A man is found dead in his apartment with a gunshot wound to the chest and a cassette recorder in his hand. Detective Vance presses play on the recorder. It says, 'I can't take this anymore,' followed by the sound of a gunshot, then a loud thud. Vance turns to his partner and says, 'This is a homicide, not a suicide.' How did he know?
He couldn't rewind the tape
If the man shot himself, he would have had to press record, leave the device running while he walked away, shot himself, and somehow the device stopped. Wait, if he shot himself, who pressed stop? Or more importantly, if the gunshot is on the tape, how did the dead man rewind the tape to the beginning before pressing play? A dead man cannot rewind a cassette tape to the start.
About this riddle
Detective riddles are tiny mysteries. Look for the detail in the story that does not fit; it is usually the clue that solves the case.
Difficulty: Medium. More like this: Detective riddles with answers or try Truth & Lie Island for a different kind of puzzle.
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