The mystery of Ravensdene Park, which I will now present, was a tragic
affair, as it involved the assassination of Mr. Cyril Hastings at his
country house a short distance from London.
On February 17th, at 11 p.m., there was a heavy fall of snow, and though
it lasted only half an hour, the ground was covered to a depth of several
inches. Mr. Hastings had been spending the evening at the house of a
neighbour, and left at midnight to walk home, taking the short route that
lay through Ravensdene Park--that is, from D to A in the sketch-plan. But
in the early morning he was found dead, at the point indicated by the
star in our diagram, stabbed to the heart. All the seven gates were
promptly closed, and the footprints in the snow examined. These were
fortunately very distinct, and the police obtained the following facts:--
[Illustration]
The footprints of Mr. Hastings were very clear, straight from D to the
spot where he was found. There were the footprints of the Ravensdene
butler--who retired to bed five minutes before midnight--from E to EE.
There were the footprints of the gamekeeper from A to his lodge at AA.
Other footprints showed that one individual had come in at gate B and
left at gate BB, while another had entered by gate C and left at gate CC.
Only these five persons had entered the park since the fall of snow. Now,
it was a very foggy night, and some of these pedestrians had consequently
taken circuitous routes, but it was particularly noticed that no track
ever crossed another track. Of this the police were absolutely certain,
but they stupidly omitted to make a sketch of the various routes before
the snow had melted and utterly effaced them.
[Illustration]
The mystery was brought before the members of the Puzzle Club, who at
once set themselves the task of solving it. Was it possible to discover
who committed the crime? Was it the butler? Or the gamekeeper? Or the man
who came in at B and went out at BB? Or the man who went in at C and left
at CC? They provided themselves with diagrams--sketch-plans, like the one
we have reproduced, which simplified the real form of Ravensdene Park
without destroying the necessary conditions of the problem.
Our friends then proceeded to trace out the route of each person, in
accordance with the positive statements of the police that we have given.
It was soon evident that, as no path ever crossed another, some of the
pedestrians must have lost their way considerably in the fog. But when
the tracks were recorded in all possible ways, they had no difficulty in
deciding on the assassin's route; and as the police luckily knew whose
footprints this route represented, an arrest was made that led to the
man's conviction.
Can our readers discover whether A, B, C, or E committed the deed? Just
trace out the route of each of the four persons, and the key to the
mystery will reveal itself.