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The police have three suspects for the number of Mr. Boddy: Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, and Mr. Green. Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, and Green each declare that they did not kill Boddy. Mustard also states that he did not know Boddy and that he was out of town the day Boddy was killed. Green also states that he saw both Plum and Mustard with Boddy the day of the killing and that either Plum or Mustard must have killed him.

Assume one of the three men is guilty and that innocent men do not lie. The statements of the guilty man may or may not be true. Determine who killed Mr. Boddy and prove it.

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    Are you cheating in a game of Clue? – Asaf Karagila Sep 10 '13 at 21:04
  • @Asaf lol not quite. –  Sep 10 '13 at 21:25
  • Is this the precise specification of the problem? These puzzles can hinge on surprisingly narrow details; please make sure you've provided the statements exactly as they were given (to you). – Steven Stadnicki Sep 10 '13 at 21:49
  • The only thing I can see is that Mustard states he did not know him and he not around the day he was killed. Unless he was told the day he was killed (which is not mentioned in the OP), he couldn't have known this. – RghtHndSd Sep 10 '13 at 22:12
  • @StevenStadnicki Based on question http://math.stackexchange.com/q/180237/11994, I presume the following needs to be added: "Plum also states that Boddy was a friend of Mustard and that Green disliked him." – MarnixKlooster ReinstateMonica Dec 30 '13 at 09:41

1 Answers1

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Since Green contradicts Mustard, one is lying and Plum is innocent. But I don't see any way to distinguish between Green and Mustard.

Ross Millikan
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  • Well, we can actually have multiple murderers by the assumption that innocent men do not lie. –  Sep 17 '13 at 20:44