May 23, 1998
RAY: Ha! We're back. This must be the third half of the show.
TOM: This is the third half.
RAY: You're listening to Car Talk with us, Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers and we're here to discuss cars, car repair and the new puzzler.
TOM: Yeah! Lay it on us, baby.
RAY: Well, this met with mixed reviews in the green room.
TOM: Where is the green room and why can't --
RAY: But I'm going to use --
TOM: I ever go there? Yeah. OK. Go ahead. Use it anyway.
RAY: You seem to be stuck in the room with porcelain fixtures, but I'm going to use it anyway because I think it will send a little joy to Julian Portway who was kind enough to e-mail us this puzzler, about two years ago.
TOM: Yeah. Well, say look. It takes time to --
RAY: The wheels of progress grind slowly. Don't they?
TOM: Exactly. You gotta... If you're going to read things as carefully as you do, it's going to take some time.
RAY: Indeed. All right. Here it is and I hope that I will try to obfuscate and clarify at the same time.
TOM: OK.
RAY: Two men are found dead in a cabin in the woods.
TOM: Not this one!
RAY: You know. You would think.
TOM: I'm sorry.
RAY: That you would be supportive and helpful.
TOM: I'm sorry. I realized immediately that I should have been doing exactly that because God knows you need as much help --
RAY: OK. Can I try again?
TOM: Yeah, go ahead. Yeah.
RAY: Two men are found dead in a cabin in the woods.
TOM: That's much better.
RAY: Come on. This is - two men are dead here! This is serious stuff! This doesn't warrant any laughter.
TOM: OK. No, I'm sorry.
RAY: Oh.
TOM: Two men are dead. Yeah. Go ahead.
RAY: In a cabin in the woods. Small cabin, I might add. There is no evidence of their being shot, stabbed, poisoned, burned, strangled, drowned, starved or bored to death from listening to Car Talk. The cabin did not burn down. A tree did not fall on it. They were not attacked by animals and they did not die of old age or natural causes. Seems to cover just about all the bases. Does it not?
TOM: Phew. Yeah. I guess they're still alive. They just look dead. Sort of like us.
RAY: Both men had been healthy in their late 20's or perhaps early 30's and were married. Well, relatively healthy. Well, anyway.
TOM: Were they married to each other?
RAY: I don't think so. And their wives were hundreds of miles away at the time and alive. The question very simply is how did the two men die?
RAY: Both men had been healthy in their late twenties or early thirties and were married. And their wives were hundreds of miles away at the time and alive. The question is how did the two men die? Now the one -- I said I covered all the bases, but I didn't. There is one thing that was omitted.
TOM: Well, probably there are lots of things that you omitted.
RAY: Well, when I said they didn't die by starvation or stabbing or strangulation or poisoning or whatever, but they did die by accident. Because the cabin they were in crashed. The cabin was the cabin of a plane. Oh, come on. I love your ringing endorsements.
TOM: I guess it is all right.
RAY: Well, do we have a winner this week at least?
TOM: Yes, we do have a winner. The winner is Anne Maddox from Kingston Springs, Tennessee.
