Monday Mystery: Hot Cash

Charred building

Note: Last time Hugh chose a medium mystery.

The Case:

Inside the charred remains of an old, dilapidated boarding house is a grisly sight. The burned bodies of three elderly men and one middle-aged man are in the parlor. The middle-aged man has a bullet hole in his head, but none of the other bodies show any apparent sign of foul play.

The Mystery:

Who was the middle-aged man and why was he killed? And what role did the other three men play in the story?

The Solution:

Jake ran a boarding house. One day, his oldest tenant died just as he was signing his two retirement checks. After Jake cashed the man’s checks, a brilliant scheme popped into his head. He would put the old man’s body in his freezer and continue to pretend he was alive, forging his name to cash his checks every month. If investigated, Jake could thaw out the body and say the old man had recently died.

Before long, Jake was doing this for three deceased tenants, all of whom had died of natural causes and were preserved in the basement freezer. Then disaster struck. The son of one of the old men arrived on the scene. When the middle-aged man insisted on seeing his father, Jake panicked and shot him. His scam was over.

Hoping to hide his crime, Jake placed the three frozen corpses in the parlor with the man he had just shot. Then he set the whole place on fire, counting on the fire to thaw out the bodies.

Hint #1: The boarding house had a freezer in the basement.
Hint #2: 26.08.2020

Note:

You’re free to ask anything, (please keep it to one question a post for simplicity’s sake,) but Jurd can only answer your questions with:

  • Yes
  • No
  • Yes and No
  • Irrelevant
  • I don’t know
  • Rephrase your question
  • Define what you mean by…

Disclaimer: Monday Mysteries are culled from the 1993 Milton Bradley game, Crack the Case – but don’t go peeking.

Skinner Co. makes no claim to the intellectual property presented here, we’re just a number of friends playing a board game in a digital living room.

44 Comments

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44 Responses to Monday Mystery: Hot Cash

  1. Jay

    Did the three elderly men die due to the fire?

  2. Jay Langejans

    Was Arson used to cover up a crime?

  3. Ed Murphy

    Was the middle-aged man in the parlor when he was shot?

  4. Ed Murphy

    Is it a funeral parlor?

  5. Jake

    Was the gun found?

  6. Jay Langejans

    Did the dead guy in the parlor start the fire before his death?

  7. Jeffrey

    Was the dead guy in the parlor a zombie? It would explain the head shot….

  8. Colorado Joe

    Were the old dudes murdered?

  9. Colorado Joe

    Did the old dudes die of natural causes?

  10. Colorado Joe

    Were the old dudes originally in the freezer in the basement?

  11. Colorado Linda

    Was the middle aged man a resident of the the home?

  12. Colorado Linda

    Were the three older men residents of the home?

  13. Colorado Linda

    Did the middle aged man shoot himself in the head?

  14. Colorado Linda

    Did the middle age man own the home?

  15. Jake

    Did the shot come from outside the house?

  16. Jake

    Did one of the old men have access to a secret treasure?

  17. Ed Murphy

    Did the old men live there before they died?

  18. Colorado Joe

    Was the middle aged man the proprietor of the boarding house?

  19. Colorado Joe

    Was the middle aged man related to any of the old dudes?

  20. Colorado Joe

    Was the middle aged man killed by the proprietor of the boarding house?

  21. Colorado Joe

    Aiming for the stands here…

    The middle aged man was the son of one of the gentleman living in the boarding house. They had not had contact in a while, so he decided to check up on him. Arriving at the boarding house, he was told by the proprietor that his father no longer lived there and left no forwarding address.

    The son didn’t buy this and returned while the proprietor was out. His search uncovered three dead bodies in the basement freezer and one was his father. He surmised the proprietor had hidden the men without reporting their deaths so he could spend their pension checks.

    Unfortunately, he was caught when the proprietor came back and unwilling to have his scam uncovered, he killed the son and then staged the fire.

  22. John Langejans

    Good job Joe!

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