The Unseen Suspect - Can you solve it?

2. The Unseen Suspect

2. Acting on an anonymous phone call, the police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer. They don't know what he looks like but they know his name is John and that he is inside the house. The police bust in on a carpenter, a lorry driver, a mechanic and a fireman all playing poker. Without hesitation or communication of any kind, they immediately arrest the fireman. How do they know they've got their man?

Added 1 January 2007

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Hint: The police only know two things, that the criminal's name is John and that he is in a particular house.

Solution: The fireman is the only man in the room. The rest of the poker players are women.

Comments (2)

Anonymous 5 December 2013

Your puzzle suggests you don't understand English. Having 'man' at the end of a word does not signify 'male'. A woman can be the chairman of an organisation. Hence, it implies that the fireman could also be a woman.

Comments 7 November 2015

The lateral thinking question where the police raid a house for a man named john. They don't know what he looks like but they find a carpenter, mechanic, lorry driver, and a firefighter. They immediately arrest the fireman. While I agree with your answer that the carpenter, mechanic, and driver were women. Normally a carpenter, driver, and mechanic have some sort of name badge on the uniform whereas a fireman does not.

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