At midnight, a museum painting was slashed. The night watchman claimed he heard a noise in the gallery, rushed in, and found footprints leading straight from the slashed painting to the open window. Detective Cole looked at the footprints on the dusty floor and immediately arrested the watchman for staging the crime. Why?
The footprints only led away from the painting toward the window, with no matching set leading back to it.
If someone walked up to the painting to slash it and then escaped out the window, there would have to be a set of footprints walking *to* the painting as well. Since there was only one set going away, the watchman made them himself by walking backward from the window.
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: Easy. More like this: Detective riddles with answers or try Truth & Lie Island for a different kind of puzzle.
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