Monday, May 19, 2014

Here is something that's out of the ordinary. A true "locked door" mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes himself!

Two things are special about this particular crime. One is that it takes place here in America, and two is that it has yet to be solved! In fact, not a single working theory has ever been put forward. That's pretty interesting, don't you think? Where is Sherlock when you need him?

Mystery of The Locked Room

Isidore Fink was shot dead at 10:30 p.m. on March 9, 1929, in the back room of the Fifth Avenue Laundry (which he owned) at 4 East 132nd Street in New York City. The police were alerted by a neighbor, Mrs. Locklan Smith, who had heard screaming and the sounds of a struggle. When the officers arrived, they found that the doors to room in which Fink lay were locked and so they gained entry by lifting a small boy into the room through a transom window.

Fink had been shot twice in the chest and once through the left hand, which showed signs of powder burns. No gun was found in the room. There was money in Fink’s pocket and in the cash register. At first police theorized that whoever shot Fink, who bolted the laundry doors when he worked at night, had climbed through the transom window. But the window was small, as was the boy who was hoisted through it, and the question of why an escaping murderer should climb through a small window instead of leaving by the door seemed unanswerable. A second theory was that Fink had been shot from the hallway through the transom , but the powder burns on Fink’s body showed that he had been shot from close range. More than two years after the crime, New York Police Commissioner Edward P. Mulrooney called the murder an “insoluble mystery.”

You have to wonder if this mystery could be solved using the modern tools available to the authorities today. I would certainly hope so, but you just never know!

Coffee out on the patio again this morning.It is gonna be another warm day, it appears!

9 comments:

Mamahen said...

Hmmm too much for my tiny brain. We'll what everyone else thinks when we meet on the patio!

HermitJim said...

Hey Mamahen...
Does make you kinda wonder, doesn't it? Hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for dropping in this morning!

Chickenmom said...

Wonder if they ever could solve a mystery from that long ago? 'Hope it warms up - it's 37 here!

linda m said...

Wow, that is a good one. I remember those transom windows and they weren't very big. Unless it was a child who committed the crime? Who knows. Should be a good discussion over coffee this morning.

Dizzy-Dick said...

I have a door on my house that I can lock from the outside without a key. All I have to do is lock it while it is open, hold the latching bolt in while I slowly close the door being careful not to smash my finger.

Dizzy-Dick said...

I have a door on my house that I can lock from the outside without a key. All I have to do is lock it while it is open, hold the latching bolt in while I slowly close the door being careful not to smash my finger.

JO said...

Dizzy solved the mystery! Of course that is if the door had that kind of latch. I remember the doors that had 2 buttons right under the latch part one was to lock the other was to unlock.

Yes good discussion for coffee on the patio this morning.

Unknown said...

I've never been good at mysteries and this is no exception!
How about I bring some homemade chocolate cookies and we can all sit down and ponder this one with coffee and cookies? Even if we don't solve the mystery we can surely enjoy the patio!

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
I kinda doubt it, but you never know!

Thanks for coming over today!



Hey Linda M...
Makes for a good mystery to ponder, doesn't it?

Thanks for the visit today!



Hey Dizzy...
Now a door like that could be the answer. Without a picture, I guess we'll never know.

Thanks for coming by today!



Hey Jo...
Many types of the older doors come to mind. Some of them were pretty cool!

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!



Hey Sci...
It certainly isn't any secret or mystery that I like cookies! Any type or any place!

Thanks for joining us today!