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Detective riddle

An astronomer was found dead under his observatory dome. The telescope was pointed directly at the daytime sky. A notepad on his desk contained a single scrambled entry: 'The star blinked at noon.' Detective Sterling sighed, knowing the astronomer had suffered a fatal medical emergency, but the notepad revealed a glaring error in the astronomer's final observation. What was the error?

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.

More detective riddles

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The victim's watch was found smashed in the hallway, reading 3:45. The coroner established time of death as midnight. Detective Cole knew the killer smashed the watch intentionally to mislead investigators, but what specific detail about the watch's internal gears proved it was stopped manually hours before midnight?

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