous Anglo-Saxon amateur detectives as Jacques Futrelle, Thomas and Mary Hanshew, G. K. Chesterton, Carolyn Wells, John Dickson Carr, C. Jacques Heath Futrelle ( April 9, 1875 - April 15, 1912) was an American journalist and mystery writer. Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936 was an influential English writer of the early 20th century Carolyn Wells ( June 18, 1862 &ndash March 26, 1942) was an American Author and Poet (born in Rahway New Jersey John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories Daly King and Joseph Commings turned out impossible crimes in vast quantities, as did Christianna Brand, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Clayton Rawson and Hake Talbot to a lesser degree. Joseph Commings (born in 1913 in New York) was an American writer of locked room mysteries. Christianna Brand ( December 17, 1907 - March 11, 1988) was an English Crime writer and children's author. Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English Ellery Queen is both a Fictional character and a Pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel (David Nathan Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971 was an American mystery writer editor and amateur magician Authors such as Nigel Morland and Anthony Wynne, whose output leaned more toward science-based detective stories, also tried their hand at impossible mysteries.

In French, Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Gaston Boca, Marcel Lanteaume, Pierre Very, Noel Vindry and the Belgian Stanislas-Andre Steeman were other important impossible crime writers, Vindry being the most prolific with 16 novels. Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau ( Paris, 28 april 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989 and Pierre Ayraud, Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau ( Paris, 28 april 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989 and Pierre Ayraud, Edgar Faure, later to become Prime Minister of France, was a not particularly successful contemporary. Edgar Faure (18 August 1908 30 March 1988 was a French politician essayist historian and memoirist

During the Golden Age, English-speaking writers dominated the genre, but after the 1940s there was a general waning of English-language output. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be French authors continued into the 1950s and early 1960s, notably Martin Meroy and Boileau-Narcejac who joined forces to write several locked-room novels and also the psychological thrillers which brought them international fame, two of which were adapted for the screen as Vertigo and Diabolique. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau ( Paris, 28 april 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989 and Pierre Ayraud, Vertigo ( is a Psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak and featuring Barbara But the most prolific writer during the period immediately following the Golden Age was Japanese: Akimitsu Takagi wrote almost 30 locked-room mysteries, starting in 1949 and continuing to his death in 1995. was the Pen-name of a popular Japanese Crime fiction writer in Showa period Japan. Regrettably, only one, The Tattoo Murder Case, has so far been translated into English.

Since the 1970s Bill Pronzini’s Nameless detective has solved many a locked-room puzzle, but the prize for the most prolific creator of impossible crimes must be Edward D. Hoch, whose signature detective is a country physician, Dr. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Edward Dentinger Hoch ( February 22, 1930 &ndash January 17, 2008) was a prolific American writer of Detective fiction. Sam Hawthorne; one Ed Hoch story has appeared in EQMM every month since May 1973 the majority of which are impossible crimes. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine is a monthly Digest size fiction magazine specializing in Crime fiction, particularly Detective fiction. Even today, the current occidental masters of the genre, Hoch and the Frenchman Paul Halter, still feature gifted amateur detectives who use pure brainpower to solve their cases.

The Japanese writer Soji Shimada has been writing impossible crime stories since 1981 and has created 13 to date. The first, The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, is the only one to have been translated into English so far. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders is the debut mystery novel of Soji Shimada, the musician and writer on Astrology who is best known as From the limited sample available to English readers, the Japanese themes are far more grisly than those of the genteel Anglo-Saxons. Dismemberment is the preferred method in the aforementioned two stories, with, in one case, the incomplete bodies of six girls being scattered across Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Despite the gore, the norms of the classic detective fiction novel are strictly followed. Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder

The French writer Paul Halter, whose output of over 30 novels is almost exclusively locked room, has been hailed as the natural successor to John Dickson Carr. John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories Although strongly influenced by Carr and Christie, his style is his own and he can stand comparison with anyone for the originality of his plots and puzzles and his atmospheric writing. A collection of ten of his short stories entitled The Night of the Wolf is now available in English.

Locked room mysteries have now also seen success on TV; for example, in the UK TV series Jonathan Creek, the eponymous detective regularly solves unsolvable murders. Jonathan Creek is a British mystery Television series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick.

Examples

The following are examples of "impossible" or "locked-room" crimes:

A British secretary is blackmailed. Investigations commence, newspapers report, Scotland Yard offers protection. Even though the assassins precisely predict the secretary's death, the vast police force protecting him at the time and place announced by the assassins cannot prohibit the murder. When it is committed, the secretary is alone in a room locked from within and protected from without. The room is almost bare empty and even upon finding the corpse, it cannot be determined what the man died of. (The Four Just Men, first in a series of novels by Edgar Wallace)
The victim is seen walking alone in the middle of a snow-covered street. A voice is heard to threaten him, and a shot rings out. An examination of his body shows the shot was fired from close range, but no killer is to be seen and no other footprints are found on the scene. The Hollow Man (U. The Hollow Man is a famous Locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr ( 1906 - 1977 S. title: The Three Coffins), a novel by John Dickson Carr)
A man is found with his throat cut on a rock in the middle of a footprint-free stretch of sand wet from the receding tide. The Hollow Man is a famous Locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr ( 1906 - 1977 The crime is so recent that the victim's blood has not yet clotted, yet the occupants of a fishing boat less than 100 yards (100 m) away swear they saw nobody approach the rock for hours. (Have His Carcase. Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane a novel by Dorothy L. Sayers)
A man is seen by several witnesses committing a crime, and is found dead later. Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( IPA: usually pronounced /ˈseɪɜrz/ although Sayers herself preferred /ˈsɛːz/ and encouraged the use of her middle initial to facilitate this Examination of the body indicates he was already dead before the crime was committed. (The Amorous Corpse, a short story by Peter Lovesey;Captain Leopold and the Ghost-Killer, a short story by Edward D. Hoch)
A man dies in a room at the top of a tower in a Scottish castle that is believed to be haunted, where people have committed suicide in rapid succession. Despite evidence showing the people had no reason to kill themselves, they are shown to have been alone at the time of the murder. (The Case of the Constant Suicides, a novel by John Dickson Carr)
A man is shot and disfigured beyond recognition with a sawed-off shotgun in an impregnable castle, to which the only entrance is sealed. The Case of the Constant Suicides, first published in 1941, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr. A sawed-off shotgun ( US) also known as a sawn-off shotgun ( UK, AU, NZ; also used in US) or a short-barreled shotgun (Arthur Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear, the third novel featuring Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is a famous fictional detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in Publication in 1887 )
A man is shot in a guarded room, and the still-smoking gun was delivered next door in a sealed envelope some time previously. (The X Street Murders, a short story by Joseph Commings)
The murderer is seen entering a room by a witness, but when the room is opened only the corpse of the victim is to be found. "The X Street Murders" is a locked room mystery short story by Joseph Commings, featuring his detective Brooks U Joseph Commings (born in 1913 in New York) was an American writer of locked room mysteries. (The Hollow Man)
A man volunteers to spend the night in an attic room reputedly haunted by the spirit of a woman previously stabbed to death there in impossible circumstances. The Hollow Man is a famous Locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr ( 1906 - 1977 The door is sealed. When the seals are broken, a complete stranger lies there dead from stab wounds and the other man has vanished. (La Quatrieme Porte)
A man is found dead, and his wife dying, in a room locked from the inside. She had been able to call for help after shots were heard. There is no gun in the room and a search reveals no other person present. (Six Crimes Sans Assassin)
A woman is found dead in a room with her ex-husband, with the gun that killed her in his hand. Although the gun is proven to have killed her, her ex-husband is a detective whom the reader has grown to trust over a long series of short stories featuring him as the explainer of locked room mysteries. (The Leopold Locked Room, a short story by Edward D. Hoch)
A man is stabbed to death in a summer house to which every access route is guarded and in which no weapon is to be found. (The Oracle of the Dog, a short story by G. K. Chesterton)
A horse and buggy vanish in a covered bridge. Their tracks can be seen going in to the bridge, but none come out on the other side. (The Problem of the Covered Bridge, a short story by Edward D. The Problem of the Covered Bridge (1974 is a Mystery short story by Edward D Hoch)
The audience is allowed to inspect the magician’s cabinet from all sides before he steps inside to perform his vanishing trick and the curtain descends. When the curtain goes up again, the magician is still in the cabinet – strangled. (Death by Black Magic, a short story by Joseph Commings)
The drunken brother of a billionaire industrialist fires an empty gun in the direction of his brother, who is some distance away sealed inside a safe-room. At that precise moment, the industrialist is shot, and no gun can be found in the sealed and guarded room. (The King is Dead, a novel by Ellery Queen. The King is Dead is a Novel that was published in 1951 by Ellery Queen. Ellery Queen is both a Fictional character and a Pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel (David Nathan )
Two people are found shot to death at point-blank range inside a room locked on the inside. No gun is found in the room, and no bullets are found in either body. See the True Crime section.

Authors and works

The acknowledged master of the locked-room sub-genre was John Dickson Carr, who also wrote as Carter Dickson. John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories His novel The Hollow Man is considered by many to be the finest locked room mystery novel of all time — although Carr himself names Gaston Leroux's The Mystery of the Yellow Room as his favourite. The Hollow Man is a famous Locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr ( 1906 - 1977 Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux ( 6 May, 1868, Paris France &ndash 15 April, 1927) was a French Journalist The Mystery of the Yellow Room Extraordinary Adventures of Joseph Rouletabille Reporter (in French Le mystère de la chambre jaune) is one of the first Locked The Hollow Man gives an explicatory recipe for crime writers: Chapter 17 of the book consists of a theoretical digression entitled "The Locked-Room Lecture". In it, Dr Gideon Fell (the detective) gives an extensive explanation of how the murderer is able to deceive everyone else (at least until the riddle is finally solved). Doctor Gideon Fell is a fictional detective created by John Dickson Carr. How, for example, Fell asks, can the perpetrator create the impression of a hermetically sealed chamber when in fact it is not? What means are there of tampering with a door so that it seems to be locked on the inside? This is just one of the answers -- and, as it happens, the most simple one -- given by Fell:

... An illusion, simple but effective. A hermetic seal is a seal which for practical purposes is considered airtight The murderer, after committing his crime, has locked the door from the outside and kept the key. It is assumed, however, that the key is still in the lock on the inside. The murderer, who is first to raise a scare and find the body, smashes the upper glass panel of the door, puts his hand through with the key concealed in it, and finds the key in the lock inside, by which he opens the door. This device has also been used with the breaking of a panel out of an ordinary wooden door.

There are six other categories of locked room as expounded by Dr. Fell. Clayton Rawson in Death from a Top Hat describes nine. Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971 was an American mystery writer editor and amateur magician Death from a Top Hat ( 1938) is a locked-room mystery Novel written by Clayton Rawson. Anthony Boucher in Nine Times Nine and Derek Smith in Whistle Up the Devil are two other authors to offer a comprehensive overview of locked-room methods. Anthony Boucher (born William Anthony Parker White) ( August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968) was an American Science fiction The reader is warned: while these lectures may well be erudite and educational in their own right, their true purpose in each case is to divert attention from the method actually used in the book.

Classic specimens of the genre are listed below, alphabetically by category

This is not intended to be exhaustive, but a selection of each listed author's best. For a complete list consult Locked Room Murders or Chambres Closes, Crimes Impossibles

English-language novels

Gilbert Adair's The Act of Roger Murgatroyd (2006)
Douglas Adams's The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988)
Lawrence Block's Burglar's Can't Be Choosers (1977) and The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams (1994)
Anthony Boucher’s Nine Times Nine (writing as H. Gilbert Adair (born December 29, 1944 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish Author, Film critic and Journalist. The Act of Roger Murgatroyd An Entertainment is a Whodunit by Gilbert Adair first published in 2006. Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 &ndash 11 May 2001 was an English author comic Radio dramatist The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is a 1988 humorous Fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams. Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York -set series about Anthony Boucher (born William Anthony Parker White) ( August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968) was an American Science fiction H. Holmes) (1940)
Christianna Brand’s Suddenly at His Residence (1946) and Death of Jezebel (1948)
Leo Bruce's Case for Three Detectives (1936)
R. Christianna Brand ( December 17, 1907 - March 11, 1988) was an English Crime writer and children's author. Leo Bruce is a Pseudonym for Rupert Croft-Cooke (1903-1979 Under this name Bruce wrote several Mystery novels T. Campbell's The Bodies in a Bookshop (1946)
John Dickson Carr's It Walks by Night (1930), The Hollow Man (1935), The Crooked Hinge (1938), The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941), Till Death Do Us Part (1944), He Who Whispers (1946)
Carter Dickson's The Plague Court Murders (1934), The White Priory Murders (1934), The Red Widow Murders (1935), The Ten Teacups (1937), The Judas Window (1938), He Wouldn't Kill Patience (1944)
Agatha Christie's Murder in Mesopotamia (1936), Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938), And Then There Were None (1939)
Edmund Crispin's The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944), The Moving Toyshop (1946)
David Duncan's The Shade of Time (1946)
Christopher Fowler's Ten Second Staircase (2006) and White Corridor (2007)
Alan Green’s What a Body (1949)
Georgette Heyer's Envious Casca (1941)
C. John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories The Crooked Hinge is a Mystery novel (1938 by detective novelist John Dickson Carr. The Case of the Constant Suicides, first published in 1941, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr. Till Death Do Us Part, first published in 1944, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. He Who Whispers is a Mystery novel (1946 by detective novelist John Dickson Carr. John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories The Plague Court Murders is the first Sir Henry Merrivale mystery by the American writer John Dickson Carr (1906-1977 who wrote it under The White Priory Murders is a Mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr (1906-1977 who published it under the name of Carter The Red Widow Murders is a Mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr (1906-1977 who published it under the name of Carter The Ten Teacups (US title The Peacock Feather Murders) is a Locked room mystery by American mystery writer John Dickson Carr The Judas Window (also published as The Crossbow Murder) is a famous Locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson He Wouldn't Kill Patience is a Mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr (1906-1977 who published it under the name of Carter Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English Murder in Mesopotamia is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on July Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on And Then There Were None is a work of Detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club Edmund Crispin was the Pseudonym of Robert Bruce Montgomery, (usually credited as Bruce Montgomery) ( October 2 1921 &mdash September This book should not be confused with Angela Carter's novel The Magic Toyshop. Christopher Fowler (born 1953 in Greenwich, London) is an English thriller writer Georgette Heyer (16 August 1902 &ndash 4 July 1974 was an English Historical romance and Detective fiction Novelist. Daly King's Obelists Fly High (1935)
Peter Lovesey’s Bloodhounds (1996)
Ngaio Marsh’s Death of a Fool (1956) (UK title: Off With His Head)
Helen McCloy's Through a Glass, Darkly
Ellery Queen's The Chinese Orange Mystery (1934), The Door Between (1937), The King is Dead (1952)
Clayton Rawson's Death from a Top Hat (1938)
John Rhode's Invisible Weapons (1938)
Dorothy L. Sayers’ Have His Carcase (1932)
Soji Shimada’s The Tokyo Zodiac Murders (1981)
John Sladek’s Black Aura (1974), and Invisible Green (1977)
Derek Smith’s Whistle Up the Devil (1953)
R. Peter (Harmer Lovesey (born 1936 in Whitton Middlesex) is a British writer of historical and contemporary crime novels and short stories Dame Ngaio Marsh DBE ( April 23, 1895 &ndash February 18, 1982) born Edith Ngaio Marsh was a Crime writer and Helen McCloy (1904 - 1994 pseudonym Helen Clarkson, was an American Mystery writer whose series Ellery Queen is both a Fictional character and a Pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel (David Nathan The Chinese Orange Mystery is a Novel that was written in 1934 by Ellery Queen. The Door Between is a Novel that was published in 1937 by Ellery Queen. Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971 was an American mystery writer editor and amateur magician Death from a Top Hat ( 1938) is a locked-room mystery Novel written by Clayton Rawson. Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965 known as John Street, was a prolific English Writer of Detective novels Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( IPA: usually pronounced /ˈseɪɜrz/ although Sayers herself preferred /ˈsɛːz/ and encouraged the use of her middle initial to facilitate this Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane The Tokyo Zodiac Murders is the debut mystery novel of Soji Shimada, the musician and writer on Astrology who is best known as John Thomas Sladek ( December 15, 1937 &ndash March 10, 2000) was an American Science fiction author known for his E. Swartwout's The Boat Race Murder (1933)
Akimitsu Takagi’s The Tattoo Murder Case (1948)
Hake Talbot's Rim of the Pit (1944)
Joel Townsley Rogers' The Red Right Hand (1945)
Robert van Gulik's The Chinese Gold Murders (1952) and The Red Pavilion (1958)
S. S. Van Dine's The Canary Murder Case (1927), The Kennel Murder Case (1933), and others. Rim of the Pit (1944 is a locked-room mystery novel written by Hake Talbot, a pen name of Henning Nelms Joel Townsley Rogers (1896&ndash1984 American Writer who wrote science-fiction air-adventure and mystery stories and a handful of mystery novels Robert Hans van Gulik (髙羅佩 ( August 9, 1910, Zutphen - September 24, 1967, The Hague) was a highly educated The Chinese Gold Murders is a Detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty The Red Pavilion is a Detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty S S Van Dine was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright ( October 15, 1888 - April 11, 1939) a U The Canary Murder Case (1927 is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary" and eventually that of The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 murder mystery novel written by S
Edgar Wallace's The Clue of the New Pin (1923)
Winslow, H. Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace ( April 1, 1875 &ndash February 10, 1932) was a prolific British Crime writer, Journalist & Quirk, L. Into Thin Air (1928)

English-language short stories and novellas

Margery Allingham's "The Border-Line Case" (1937)
Jon L. Margery Louise Allingham ( May 20, 1904 - June 30, 1966) was an English Breen's "The Number 12 Jinx" (1978), "Streak to Death" (1987), "Insider Trading" (2003)
Leo Bruce's "Into Thin Air", "Holiday Task" and "Person or Persons"
John Dickson Carr's "The Shadow of the Goat" (1926), "The Third Bullet" (1937),"The Silver Curtain" (1940)," "The House in Goblin Wood" (1947), "Invisible Hands" (1958) and many, many others
Many of G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories, notably "The Secret Garden", "The Invisible Man," "The Wrong Shape," "The Oracle of the Dog," "The Dagger with Wings" and "The Miracle of Moon Crescent"
Agatha Christie's "The Dream" (1937), "The Idol House of Astarte" (1928) and many others. Leo Bruce is a Pseudonym for Rupert Croft-Cooke (1903-1979 Under this name Bruce wrote several Mystery novels John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936 was an influential English writer of the early 20th century Father Brown is a fictional detective created Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English
Most of Joseph Commings’ 33 short stories featuring Senator Banner, notably The X Street Murders, "Death by Black Magic," "Hangman’s House" and Fingerprint Ghost. Joseph Commings (born in 1913 in New York) was an American writer of locked room mysteries. "The X Street Murders" is a locked room mystery short story by Joseph Commings, featuring his detective Brooks U Fingerprint Ghost is a Locked room mystery short story by Joseph Commings, featuring his detective Brooks U A collection of his stories has recently been published under the title "Banner Deadlines".
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Speckled Band (1892) and The Problem of Thor Bridge(1922)
Carter Dickson's "Error at Daybreak" (1938), "The Crime ine Nobody's Room" (1939), "The New Invisible Man", (1940), "Persons or Things Unknown" (1947) and many others
Jacques Futrelle's The Problem of Cell 13 (1905)
Peter Godfrey's The Newtonian Egg and The Flung-Back Lid
Robert van Gulik's "The Red Tape Murder" (1967)
Many of Edward D. Hoch’s stories, including "The Problem of the Covered Bridge" (and every Sam Hawthorn story), "The Witch is Dead," "The Flying Fiend", "The Leopold Locked Room", and "The Tomb at the Top of the Tree. Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930 was an Anglo-Scottish Author most noted for his stories about the "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Problem of Thor Bridge is a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle, which appears in the collection The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories Jacques Heath Futrelle ( April 9, 1875 - April 15, 1912) was an American journalist and mystery writer. The Problem of Cell 13 is a Short story by Jacques Futrelle first published in 1905 and later collected in The Thinking Machine (1907 Peter Ronald Godfrey (born Woolwich, 15 March 1938) is an English former professional Association football player Robert Hans van Gulik (髙羅佩 ( August 9, 1910, Zutphen - September 24, 1967, The Hague) was a highly educated Edward Dentinger Hoch ( February 22, 1930 &ndash January 17, 2008) was a prolific American writer of Detective fiction. The Problem of the Covered Bridge (1974 is a Mystery short story by Edward D "
Most of C. Daly King's 11 Trevis Tarrant stories, including The Episode of The Tangible Illusion, The Episode of the Nail and The Requiem, The Episode of The Torment VI and The Episode of the Absent Fish, in the volume "The Complete Curious Mr. Tarrant".
J. A. Konrath's With a Twist (2005)
Peter Lovesey's The Amorous Corpse
William March’s "The Bird House" (1954)
Larry Niven's Gil 'the ARM' Hamilton stories: Death by Ecstasy (1968), ARM (1975), and The Patchwork Girl (1980) (although it should be noted that, as these stories are science fiction, the methods of producing the locked-room mystery are not necessarily based on present-day science)
Surender Mohan Pathak's Dhamki" (The Threat)' and Kanoon ka Challenge" (The Challenge from the law) (Sunil Series)
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841)
Melville Davisson Post's "The Doomdorf Mystery" (1918)
Clayton Rawson's "From Another World" (1948) "Off the Face of the Earth", "Nothing Is Impossible" and others
Hal White's "Murder at an Island Mansion", "Murder from the Fourth Floor", "Murder on a Caribbean Cruise", "Murder at the Lord's Table", "Murder in a Sealed Loft", and "Murder at the Fall Festival"
Israel Zangwill's The Big Bow Mystery (1892)

French-language novels

Jean Alessandrini's La Quadrature de meurtre (2006)
Gaston Boca's L'Ombre sur le jardin (1933)
Pierre Boileau’s Le Repos de Bacchus (1938) and Six crimes sans assassin (1939) - which contains no less than 6 impossible murders
Boileau-Narcejac’s Les Magiciennes (1957) and L’Ingenieur Aimait Trop Les Chiffres (1959)
Gensoul, A. Joseph Andrew Konrath (born 1970 in Skokie Ill) is a fiction Writer working in the mystery, thriller, and horror genres Peter (Harmer Lovesey (born 1936 in Whitton Middlesex) is a British writer of historical and contemporary crime novels and short stories William March (born William Edward Campbell September 18 1893 – May 15 1954 was an American World War I veteran short-story writer and novelist cited Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938 Los Angeles California) is a US Science fiction author. Gilbert Gilgamesh Hamilton is a fictional character in the Known Space universe created by Larry Niven. Death by Ecstasy is a Novella in the Known Space universe by Larry Niven. ARM is a science fiction Novella by American author Larry Niven. The Patchwork Girl is a story in Known Space by Larry Niven. It is the fourth of five Gil Hamilton detective stories Surender Mohan Pathak (सुरेन्द्र मोहन पाठक ਸੁਰਿਂਦਰ ਮੋਹਨ ਪਾਠਕ (born 19 February Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, " The Murders in the Rue Morgue " is a Short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841 Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971 was an American mystery writer editor and amateur magician Israel Zangwill ( January 21, 1864 - August 1, 1926) was an English -born humourist and writer Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau ( Paris, 28 april 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989 and Pierre Ayraud, & Grenier, C. 's La Mort vient de nulle part (1945)
Paul Halter’s La Quatrieme Porte (1987); Le Cercle Invisible (1996); and Les Sept Merveilles du Crime (1997) in which Monsieur Halter baffles his readers with an astonishing 7 impossible crimes.
Herbert, M. & Wyl, E. 's La Maison interdite
Marcel Lanteaume's La Treizieme balle (1942) and Trompe l'oeil (1946)
Gaston Leroux’s The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1907)
Thomas Narcejac’s L’Assassin de Minuit (1945) and La Mort est du Voyage (1948)
Noel Vindry’s La Maison Qui Tue (1932), La Bete Hurlante (1934) and A Travers les Murailles (1937)

French-language short stories

Pierre Boileau's "La Main qui referma la porte" (1956)
Boileau-Narcejac's "Au Bois Dormant" (1956)
Paul Halter's The Night of the Wolf(2006) collection, three of which short stories: "The Call of the Lorelei," "The Tunnel of Death," "The Night of the Wolf," have been published in English in EQMM, together with a fourth: "The Robber's Grave" (2007)
Maurice Leblanc's Therese and Germaine (1922)

Japanese-language novels

NISIOISIN's Death Note: Another Note - The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases a. Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux ( 6 May, 1868, Paris France &ndash 15 April, 1927) was a French Journalist The Mystery of the Yellow Room Extraordinary Adventures of Joseph Rouletabille Reporter (in French Le mystère de la chambre jaune) is one of the first Locked Boileau-Narcejac is the name by which Pierre Boileau ( Paris, 28 april 1906 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer, 1989 and Pierre Ayraud, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine is a monthly Digest size fiction magazine specializing in Crime fiction, particularly Detective fiction. k. a. The L. A. Serial Locked Room Killings (2008)
Soji Shimada's The Tokyo Zodiac Murders (1981)
Akimitsu Takagi's The Tattoo Murder Case (1948)

For a detailed and comprehensive historical review of the field, together with descriptions of over 2000 novels and short stories featuring impossible crimes, consult Robert Adey’s exhaustive bibliography Locked Room Murders (1979 and 1991) which is the definitive work on the subgenre.

French-speaking readers may consult Chambres Closes, Crimes Impossibles(1997), edited by Soupart, Fooz and Bourgeois or, for a more detailed analysis of a more limited number of works, Roland Lacourbe’s 99 Chambres Closes.

Japanese-speaking enthusiasts may enjoy An Illustrated Guide to the Locked Room 1891-1998 (text by Alice Arisugawa and illustrations by Kazuichi Isoda) which contains summaries of 40 novels and short stories, 20 of which are Anglo-Saxon classics – the other 20 being Japanese classics from 1924 to the present day. A striking feature of the book is the double-page graphic explanation of each problem.

In early 2007 Roland Lacourbe formed a panel of like-minded enthusiasts to recommend a list of the best 99 novels to form the nucleus of a locked room library. The results can be found via the external link A Locked Room Library.

Radio, television and film

In the 1940s and '50s John Dickson Carr wrote a series of radio plays for the BBC’s Appointment with Fear, and subsequently for CBS’ Suspense series. John Dickson Carr ( November 30, 1906 &ndash February 27, 1977) was an American Author of Detective stories CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. Recordings of these plays are readily available on CD and the transcripts of many can be found in two collections: The Door to Doom and The Dead Sleep Lightly, both edited by Douglas G. Greene.
Blacke's Magic featured a magician who used his skills to solve seemingly magical events. Blacke's Magic was a short-lived American TV show about a magician, Alexander Blacke (played by Hal Linden) who with some help from his con-man father
Jonathan Creek, not a magician himself but a designer of magic tricks, featured in a BBC UK television series in which almost every episode featured an impossible crime. Jonathan Creek is a British mystery Television series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick.
Banacek was an American television series about an investigator specializing in locked-room thefts and other seemingly impossible mysteries. This article is about a TV series For the mentalist/entertainer see Banachek.
The TV series Monk (starring Tony Shalhoub) featured several locked room puzzles. Monk is an American Dramedy series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the title character Anthony Marcus “Tony” Shalhoub (born October 9, 1953) is an American Television, Theater and Film Actor.
The most recent television-based incarnation of Ellery Queen contained a number of locked room puzzles and impossible crimes (including The Adventure of Caesar's Last Sleep). Ellery Queen was an American Television mystery series that ran for one season from 1975 to 1976 on NBC.
Other television series have contained locked-room episodes:
- Murder, She Wrote: episode entitled "We're Off to Kill the Wizard"
- CSI: season 3 episode 13, "Random Acts of Violence", season 7 episode 16, "Monster in a Box",
- Psych: episode entitled "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece"). Murder She Wrote is a television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. CSI Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama Television series that trails the investigations of a team of Las Vegas Psych is an American Comedy-drama Television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network.
- Dalziel and Pascoe: episode entitled "Houdini's Ghost". Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel (usually known as Andy) and Detective Sergeant (later Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe, known together as
- Remington Steele: episode entitled "Now You Steele It, Now You Don't". Remington Steele is an American television series produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982
- Columbo: episode entitled "Columbo Goes to the Guillotine".
The movies Flightplan and Fracture both contain variations on the locked room mystery. Flightplan is a 2005 Thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Fracture is a 2007 legal / crime Suspense film from both New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment, directed In the former, a child disappears from an airplane in the middle of a flight; in the latter, the killer manages to make the murder weapon disappear despite his house being entirely surrounded by police.
Ayatsuri Sakon is an Japanese anime series about Tachibana Sakon, a student and a traditional bunraku performer (a style of traditional Japanese theatre employing very detailed life-sized puppets). (anime in Japanese, In his spare time, though, he is an amateur sleuth. And his partner in his investigations is his red-haired, loud-mouthed puppet, Ukon. Together they run into locked room murders and solve them.
Tantei Gakuen Q/Detective Academy Q is the story of a group of young students from Class Q of Dan Detective School (DDS), a prestigious and renowned detective academy founded by Morihiko Dan, the most famous detective in Japan, and the adventures and mysteries they unfold and solve together. is a Manga series written by Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by Fumiya Satō, originally serialized in Kodansha 's Weekly Shōnen Magazine between is a Manga series written by Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by Fumiya Satō, originally serialized in Kodansha 's Weekly Shōnen Magazine between Almost every case has a locked room mystery or other type of impossible crime. (episodes 33 and 34 are an homage to John Dickson Carr and two of his Carter Dickson novels are mentioned. )
Narumi Ayumu solves a locked room mystery in the second episode of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning.

Pulp magazines

The pulp magazines in the 1930’s often contained impossible crime tales, dubbed weird menace, in which a series of supernatural or science-fictional looking events is eventually explained rationally. Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines Weird menace is the name given to a sub- Genre of Horror fiction that was popular in the Pulp magazines of the 1940s and 1950s Notable practitioners of the period were Fredric Brown, Paul Chadwick and, to a certain extent, Cornell Woolrich, although these writers tended to avoid the private eyes that many readers today associate with pulp fiction. Fredric Brown ( October 29, 1906, Cincinnati &ndash March 11, 1972) was an American Science fiction and Paul Chadwick was a Pulp magazine author who wrote many stories under his own name and various Pseudonyms As was the case with many prolific contributors to the pulps Cornell George Hopley-Woolrich ( December 4, 1903 — September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer For further information on the subject, consult Mike Grost’s Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection.

Comic books/graphic novels

Quite a few comic book impossible crimes seem to draw on the ‘weird menace’ tradition of the pulps. However, celebrated writers such as G. K. Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, Clayton Rawson and Sax Rohmer have had their works adapted to comic book form. Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936 was an influential English writer of the early 20th century Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930 was an Anglo-Scottish Author most noted for his stories about the Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971 was an American mystery writer editor and amateur magician Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward ( 15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959) better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English Novelist In 1934, Dashiell Hammett created the comic strip Secret Agent X9, illustrated by Alex Raymond, which contained a locked-room episode, albeit a rather feeble one. Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( May 27, 1894 — January 10, 1961) was an American Author of Hardboiled detective Alexander Gillespie Raymond ( October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American Comic strip artist best known for creating the One American comic book that made good use of locked room mysteries is Mike W. Barr's Maze Agency. The Maze Agency is an American mystery comic book series created by Mike W

French-speaking culture has long respected the comic book as a form of art in its own right, and it should come as no surprise that there are many comic books which feature impossible crimes. No less a figure than Tintin himself has tackled a locked-room mystery in Le Sceptre d’Ottokar. Tintin and Snowy (original French language names Tintin et Milou) a journalist and his canine companion are a pair of adventurers who travel around the The many adventures of the journalist Ric Hochet are replete with impossible crimes, for example: L’Assassin Fantome, Les Spectres de la Nuit, and La Nuit des Vampires.

Manga also has its locked-room adherents, such as the series Detective Conan written by Gosho Aoyama, which appears in English as Case Closed; notable locked-room issues are #3, #6, #7. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly Case Closed, known as in Japan and most other countries is a detective Manga and Anime series written and illustrated by born on June 21, 1963 in Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, Japan (formerly Daiei, Tottori Prefecture is a Japanese manga artist Case Closed, known as in Japan and most other countries is a detective Manga and Anime series written and illustrated by A similar series, Kindaichi Case Files, features a locked room mystery in almost every story. is a serialized Japanese mystery Manga series based on the crime solving adventures of a high school student Hajime Kindaichi the supposed grandson of the famous Many of these are original, ingenious and meticulously explained; early examples are The Opera House Murders, Death TV and Smoke and Mirrors.

True crimes

Alfred Russel Wallace described events occurring in the Baltic in 1844: "During the disturbances at the Cemetery of Ahrensburg in the island of Oesel, where coffins were overturned in locked vaults, and the case was investigated by an official commission, the horses of country people visiting the cemetery were often so alarmed and excited that they became covered with sweat and foam. Alfred Russel Wallace OM, FRS (8 January 1823 &ndash 7 November 1913 was an British naturalist, Explorer, Geographer Saaremaa is the largest Island belonging to Estonia, measuring 2673 km². Sometimes they threw themselves on the ground where they struggled in apparent agony, and, notwithstanding the immediate resort to remedial measures, several died within a day or two. In this case, as in so many others, although the commission made a most rigid investigation and applied the strictest tests, no natural cause for the disturbances was ever discovered. "^[1]
George Colvocoresses, captain of the USS Saratoga during the American Civil War was, according to his biography, mysteriously murdered in Bridgeport, Connecticut on June 3, 1872 while on his way to New York. George Musalas "Colvos" Colvocoresses ( October 22, 1816 - June 3, 1872) was a United States Navy officer who commanded the See also USS Nightingale (1851 Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South According to his great-great-granddaughter, however, his insurers later alleged that his death was a suicide, as the bullet wound he suffered was conveyed at close range through his heart, without the bullet penetrating his outer garments. It remains unexplained why, if this were the case, he would choose the busiest time of day on a busy street, nor why his shirt remained tucked in his trousers after death. ^[2]
Herr Konrad was a merchant in Berlin in the 1880s. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. His wife and five children were found dead in their cellar. The ponderous cellar door had no keyhole or any space around the molding, and was securely bolted on the inside. There was not the slightest aperture anywhere and the door fitted so tightly around the frame that a piece of paper could not have been passed through any crevice. However, the examining magistrate, using a powerful lens, eventually found a barely discernible hole just above the bolt on the inside of the door. There was no corresponding hole on the outside, but he found a small spot where the paint seemed fresher. Inserting a heated hatpin through the hole on the inside, he pushed out a hole in the exact centre of the painted spot. A piece of horsehair and a slight film of wax were found attached to the hatpin. Konrad had bored a tiny hole through the door above the bolt, looped a piece of horsehair over the bolt's knob, and slipped the two ends through the hole. By pulling upwards on the bolt-knob until the horsehair loop was disengaged, he was able to withdraw the horsehair through the hole, which he then filled up with wax and painted over. Konrad was executed; it was said he got the idea from a mystery novel. (K. Bernstein, "Der Merkwürdige Fall Konrad. ") The murderer in Edgar Wallace's The Clue of the New Pin uses Konrad's technique.
In 1898, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria-Hungary, was on the quay at Lake Geneva awaiting the steam ferry to Montreux when, without warning or apparent motive, the anarchist Luigi Lucheni plunged a needle file into her heart. Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie ( 24 December, 1837 &ndash 10 September, 1898) of the House of Wittelsbach, was the Empress Lake Geneva or Lake Léman (Lac Léman Léman Lac de Genève is the second largest freshwater Lake in Central Europe in terms of surface area (after Luigi Lucheni ( April 22, 1873 – October 19, 1910) was an Italian Anarchist who assassinated the Austrian Because of the very thin nature of the wound, the Empress did not realise that she had been fatally injured and walked unaided to her cabin, where she collapsed and soon died. It is not known whether she locked the cabin door behind her - which would have created the appearance of a locked room murder. At least one prominent French locked room expert, Roland Lacourbe, believes that this notorious event was the inspiration for Gaston Leroux's The Mystery of the Yellow Room and it also bears an unmistakable resemblance to the central crime in Maurice Leblanc's Therese and Germaine. Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux ( 6 May, 1868, Paris France &ndash 15 April, 1927) was a French Journalist The Mystery of the Yellow Room Extraordinary Adventures of Joseph Rouletabille Reporter (in French Le mystère de la chambre jaune) is one of the first Locked In Georgette Heyer's Envious Casca, the villain took his inspiration directly from an account of Empress Elizabeth's death.
According to a report in the The New York Times, March 10 and 11, 1929, Isidore Fink, of 4 East 132nd Street, New York City, was in his Fifth Avenue Laundry on the night of March 9, 1929 with the windows closed and door of the room bolted. The City of New York A neighbor heard screams and the sound of blows (but no shots) and called the police who were unable to get in. A young boy was lifted through the transom and was able to unbolt the door. On the floor lay Fink with two bullet wounds in his chest and one in his left wrist, which was powder-marked. He was dead. There was money in his pockets, and the cash register had not been touched. No weapon was found. The man had died instantly, or almost instantly. There was a theory that the murderer had crawled through the transom. But to do so he would have had to be no bigger than a small boy and would have had to leave the same way, as the door was bolted. Another theory had the murderer firing through the transom, but Fink's wrist was powder-burned, indicating that he had not been fired at from a distance. More than two years later, Police Commissioner Mulrooney, in a radio-talk, called this murder, in a closed room, an "insoluble mystery. " The crime was said to have inspired William March’s "The Bird House" and Ben Hecht's "The Mystery of the Fabulous Laundryman. "
On the 16th of May 1937, Laetitia Toureaux was found stabbed to death in an otherwise empty 1st class compartment of the Paris Metro. The subway train had left the terminus, Porte de Charenton, at 6:27 p. m. and had arrived at the next station, Porte Dorée, at 6:28 p. m. Witnesses at both stations swore nobody was seen getting in or out of the compartment, and witnesses in both adjacent compartments swore that nobody had tried to enter the one where Mlle. Toureaux's body was found. The murderer had one minute and twenty seconds at his disposal. Neither the method nor the murderer was ever discovered. ^[3]

External links

References

^ Wallace, Alfred Russell; Alfred Russell Wallace. "Are There Objective Apparitions?", Arena, 1891, pp. 129-146. Retrieved on 2008-03-03. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1284 - Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England 1575 - Indian (English)
^ Caspole, Dave (2004), NU grad's family traces roots to school's founder, <http://www.norwich.edu/about/news/2004/legacy.html>. Retrieved on 3 March 2008
^ Finley-Croswhite, Annette & Brunelle, Gayle K. (2006), Murder in the Metro, <http://www.odu.edu/ao/instadv/quest/metromurder.html>. Retrieved on 3 March 2008

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