100 Best Detective Riddles for Those into Solving Mysteries
Who doesn’t consider themselves detectives when they decipher a few detective riddles? All of us, actually.
Although most of us belong from different fields around the world, we all share a little passion for detective-like skills.
So, either you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes or Jonathan Creek, you still have a long way to go before you compare yourself to one, just because you have cracked two or three detective riddles.
This blog has got various detective riddles with answers that will awaken your inner detective and force you to think critically as you try to figure out who the offender is in each instance.
So, to determine if you have what it takes to be a true detective, put your mind to the test with these amazing detective riddles, as these puzzles are the perfect match for you!
You May Also Be Interested In:
Table of Contents
Best Detective Riddles
Are you looking for a brain-stimulating activity to kill your boredom? If this is so, then you have landed at the appropriate place because this page has covered several best detective riddles to idle away time. Solve these mystery riddles and shift your mind to work mode.
1. Christanio Ronaldo is a strange liar. He lies on six days of the week, but on the seventh day he always tells the truth. He made the following statements on three successive days: Day 1: ‘I lie on Monday and Tuesday.’ Day 2: ‘Today, it’s Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday.’ Day 3: ‘I lie on Wednesday and Friday.’ On which day does Christanio Ronaldo tell the truth?
Answer: Tuesday. We know that Christanio Ronaldo tells the truth on only a single day of the week. If the statement on day 1 is untrue, this means that he tells the truth on Monday or Tuesday. If the statement on day 3 is untrue, this means that he tells the truth on Wednesday or Friday. Since Christanio Ronaldo tells the truth on only one day, these statements cannot both be untrue. So, exactly one of these statements must be true, and the statement on day 2 must be untrue. Assume that the statement on day 1 is true. Then the statement on day 3 must be untrue, from which follows that Christanio Ronaldo tells the truth on Wednesday or Friday. So, day 1 is a Wednesday or a Friday. Therefore, day 2 is a Thursday or a Saturday. However, this would imply that the statement on day 2 is true, which is impossible. From this we can conclude that the statement on day 1 must be untrue. This means that Christanio Ronaldo told the truth on day 3 and that this day is a Monday or a Tuesday. So day 2 is a Sunday or a Monday. Because the statement on day 2 must be untrue, we can conclude that day 2 is a Monday. So day 3 is a Tuesday. Therefore, the day on which Christanio Ronaldo tells the truth is Tuesday.
2. A detective was only given one chance to live. He could live on the condition that he managed to open a chest. To open the chest, there was a golden key, a bronze key, or a silver key, and a note that spelled TGKHOEELYDEN. Only one key would work and the detective was only given one attempt. How did he live?
Answer: He deciphered the note, which when rearranged spells out ‘the golden key’, and attained his freedom.
3. Mason took some time off from his job to go on an expedition in Antarctica. His boss was okay with it as long as he was sending him pictures every day as proof. Mason would send photos daily, but when he returned to the office, his boss fired him. How did the boss know from Mason’s pictures that he wasn’t actually in Antarctica?
Answer: Mason photoshopped the pictures but forgot to erase the palm tree leaves.
4. A bank was robbed during a fire. A guard said he wanted to save a bag of money, but before the emergency exit he crouched down to tie his shoe. Then the door opened and hit him on the head. When he woke up, the money disappeared. Why was the guard arrested?
Answer: Because, guard was the part of the robbery. Emergency doors open from inside to outside. So how can a door hit him as he was inside the building.
5. Matt wants to enter into a private club but the entry requires a password he doesn’t know. So, he waits nearby and listens to the all conversations happening around him. As a club member comes to the door, the security officer says, “Twelve”. She replies, “Six” and gets in. Another member comes to the door. The security officer says, “Six” and the man replies, “Three” and gets in. Matt thinks that he understands the pattern and walks up to the door. The security officer says, “Ten” and Matt replies, “Five” but the security guard doesn’t let him in. What’s the password?
Answer: Matt was supposed to say the number of letters in the word told to him by the security guard. The word “twelve” has six letters, the word “six” has three. “Ten” has three letters, so the password would have been “Three”.
6. A woman was found dead at the bottom of a 5-story building. There is a suicide note which says she committed suicide by jumping from a window on one of the floors of the building. When the detective arrived, he went to the first floor, opened the window and tossed a coin towards the floor. He repeats this on all the floors of the building. He comes down and tells the police that the woman was murdered. How does the detective know?
Answer: The windows were all closed. He opened the windows to toss the coin.
7. A man told a story about how he was awarded a medal for ‘Bravery during World War 1’. Why is this a lie?
Answer: They didn’t know there was going to be a World War 2 at the time, so they wouldn’t have said World War 1.
8. There are two glasses in front of you. One of the glasses is full of coke and the other glass is full of lemonade. You take a spoonful of coke and mix it into the glass of lemonade. Now the lemonade glass has a mixture of coke and lemonade. You take a spoonful of that mixture and mix it inside the coke glass. Now what do you think? – The glass with coke has more quantity of lemonade or the glass with lemonade have more quantity of coke mixed with it?
Answer: Be it any quantity that was present in the beginning and any liquid as well. We know that we have taken a spoonful from one glass and put it into another. Then, we have taken a spoonful from the other glass and put it into the first glass. So, at the end of it, the quantity of liquid in either glass remains same as it was in the beginning. Therefore, we can conclude the fact that any amount of coke that is missing in the glass with coke will be present in the lemonade glass. Also, the same quantity of lemonade will be missing from the lemonade glass and will be present in the coke glass.
9. A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says ‘Thank you’ and walks out.
Answer: The man had hiccups. The barman recognized this from his speech and drew the gun in order to give him a shock. It worked and cured the hiccups – so the man no longer needed the water.
10. A man hijacks an aeroplane transporting both passengers (8 of them) and valuable cargo. After taking the cargo, the man demands nine parachutes, puts one of them on, and jumps, leaving the other eight behind. Why did he want eight?
Answer: If the officials thought he was jumping with a hostage, they would never risk giving him a faulty parachute.
Funny Detective Riddles
Puzzles, brainteasers, or scenario riddles do not necessarily have to be serious and hard when it comes to mysteries. Here are a few funny detective riddles; you will surely enjoy cracking them.
1. Two chickens were found dead on the farm. What does the detective suspect?
Answer: Fowl play.
2. There’s a one-story house where everything is yellow: The walls are yellow; the doors are yellow; even all the furniture is yellow; the house has yellow beds and yellow couches—so what color are the stairs?
Answer: There aren’t any stairs—it’s a one-story house.
3. Little Jimmy is Seven years old. I go everywhere with him. I cast no shadow and breathe no air. I don’t weigh anything and I can’t be seen, heard or touched. Who am I?
Answer: Little Jimmy’s imaginary friend.
4. A widow received a phone call from a stranger saying that her recently deceased husband owed the caller thousands of dollars in unpaid bills for photographs of naked women and if she didn’t pay him the money he would go to the newspapers and expose her dead husband to shame. The widow immediately told the caller that she wouldn’t pay him the money as she knew he was lying. Why was the widow so confident that the man was trying to extort money and was a liar?
Answer: Her deceased husband had been blind from birth and so wouldn’t have ordered pictures of naked women.
5. A boy Was Born In 1955 he just had his 18th birth day today how did that happen?
Answer: The answer for the one above is simple: He was born in room 1955 Sometimes things aren’t what they seem.
6. Jimmy’s mother had three children. The first was called April, the second was called May. What was the name of the third?
Answer: Jimmy.
7. You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you don’t see a single person on the boat. Why?
Answer: All the persons in the boat are married.
8. A monkey, a squirrel, and a bird are racing to the top of a coconut tree. Who will get the banana first, the monkey, the squirrel, or the bird?
Answer: None of them, because you can’t get a banana from a coconut tree.
9. Two Americans are standing on a bridge, one is the father of the other ones son. What is the relation between them?
Answer: They are husband and wife.
10. You are in a room with 3 monkeys. One monkey has a banana, one has a stick, and one has nothing. Who is the smartest primate?
Answer: You.
Detective Riddles with Answers
We all can solve multiple riddles, yet we cannot judge our detective-like skills until we know the correct answers. Thus, today we have brought an amazing list of detective riddles with answers to help you out.
1. Jerry was killed by someone who used a sharp item; his friends said they couldn’t have killed him because they only had a water bottle, a music player, and some papers in their possession. How did the detective know they were lying?
Answer: One of the friends put a broken piece of ice in the water bottle, which melted after they had killed him.
2. A woman named Cathy goes to the police claiming that someone broke into her house and stole her diamond bracelet while she was at work. The policemen investigate the crime scene and notice that the bedroom window is broken. There are muddy footprints all across the bedroom floor. However, the room is otherwise neat and organized. The following day, Cathy is arrested for fraud. Can you figure out why?
Answer: Cathy was convicted of fraud because the bedroom window was broken from the inside. If somebody had broken in from the outside, there would have been glass pieces on the bedroom floor. Also, the room was perfectly tidy, which means the so-called thief didn’t search for items and knew exactly where the bracelet was.
3. While at her own mother’s funeral, a woman meets a guy she doesn’t know. She thinks this guy is amazing. In fact he is her dream man and she’s pretty sure he could be the love of her life. However, she never asked for his name or number and afterwards could not find anyone who knew who he was. A few days later, the girl kills her own sister. Why did she do it?
Answer: She figured since the man was at her mother’s funeral that he was a friend of the family and she hopes that he will show up again at her sister’s funeral.
4. A Japanese ship was sailing in the Ocean. The captain of the ship went for a bath. He removed his ring and kept it on the table near the engine. When he returned, he found his ring missing. The captain called all three crew members who were working around at that time. He asked them what they were doing during the last 20 minutes. The 1st crew member said, “I was checking the navigation. The 2nd crew member said, “I was intimating the people about our arrival. The 3rd crew member said, “I was correcting the side of the flag as it was upside down.” The captain caught the crew member who was lying. How?
Answer: The 3rd crew member was lying because the Japanese flag is the same from both sides.
5. A man and his wife are driving in a car, but it breaks down. He gets out but makes sure that the windows are up and the doors are locked. When he comes back to his car, his wife is dead, there’s blood on the floor, and there is a stranger in the car. What happened?
Answer: His wife was pregnant and died giving birth while he was away from the car.
6. A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, “twelve.” The member replied, “six ” and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, “six.” The member replied, “three” and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said, “ten” and the man replied, “five.” But he was not let in. What should have he said?
Answer: Three. The doorman lets in those who answer with the number of letters in the word the doorman says.
7. One day a man received a parcel in the post. Carefully packed inside was a human arm. He examined it, repacked it and then sent it on to another man. The second man also carefully examined the arm before taking it to the woods and burying it. Why did they do this?
Answer: The three men had been stranded on a desert island. Desperate for food, they had agreed to amputate their left arms in order to eat them. They swore an oath that each would have his left arm cut off. One of them was a doctor and he cut the arms off his two companions. They were then rescued. But his oath was still binding so he later had to have his arm amputated and sent to his colleagues.
8. Four golfers named Mr. Black, Mr. White, Mr. Brown and Mr. Blue were competing in a tournament. The caddy didn’t know their names, so he asked them. One of them, Mr. Brown, told a lie. The 1st golfer said “The 2nd Golfer is Mr. Black. “The 2nd golfer said “I am not Mr. Blue!” The 3rd golfer said “Mr. White? That’s the 4th golfer.” And the 4th golfer remained silent. Which one of the golfers is Mr. Blue?
Answer: The 3rd one.
9. A detective working on an international oil smuggling case disappears. His case notes list three suspects and a code: Bill, John, Terry 710 57735 34 5508 51 7718. Can you break the code and find the suspect’s name?
Answer: BILL IS THE SUSPECT. READ THE CODE UPSIDE DOWN: 8ILL IS 80SS” HE SELLS OIL. (BILL IS BOSS. HE SELLS OIL).
10. There was a man who was born before his father, killed his mother, and married his sister. Yet, there was nothing wrong with what he had done. Why?
Answer: His father was in front of him when he was born, therefore he was born before him. His mother died while giving birth to him. Finally, he grew up to be a minister and married his sister at her ceremony.
Short Detective Riddles
Murder Mystery Riddles are circumstances in which you or a detective must figure out not only whether or not a crime was committed but also who committed it. Begin with the short detective riddles with answers jotted down below, and don’t peek into the answers until you reach the final decision.
1. There is uniqueness between these five names, Nell Edna swati itaws and Ellen. What uniqueness am I talking about?
Answer: Either your read from start or from ends, it will be same.
2. Five girls were seen struggling while trying to get under the same small umbrella and yet, all five of them managed to remain dry completely? How can it be true?
Answer: It can surely be true because it is not mentioned that it was raining.
3. The day before two days after the day before tomorrow is Saturday. What day is it today?
Answer: Friday.
4. Four cars come to a four way stop, all coming from a different direction. They can’t decide who got there first, so they all entered the intersection at the same time. They do not crash into each other. How is this possible?
Answer: They all made right hand turns.
5. Peter Drinks more water in January than in February but the same amount of water in August as in January. Why?
Answer: There are more days in January than February and the same amount of days in January and August.
6. Lily is a lily pad in a small pond. Lily doubles her size each day. On the 20th day, she covers the whole pond. On what day was Lily half the size of the pond?
Answer: Day 19, it’s not 10 because on day 20 she doubled from day 19, so 19 must be half the size of the pond.
7. A famous killer told the police that he plans to kill someone in the one place you can’t see the Eiffel Tower from in Paris. How did the police catch the killer?
Answer: The police caught him inside the Eiffel Tower.
8. How much dirt is in a hole that measures four feet by four feet by five feet?
Answer: None.
9. Alexis was born on December 31st but always celebrates her birthday in the summer. Why?
Answer: She lives in the Southern Hemisphere.
10. When I was going to my local shop I saw a man and his wife and their two children. How many people were going to the shop?
Answer: Only 1 person was going to the shop, me.
Tricky Detective Riddles
Oh, so you think you are just so smart as youhave responded to all the above questions correctly? Well, then we dare you to solve the given tricky detective riddles because these will definitely leave you stumped.
1. A man who crossed the border daily on a motorbike with two bags of sand was said to be smuggling goods, but when the detective checked his bags, he found nothing. Why did the police arrest him?
Answer: He was transporting stolen motorbikes.
2. A man came to the police and said that he got robbed. A police officer asked him to describe exactly what happened. The man explained, “I was on my way to the bank and I had $100,000 in my briefcase. Suddenly, a man wearing black clothes, a mask and gloves attacked me, grabbed the briefcase and ran away.” The police officer noticed a fresh cut on the man’s face and asked if it was a result of the attack. The man answered, “Yes, the attacker was wearing a silver ring on his left hand.” The police officer immediately knew that the man was lying. How did the police officer know the man wasn’t telling the truth?
Answer: The “victim” said that the attacker was wearing black gloves, therefore he wouldn’t have known if he had a ring.
3. At the crime scene, the police found a CD recorder and a gun in the dead man’s hand. After playing the CD, they heard the man’s voice saying, “I have committed suicide and, no one is responsible for that”, and there was the sound of a gunshot. After listening to the audio, the police were sure that this is a murder and not a suicide. How?
Answer: A dead man cannot rewind the recorder to play from the start.
4. On the first day of school, the history teacher is found dead in his classroom. There were four suspects, but they all had alibis – the gardener said he was mowing the lawn, the soccer coach said she was doing practice drills with the first years, the math teacher said she was holding mid-year tests, and the principal said she was meeting with two parents. Immediately the math teacher is arrested. Why?
Answer: It was the first day of school – so there couldn’t have been any mid-year tests.
5. You need to divide 50 marbles (25-red and 25-blue) into two boxes such that the probability of picking red marble is maximized. Following conditions need to hold true: 1. None of box is empty. 2. All the marbles must be in one of two boxes.
Answer: Put one red marble in one box and all other marbles in the 2nd box. Probability :50 + 24/49.
6. There are two fathers and two sons. They walk into a candy store and each buys a candy bar for 50 cents. The total for all of the candy bars was $1.50. How is that possible?
Answer: There was a grandfather, a father and a son.
7. Two Japanese people who have never seen each other meet at the New York Japanese Embassy. They decide to have drinks together at a nearby bar. One of them is the father of the other one’s son. How is this possible?
Answer: The Japanese are husband and wife and both blind since birth.
8. An innocent person is accused of a murder in a village. The head of the village knows that the man is innocent but he also knows that the truth may be uncovered one day that his own son is the murderer. Just to hinder the attention of people, he offers a chance to the man. In a jar, he places two chits of paper, one reads innocent and the other reads guilty. Among all the other villagers, he asks the accused person to pick up a chit. He says that their almighty god is watching them and the person will meet his fate truthfully with the chit. Of course, the village head is cheating. He has put both chits with Guilty written on them. The accused person somehow suspects the same. But no one will believe him if he tries to expose the head. Also, he knows no one will look at the other chit once his fate is decided by his selected chit. What should he do to prove that he is innocent?
Answer: When asked to draw a chit, the person will pick any and then without looking at it, he will swallow the chit. In this manner, to decide his fate, they will have to look at the other chit which reads Guilty. Thus people will understand that the chit which he ate had innocent written over it.
9. Realizing his reign was nearing its end, an ageing king was struggling to decide which of his two twin sons to give his kingdom too. So, he proposed they compete in a horse race to decide who would be the next king—with a rather peculiar stipulation: “Whoever’s horse crosses the finish line LAST will get the kingdom.” As you’d expect, both sons started the race extremely slow before finally coming across a man on the side of the road. As the man slowly walked alongside them, they explained what they were doing. He then leaned in and offered two words of advice. After that, both sons took off as fast as they could toward the finish line. What were those two words of advice?
Answer: Switch horses. The king specified that whoever’s horse crosses the finish line last would be the winner. So, by switching horses, each son guaranteed that winning the race on the other’s horse would mean that their horse will actually cross the finish line last.
10. Once upon a time there were seven dwarfs who were all brothers. They were all born two years apart. The youngest dwarf is seven years old. How old is his oldest brother?
Answer: The oldest brother is 19 years old not 21 years old.
Hard Detective Riddles
Speaking of detective puzzles, only a genius can answer these hard detective riddles because all of them require some great skills. So if you claim yourself to be a genius, then grab a pen and paper and prove it!
1. Ron’s father’s flying car got stolen and during the trial, he told that his father’s car was stolen by his lover Hermione Granger. Harry Potter and Ron also gave the statements regarding the case which I am not mentioning here. The thief went to the Azkaban Jail.Later on, it was observed that only the guilty person gave the correct statement. Who was the thief and hence went to Azkaban?
Answer: Harry Potter. If Ron had stolen the car, he must be telling the truth, which cannot be the case since he claimed Hermione stole the car. So Ron is lying, which results Hermione did not steal the car.
2. Kimberly discovered 3 bags in an old attic along with a note. The note said that in one of the bags, there is $1,000,000, while the others are empty, and she can only open one of them. The only clues she has are the messages written on every bag. If only 1 message is true, which bag has the money?
Answer: If only one statement is true, then the money is located in the first bag.
3. An unidentified man in the local town kidnaps people and demands them to take one of the two pills that he offers. The pills look identical, but the killer claims that only one is poisonous. When a victim chooses a pill, the killer takes the remaining one. The victims always die after swallowing the tablet with water. How does the killer manage to get the safe pill every time?
Answer: Jack needs to use the shovel to make a pile of dirt that helps him reach the window. He can then climb on the pile and easily escape the cell.
4. “Who shot her?” cried a man as he rushed into the hospital where his wife was kept. The man was stopped by the police who asked him where he was last night he told them he was spending the night at a friend’s place. He told them that when he called to check on his wife, the maid answered the call and just told him that his wife has been taken to the hospital. And as soon as he heard this he came running to the Hospital. After hearing this the police immediately arrested him. Why?
Answer: As, soon as he entered the hospital, she cried “who shot her?” How would he know that she was shot when no one informed him so.
5. Vin Diesel is pulling a theft and has planned to run away with all the cash kept in the safe. But the only way to open the safe is the 13 character password. He has a set of five clues given to him by a trustworthy source. Exactly two of the below statements are false. The password is contained within this sentence. The password is not in this hint. The password is within only one of these statements. At least one of the above statement is a lie.
Answer: The Password, Clues 2 and 5 are correct and rest are lies.
6. A guy claims to do the following thing. He puts a coin in a glass bottle. Then, he shuts the mouth of the bottle with the help of a cork. Now he manages to remove the coin out from the bottle without taking out the cork or breaking the glass bottle. Do you know how he can do it?
Answer: To do this, he must be pushing the cork inside the bottle and then taking out the coin.
7. The captain of a ship told an interesting story. “I have traveled the oceans far and wide. One time, two of my sailors were standing on opposite sides of the ship. One was looking west and the other one east. And at the same time, they could see each other clearly.” Can you tell me how that was possible?
Answer: The sailors were standing back against the sides of the ship so they were looking at each other.
8. You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, “Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK… you will die.” How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?
Answer: Place 1 white marble in the bowl, and place the rest of the marbles in the other bowl (49 whites, and 50 blacks). This way you begin a 50/50 chance of choosing the bowl with just one white marble, therefore life! BUT even if you choose the other bowl, you still have almost a 50/50 chance at picking one of the 49 white marbles.
9. A farmer challenges an engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician to fence off the largest amount of area using the least amount of fence. The engineer made his fence in a circle and said it was the most efficient. The physicist made a long line and said that the length was infinite. Then he said that fencing half of the Earth was the best. The mathematician laughed at the others and with his design, beat the others. What did he do?
Answer: The mathematician made a small fence around himself and declared himself to be on the outside.
10. A person turns 15 years old in 1990. In 1995, that same person is 10 years old. How is this possible?
Answer: This person was born in 2005 B.C. So, unlike A.D. years which proceed up from year 0, B.C. years progress backwards toward year 0. So, 1995 B.C. is actually 5 years earlier than 1990 B.C.
Scenario Detective Riddles
Do you want riddles that involve some serious drama, murder, and mayhem? If so, then below is the compilation of scenario riddles; answer them now and comment below, which was the most interesting one. Enjoy!
1. On a dark, stormy night, a man who owned a casino invited some friends for a visit. The men all placed their money on the table right before the lights went out. When the lights came back on, the money was gone. The owner wanted to discover who stole the money. So, he put a rooster in an old rusty bucket. He told everyone to get in line and touch the bucket one at a time when he turned the lights off. He said that the rooster would crow when the robber touched it. After everyone touched it, the rooster hadn’t crowed. Then the man told everyone to hold out their hands. After examining all the hands, he pointed out who the robber was. How did he know who stole the money?
Answer: The bucket was rusty, so whoever touched it would have rust on their hands. The robber didn’t touch the bucket, because he was afraid the rooster would crow if he did so. Therefore, he was the only one whose hands weren’t rusty.
2. A renowned chemist is found dead in his lab. There is no clear evidence except a piece of paper lying by the body. The paper is blank other than the name of five elements scrawled across it hastily: Nickel, Carbon, Oxygen, Lanthanum, Sulfur. The guard reported that three people visited the chemist that day – his sister, Lanaya, his colleague, Nicolas, and his wife, Teresa.
The criminal was arrested immediately. Who was it?
Answer: The list of chemicals had a clue – their abbreviations spell out the murderer’s name, Ni-C-O-La-S.
3. Jack has one lion, one lamb and a bundle of grass. He wants to cross a river but there is only one boat and it can’t hold the weight of more than 2 items at a time. Also, he has to make sure that the lion doesn’t eat the lamb and that the lamb doesn’t eat the grass. How will Jack get to the other side of the river with all 3 objects?
Answer: Here’s the plan: Take the lamb across. Take the bundle of grass across and take the lamb back. Take the lion across and take the lamb back. Take the lamb across and all three get to the other side of the river unharmed. Lots of paddling is needed for poor Jack and we assume that the lion is notinterested in eating him…
4. Melanie lived with her siblings in a small town. One afternoon, Melanie was found dead in the living room. When the police questioned her siblings, they both were in the pool from the morning and hadn’t killed her. But the police arrested Melanie’s siblings for her murder. Why?
Answer: The police checked their hands and found that their hands weren’t wrinkled. If they had been in the pool for a long time their hands would have been wrinkled.
5. A serial killer invited a prospective victim to her place. They ate together and after the meal. She offered her an apple. When she refused, she insisted that they share the apple. So, she took the apple and cut into two halves. Both of them started eating the apple. As soon as her guest ate the apple she died. If both of them had the same apple, how come one died and one survived?
Answer: She used a knife coated with just on one edge with cyanide poison. When she sliced the apple in two, only the victim’s half was poisoned.
6. A wealthy woman lived in a completely circular home. One morning, she is found dead in the front yard. A detective comes along and asks the staff questions. The driver says he was washing the car, the maid says she was hoovering in the corners, and the cook says she was preparing lunch. Who is guilty?
Answer: The maid – there aren’t any corners in a circular house.
7. A man is lying dead in a field. Next to him there is an unopened package. There is no other creature in the field. How did he die?
Answer: The man had jumped from a plane but his parachute had failed to open. It is the unopened package.
8. A number of people have broken the sound barrier, either in a super-fast car, or in nice fancy planes. However, hundreds of years ago it was broken on horseback. How?
Answer: Many people who ride horses carry whips. They crack the whip while they ride the horse. When a whip is cracked, the tip travels faster than the speed of sound, which makes the loud snap. It actually creates a miniature sonic boom of sorts. The whip breaks the sound barrier, thus, it was broken on horseback.
9. Mr. Black, Mr. Gray, and Mr. White are fighting in a truel. They each get a gun and take turns shooting at each other until only one person is left. Mr. Black, who hits his shot 1/3 of the time, gets to shoot first. Mr. Gray, who hits his shot 2/3 of the time, gets to shoot next, assuming he is still alive. Mr. White, who hits his shot all the time, shoots next, assuming he is also alive. The cycle repeats. If you are Mr. Black, where should you shoot first for the highest chance of survival?
Answer: He should shoot at the ground. If Mr. Black shoots the ground, it is Mr. Gray’s turn. Mr. Gray would rather shoot at Mr. White than Mr. Black, because he is better. If Mr. Gray kills Mr. White, it is just Mr. Black and Mr. Gray left, giving Mr. Black a fair chance of winning. If Mr. Gray does not kill Mr. White, it is Mr. White’s turn. He would rather shoot at Mr. Gray and will definitely kill him. Even though it is now Mr. Black against Mr. White, Mr. Black has a better chance of winning than before.
10. 3 surgeons decided to go for a camp and hired a guide for assistance. Over campfire, they met with an accident and the guide got seriously injured. The guide needs surgery (a minor one). The 3 surgeons decide to operate but they have only two medical gloves. To save the guide, all three surgeons are needed to operate on the guide, in sequence. How can this be done without any of them being exposed to the blood of any of the others?
Answer: The first surgeon operates with the first glove (glove A) inside the second glove (glove B). The second surgeon operates using just glove B. The third surgeon operates using glove A, turned inside out, inside glove B.
Detective Riddles for Adults
To all the adults out there, we guess you are too old to solve those kids’ brain teasers. Check out the given detective riddles for adults and put your thinking cap on, as this list is going to force your brain for a workout.
1. A dead body is found at the bottom of a multi-story building. Seeing the position of the body, it appears evident that the person jumped from one of the floors, committing suicide. A homicide detective is called to look after the case. He goes to the first floor and walks in the room facing the direction in which the body was found. He opens the window in that direction and flips a coin towards the ground. Then he goes to the second floor and repeats the process. He keeps on doing this until he reaches the last floor. Then, when he climbs down, he tells the team that it is a murder not suicide. How did he come to know that it was a murder?
Answer: None of the windows were left open. If the person jumped, who closed the window?
2. Atlas has been trapped in the attic of an old and frail house. There are only 3 doors, but they all hide different dangers. The windows and floor behind the first door are all made of magnifying glass and the sunlight will probably burn him if he enters. The second door hides a room full of poisonous gas, and a hungry lion is behind the third door. What should Atlas do?
Answer: He should wait until it’s nighttime. That way the extreme sunlight won’t pose a threat anymore and he could exit using the 1st door.
3. My wife and I took a much-needed holiday in England. It’s a long flight from New York to London. We checked into a nice hotel. After a long day of sightseeing we just collapsed into bed. Just a few minutes ago, we were woken up by some noises outside. I looked out the window and the police were everywhere. They yelled up to me that there was a robbery and a murderer on the second floor. I’m on the third floor, and I can see and I can see that the cops have the stairs and elevators locked down. The murderer can’t get up to our floor, so we’re in no danger. My wife and I are tired, so we’re going back to bed. I really hope they catch the guy. Why did the police yell to the guy if he was on the 3rd floor?
Answer: America and England have different ways of numbering floors. In America, it goes 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor. In England, it goes ground floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor.
4. I sit on Japan’s latest maglev bullet train from its first station. The train starts and is now accelerating and is about to enter the tunnel. What is the best position for me to sit, considering I am a claustrophobic guy?
Answer: On the back, since bullet train is accelerating, therefore, the person at the back will spend less time than one in front.
5. You enter a bedroom there are 34 people. You kill 30. How many are in the room?
Answer: 5. You walked into the room which added 1 + 34 = 35. Then you take away 30 from 35 = 5.
6. Once upon a time, an evil witch kidnapped three married women and turned them into rose bushes. One of the women, who had children, begged the witch to go and see her husband, and the witch agreed. She took the woman to her home and returned her to her rose bush state the next morning. Little did she know that the husband was following, and he decided to rescue his wife. He looked at the three identical rose bushes and suddenly knew which one was his wife. How?
Answer: The rose bush that was his wife didn’t have any of the night’s dew on the leaves.
7. A man died and went to Heaven. There were thousands of other people there. They were all naked and all looked as they did at the age of 21. He looked around to see if there was anyone he recognized. He saw a couple and he knew immediately that they were Adam and Eve. How did he know?
Answer: He recognized Adam and Eve as the only people without navels. Because they were not born of women, they had never had umbilical cords and therefore they never had navels.
8. Jack and Joe were on vacation and driving along a deserted country road from the town of Kaysville to the town of Lynnsville. They came to a multiple fork in the road. The sign post had been knocked down and they were faced with choosing one of five different directions. Since they had left their map at the last gas station and there was no one around to ask, how could Jack and Joe find their way to Lynnsville?
Answer: They need to stand the signpost up so that the arm reading Kaysville points in the direction of Kaysville, the town they had just come from. With one arm pointing the correct way, the other arms will also point in the right directions.
9. A woman who lived in Germany during World War II wanted to cross the German/Swiss border in order to escape Nazi pursuers. The bridge which she is to cross is a half mile across, over a large canyon. Every three minutes a guard comes out of his bunker and checks if anyone is on the bridge. If a person is caught trying to escape German side to the Swiss side they are shot. If caught crossing the other direction without papers they are sent back. She knows that it takes at least five minutes to cross the bridge, in which time the guard will see her crossing and shoot her. How does she get across?
Answer: She waits until the guard goes inside his hunt, and begins to walk across the bridge. She gets a little more than half way, turns around, and begins to walk toward the german side once more. The guard comes out, sees that she has no papers, and sends her “back” to the swiss side.
10. Bill McFarland world’s most popular thief was caught stealing. Because of his popularity, The judge give him a strange punishment. He order him to sentenced to death but he can choose his own way to die. What way of death Bill McFarland must choose?
Answer: He can choose to die of old age.
Detective Riddles for Kids
Because of their natural curiosity or a compelling plot, children enjoy solving mysteries. This way, their brains are stretched with mystery questions, while their bodies are exercised by jogging around. Thus, for your ease, we are here with a bunch of detective riddles for kids.
1. There’s a variation that goes as follows: A man, his wife, and their son are in a car accident. They are all rushed to the hospital and the doctor says, “I can’t operate on him, he’s my son.”
Answer: The doctor is the man’s father and the boy’s grandfather.
2. A clever robber breaks into a closed bank where he finds a clerk. He asks password of the safe from the clerk while pointing a gun on his forehead. Out of fear, the clerk manages to blurt out. Every day, the password of the safe is changed. I can help you but please point away the gun as if you kill me, you will never be able to crack the password. The robber ties the clerk on a chair and insert a cloth in his mouth. He then easily opens the safe after inserting the code and takes all the money before he flees. How did he know the password?
Answer: The clerk said that every day the password is CHANGED. Changed is the password.
3. A deaf and mute man came to the ticket counter at a subway station. The tickets are 50 cents each. The man gave one dollar and the ticket clerk gave him 2 tickets without even checking. How did the ticket counter clerk know that the man needed 2 tickets?
Answer: The deaf and mute man gave 4 quarters so the ticket clerk knew that he wanted 2 tickets. Otherwise, he would have only given 2 quarters.
4. A girl got killed, the killer took her iphone, airpods, piano, and money. What did the killer take first?
Answer: Her life.
5. A queen had a bowl of golden apples in her court which were her most treasured possession. One day, one of the apples went missing. She gathered all the members of court together and told them that the way she would discover the robber was by having them all touch a rusty pot with a rooster in with the lights off. The rooster would then crow when the robber touched the rusty pot. However, the rooster didn’t crow throughout the whole court, touching the rusty pot. Despite this, the queen knew who had stolen the apple. How?
Answer: By touching the pot, the members of the court would end up with rust on their hands. The robber would have been too scared to touch the pot in case the rooster crowed, so he wouldn’t have any rust on his hands.
6. You have a rock solid dark chocolate bar of size 2 x 8. You need to break it and get 1 x 1 pieces of that chocolate. If you can break that bar only along its length or breadth, how many times will you have to break to get the 1 x 1 pieces?
Answer: The size of the chocolate is 2 x 8. Thus, you need to have 2 x 8 = 16 pieces. Every time you break the chocolate, you will get one extra piece. Thus, to get 16 pieces, you must break it (16 – 1) = 15 times.
7. George, Helen, and Steve are drinking coffee. Bert, Karen, and Dave are drinking soda. Using logic, is Elizabeth drinking coffee or soda?
Answer: Elizabeth is drinking coffee. The letter E appears twice in her name, as it does in the names of the others that are drinking coffee.
8. Seymour wants to travel around the world. He had only travelled halfway around the world before he had to start travelling back home. Why was this?
Answer: If you travel halfway around the world away from your starting point the next half you start to travel back towards your starting point.
9. When Billy’s asked how old he is, he replies, “In two years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago.” How old is he?
Answer: 12 years old.
10. Sam Spade was telling his friends about his recent stay at the Tropicana hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He told them he won a thousand dollars shortly before returning to room 420 on the thirteenth floor. His friend Jerry immediately knew that Sam was lying about going to Vegas and staying at the Tropicana. How did Jerry know that Sam was lying?
Answer: The Tropicana Casino and hotel doesn’t have a 13th floor as the number 13 is thought to be unlucky and no hotels have room 420 as the numbers get stolen because of its connection to Cannabis. Sam was indeed lying.
Detective Riddles to Test Your Logic Skills
Everyone enjoys solving a mystery, especially if there are detective riddles involved. They are actually, a true way to test our logic skills. So, if you are open to all types of challenges, try the following cases if you think you’re a master at solving murder mysteries.
1. If a rooster lays an egg on the exact peak of a barn, which side does it fall?
Answer: Roosters don’t lay eggs.
2. A thief was running from the police after the biggest theft the town saw. He took his guard in one of the thirteen caves arranged in a circle. Each day, the thief moves either to the adjacent cave or stay in the same cave. Two cops go there daily and have enough time to enter any two of the caves out of them. How will the cop make sure to catch the thief in minimum number of days and what are the minimum number of days?
Answer: One of the cops will move clockwise while the other will move anti-clockwise every day. In such a manner, they will catch the thief in minimum seven days.
3. A woman who opened the door after she heard knocking was greeted by a man who automatically apologized for thinking the woman’s room was his. The woman decided to call the police. Why did she call them?
Answer: If it was his room, he wouldn’t have knocked in the first place.
4. A bank is getting robbed and one of the robbers tells one of the tellers to give him all of the money. The teller tells him she doesn’t have access to it. Suddenly the phone rings. The robber tells the teller to answer it and not give them away. She picks up the phone and it happens to be her mother. She tells her mother “Is this an emergency mom? Call me when I get home, I could use some help painting.” Then she hangs up. The robbers continue to try to get into the vault but twenty minutes later the police show up with the tellers mom and arrest them all. How did the police know about the robbery?
Answer: The teller used the mute button on the phone so her mother only heard “Emergency… Call… Help.” This is how she knew to call the police.
5. A museum has a super rare diamond in a crystal casing tide on a rope tide to the ceiling. To steal the diamond you would need a knife right. But you can’t get a knife into the museum because there is a person with a metal detector. one day a guy walks in, cuts the rope, and steals the diamond. At the end there was a pudddle of water o the fllor. How did he cut the rope?
Answer: The knife was made of ice.
6. The angry chief of police did roar, “Who robbed the bank out of you four?” When Al was asked, he said right then, “The thief was Ben! The thief was Ben!” Ben said to the policin’ man, “The thief was Dan! The thief was Dan!”When Carl was questioned, he exclaimed, “I’m not the one who should be blamed!” When Dan was questioned, he replied, “When Ben said it was me, he lied!” If three of four suspects speak true, And one speaks false, then who oh who? And what if only one was frank? But most of all, who robbed the bank?
Answer: If only one is lying, Ben robbed the bank. If only one is telling the truth, Carl robbed the bank. Since Dan’s statement was that Ben was lying, exactly one of these two must be telling the truth and the other must be lying. If Ben is telling the truth and Dan is lying, Dan must be the thief, which means that Al is lying and Carl is telling the truth. But now we have two truthtellers and two liars. So this cannot be right. Therefore, if there is only one liar, it must be Ben. Al can only be telling the truth if Ben was the robber. If there is only one truthteller, it must be Dan. Carl can only be lying if Carl was the robber.
7. Adam is given 52 cards from his friend, and he knows in that pile are 13 cards that are facing up and the rest are facing down in a random order. Adam is blindfolded and cannot see the cards. He needs to create two piles with the same number of cards facing up. How can he do it?
Answer: Adam needs to take the first 13 cards from the top and simply flip them over. That’s it. Done. Here is an example: You took the first 13 cards from the top and let’s say, there are nine facing-up cards in that first pile. This means that the remaining pile would have only 4 facing-up cards as we know from the beginning, that 13 out of the 52 cards were facing up. If you flip the first pile over, four cards will be facing up and nine will be facing down.
8. A man returned his cup of tea because there was a fly in it. However, he becomes furious when he is given the same cup of tea back. How did he know it was the same cup of tea?
Answer: Because he had added sugar – if it was a new cup of tea, it wouldn’t have any sugar in.
9. One man was moving to and fro in worry when a bright woman noticed him. On asking he told her that while replacing his tire, he incidentally dropped all the four nuts into a deep drain. She told him what to do and he was then able to drive back successfully till his office. What did she say to him?
Answer: The woman told him to take out one nut each from the rest of the wheels and use them.
10. Many years ago a wealthy old man was near death. He wished to leave his fortune to one of his three children. The old man wanted to know that his fortune would be in wise hands. He stipulated that his estate would be left to the child who would sing him half as many songs as days that he had left to live. The eldest son said he couldn’t comply because he didn’t know how many days his father had left to live and besides he was too busy. The youngest son said the same thing. The man ended up leaving his money to his third child a daughter. What did his daughter do?
Answer: Every other day, the daughter sang her father a song.
Final Thoughts on Detective Riddles
We all enjoy detective fiction in which cops examine the most difficult crimes. We’re sure you are too fantasized about capturing crooks as a kid. And, if this is the case, you cannot have any better choice than our mystery riddles.
These detective riddles are super beneficial. Exercise your brain; no matter how old we are, our brain needs activities that can increase its memory and focus.
Also, it’s critical to begin the process at an early age so that our mental health does not deteriorate as we mature. Puzzles, detective riddles, tai chi, and learning a new language are all valuable to our mental health.
Thus, without further ado, acquire these detective riddles that present you with a narrative and challenge you to figure out what is strange or incorrect about it.
These detective riddles with answers will appeal to everyone who enjoys solving mysteries. Start decoding them now and comment down below on a one to ten scale; how many detective skills you own (ten being the highest).
