May was attacked the week before the trial. Dozens of people were entering the courthouse, with the trial about to begin. Listen closely to the testimonies and arguments to see if you can figure out who was most likely the attacker.
May stepped up to the bench and started to tell the story of her attack. She showed the judge the bruise on the right side of her face. The only thing that she could not remember was the description of the attacker. May was blindfolded the whole time. “As soon as I turned and faced the person behind me, the attacker, I was hit,” she recalled.
The prime suspect of the case was Tom, a factory worker, who walked past May’s house every day after work. The judge asked for some background about Tom. He was a tall and strong man. When he was younger, he was adopted by May’s aunt and uncle. He never got along with May and her parents. At six years, a machine in the factory injured his left arm; he still was unable to use it. At nine, he broke both of his legs while he was over May’s house when a cabinet fell over on him. At twelve, he went into a coma for three days after a car accident. Tom was obviously very accident-prone. Tom’s alibi was that he was at work at the time of the attack.
The next suspect was called up to the bench. Bob took a seat and signed his name on a legal document the judge passed him. The clip of the pen had been broken and sharp, making a small cut in Bob’s hand. The bailiff handed Bob a small bandage for the cut. “It is a good thing that you don’t have to put the bloody hand on the Bible,” the bailiff said right before Bob was sworn in. Bob started to tell his story. “I came into the house one afternoon and saw May hurt. She said someone attacked her.” Bob continued, “I saw that her face was bruised and called a doctor to look at it.”
From this information, the judge thought he knew who had hurt May. Can you figure it out?
Solution
May’s bruise was on the right side of her face. It would be very difficult for Tom to bruise May’s right side because he is unable to use his left hand. From the story, we can also tell that Bob was left-handed, a more likely candidate to hurt the right side of someone’s face. Bob was signing the paper with his left hand because the bailiff noted that he wouldn’t have to touch the Bible with the bleeding hand.
Judging by this information, it is more likely that Bob was the attacker.