RAY: I'd like to give you this Puzzler in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There had been a terrible accident in a suburb north of London, and Inspector LeStrade had been sent to investigate. Sir Richard Ashcroft was dead, and everyone agreed that it was an accident--although some suspected it was a suicide.
Sir Richard had been found on a rocky slope, his head dashed against one of the boulders and his mangled bicycle at his side. The facts seemed to speak for themselves.
He had lost control of his bike and had crashed. There had been no eyewitnesses, but finally an eyewitness emerged: Nigel--Sir Richard's trusted gardener of many years.
Haltingly, he told his story: "I was walking back from town up that long hill leading to Sir Richard's estate when I saw him riding toward me, sitting straight up in his seat the way he always rode. He was traveling at a high rate of speed. Suddenly, he jerked the handlebars to the left, and off the road he flew to his death.
Later that day, LeStrade is discussing the points of the case with his buddy, Sherlock Holmes, over cognac and a few Arturo Fuentes cigars. Holmes says, "Bring the gardener in for questioning. He's the perpetrator."
How DID Holmes know?[ Car Talk Puzzler ]
