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The king has recently learned that his son has been killed by a mystery person. Wanting to know who committed the murder, he started to ask the people that have been around his son recently. He asked his son's caretaker, the gardeners, his own wife, the mailman, everyone in the entire palace! But everyone has said no to killing his son and no one saw the killer or the weapon.

So the king went to the wisest of the wisest men on Earth and asked him who killed his son. The man would only give a hint to him:

The day your son died is Sunday, which is today.

The king puzzled, walked to his palace to speak to his advisors. A year later, the king had solved the mystery and swiftly executed the murderer and brought justice to his son. So the question is, who was the murderer?

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  • $\begingroup$ This isn't exactly a duplicate, but I've definitely seen the "Mail on Sunday" trope before. Here is one example: puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/17266/who-stole-my-laptop $\endgroup$
    – raisinghellyer
    Commented Jan 5, 2016 at 16:45
  • $\begingroup$ Hello! I've put this question hold, as it fulfills the criteria discussed a while back on Meta - namely that answers tend to be subjectively valid, or rely on interpretations of a story. $\endgroup$
    – user20
    Commented Jan 5, 2016 at 19:15
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    $\begingroup$ There are 3 reopen votes right now. Please discuss the issue with @Emrakul (preferably on the meta link) instead of just trying to reopen the question without justification. $\endgroup$
    – ghosts_in_the_code
    Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 5:59

6 Answers 6

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The murderer was

The mailman. Mail isn't delivered on Sundays, so the king concluded the mailman was at the palace that day to commit murder.

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    $\begingroup$ Depends a bit on where and when: Sunday delivery. Hopefully a hard working and honest mailman wasn't executed erroneously... $\endgroup$
    – Dr Xorile
    Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 3:59
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    $\begingroup$ Upvoted, but if the mailman doesn't work on Sundays, why would the gardener? Also, what is the significance of the "which is today" part of the wise man's answer? Why a year's gap? $\endgroup$
    – Lawrence
    Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 6:52
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    $\begingroup$ @Lawrence I'm assuming this kingdom is rather similar to the United States, or another country with a similar mail system. A gardener working Sunday would be uncommon, but a mailman far rarer. Admittedly it's a strange assumption to make, but it's the obvious (to me) way to give the puzzle a definitive answer. $\endgroup$
    – Ninety-Three
    Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 13:27
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    $\begingroup$ I don't get it. OK, the mailman doesn't work on Sunday... So what? Why couldn't the assassin be one of the other suspects?! Everyone could have committed the crime on Sunday, not only the mailman... $\endgroup$
    – Hunter
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 12:37
  • $\begingroup$ @Hunter If the mailman doesn't work on Sunday, it's assumed he doesn't have a valid reason to be at the palace on Sunday while the others do. (Likewise for any other worker who doesn't live on site.) Note that this takes the phrase "everyone in the entire palace" to mean "just the caretaker, gardeners, wife and mailman", not "unnamed other people who happened to be in the palace". It's a little forced, but then again, it's a puzzle :) . Of course, just because he didn't have a reason to be there doesn't mean he's the culprit, but maybe the extra year was used to determine guilt. $\endgroup$
    – Lawrence
    Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 12:10
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The murderer was

the wisest of the wisest men on Earth. He was the only person with some knowledge on the crime.

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  • $\begingroup$ He may have been an accomplice to the person in the accepted answer. $\endgroup$
    – Joel Rondeau
    Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 20:28
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The murderer was

the gardener. He planted an Epiphyllum Oxypetalum which blooms once a year. The king's son was allergic to this plant. King noticed it a year later, because the flower bloomed a year later since king's son dead.

I'm pretty sure that's not the answer because I didn't use the hint given by the wisest of the wisest men on Earth, but still I wanted to contribute.

EDIT: Added some explanation:

Clue 1:

The day your son died is Sunday, which is today. That flower bloomed a year later from that Sunday.

Clue 2:

A year later, the king had solved the mystery. The king solved the mystery a year later, because the flower bloomed a year later (while it blooms once a year), and the king was aware of this attitude of that flower.

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  • $\begingroup$ Would it be possible for you to edit into this answer the parts of the question that lead you to believe this is correct? Answers must be justified using details from the puzzle text. Thank you! $\endgroup$
    – user20
    Commented Jan 5, 2016 at 15:53
  • $\begingroup$ @Emrakul Edited and added some explanation including quotes from puzzle text. Was that what you've mean, or did I misunderstand? $\endgroup$
    – Aycan Yaşıt
    Commented Jan 5, 2016 at 16:18
  • $\begingroup$ You did not misunderstand; thank you for updating your response. Also, Emrakul is a 15/15 flying Eldrazi that can't be countered. I don't think you should question him, lest he attack you and you have to sacrifice six permanents. $\endgroup$
    – user1717828
    Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 17:01
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The murderer was

The king's wife (who probably wasn't the mother of the king's son and therefore had some reasons for wanting him dead, but that's just my speculation).

Explanation:

The son's body was discovered on a weekday (Tuesday, say), and the fact that he had died on Sunday was known only to the king and to the murderer. A year from the Sunday before the body was discovered, the king saw his wife laying flowers on the son's grave, and deduced that it was her.

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I wish to contrubite more by posting another answer. The murderer was

the caretaker. The king's son was murdered at the Easter Sunday, which caretaker went to church and left the king's son alone. The king's son was just a baby, swallowed something small and drowned to death while there was no caretakers with him.

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  • $\begingroup$ or maybe the gardener left the tap open and the son drowned. Or queen wanted to take some kind of revenge from the king when caretaker was not around. Your answer points to the possiblity that there can be 100 more such answer. $\endgroup$
    – manshu
    Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 11:04
  • $\begingroup$ Would it be possible for you to edit into this answer the parts of the question that lead you to believe this is correct? Answers must be justified using details from the puzzle text. Thank you! $\endgroup$
    – user20
    Commented Jan 5, 2016 at 15:53
  • $\begingroup$ @manshu, Yea, but that might be Aycan's point. This puzzle doesn't really have a well fitting, definite solution. I'm voting to close. $\endgroup$
    – user1717828
    Commented Jan 11, 2016 at 17:02
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The murderer:

The catholic cardinal

Explanation:

The cardinal was born in this kingdom, now lives on Vatican but comes back to the reign once a year: for Easter Sunday to host a special preach.
He killed the prince on Easter Sunday.
The wiseman hint points not only for Sunday, but for today, this special Sunday. He "sherlockly" deducted it from the cardinal was the one the king couldn´t ask about the murder because he already left for Vatican.
"A year later, the king had solved the mystery and swiftly executed the murderer"
After a year, he had it already solved, but had to wait for the cardinal to return, the king couldn't raid the Vatican for diplomatic reasons.

I think that wraps it all.

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  • $\begingroup$ Elementary..... $\endgroup$
    – user1717828
    Commented Jan 20, 2016 at 16:41

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