[CoffeeBean] No-Danger Stranger

[CoffeeBean]

Greg approaches a man he's never met and asks the man to give him something that's completely worthless. A short time after this, a woman that Greg has never met gives Greg $50.

[Doriana]

Do the man and the woman know each other?

Does the woman give Greg $50 in cash? on a gift card? as a check? (an) object(s) worth $50? Are the $50 a prize? a fine that the woman has to pay?

Is Greg H/A/M? Is his job relevant?

[CoffeeBean]

Do the man and the woman know each other? No

Does the woman give Greg $50 in cash? on a gift card? as a check? Likely either as cash or a check
(an) object(s) worth $50? No Are the $50 a prize? No a fine that the woman has to pay? No

Is Greg H/A/M? Yes to all Is his job relevant? No

[Doriana]

Is the thing that Greg asks the man to give him a tangible object? Or something more abstract like a compliment? directions?

Does Greg give the thing he gets from the man to the woman?

Does the encounter between Greg and the man happen indoors? outdoors? in a public place? a private residence? on a vehicle? Does the encounter between Greg and the woman happen in the same place? If not, same questions as for the other encounter.

"A short time after this" = seconds? minutes? hours? on the same day? in the same week?

Is the man's job relevant? the woman's?

[CoffeeBean]

Is the thing that Greg asks the man to give him a tangible object? Or something more abstract like a compliment? It involves both tangible and abstract elements
directions? No

Does Greg give the thing he gets from the man to the woman? No

Does the encounter between Greg and the man happen indoors? No outdoors? in a public place? Yes to both
a private residence? on a vehicle? No to these
Does the encounter between Greg and the woman happen in the same place? No
If not, same questions as for the other encounter. The encounter between Greg and the woman happens at a private residence, probably outdoors

"A short time after this" = seconds? minutes? hours? on the same day? in the same week? Most likely hours, either the same day or the next day

Is the man's job relevant? the woman's? Neither

[Sundowner]

Did the man give Greg the thing Greg was asking for?
Would Greg have encountered the woman also if he had not met the man before? would he then also have got the money?
Do the man and the woman know each other?
Did the woman give the money to Greg as a compensation for something? as a gift? as a reward?
Did Greg do a job for the woman? or sell something to her?
Did the woman owe the money to Greg?
Did the woman give Greg the money on behalf of someone else?
Did Greg and the woman met in her residence? in Greg's residence? in the man's?
Did Greg go to this place with the purpose to receive money there?

[CoffeeBean]

Did the man give Greg the thing Greg was asking for? No - good q
Would Greg have encountered the woman also if he had not met the man before? It's possible but not very likely
would he then also have got the money? Also possible but not very likely
Do the man and the woman know each other? No
Did the woman give the money to Greg as a compensation for something? as a gift? as a reward? This
Did Greg do a job for the woman? or sell something to her? No to both
Did the woman owe the money to Greg? In a way (see above)
Did the woman give Greg the money on behalf of someone else? No
Did Greg and the woman met in her residence? Yes in Greg's residence? in the man's?
Did Greg go to this place with the purpose to receive money there? That was not his main reason for going there, no

[Doriana]

Was the reward for finding something the woman had lost? If so, a lost wallet? bag/backpack? phone? laptop? pet? piece of jewellery?

[CoffeeBean]

Was the reward for finding something the woman had lost? Yes-ish for "lost"
If so, a lost wallet? bag/backpack? phone? laptop? pet? piece of jewellery? None of these

[irishelk]

Did the man and the woman ever interact? Did the man steal something from the woman?

If so...Did he let the woman know something he had found out? did Greg realize that the man had stolen the thing? Or was somehow involved in its loss? and if so, did he learn this from asking the question? Or maybe he suspected it and therefore asked the question?

Did he retrieve the something for the woman? Was the something she lost-ish the same thing Greg asked for from the man?

[JenBurdoo]

Was the something actually found? By Greg? Was the something a physical object? If not, was it the woman's peace of mind?

[CoffeeBean]

Did the man and the woman ever interact? No Did the man steal something from the woman? Yes

If so...Did he let the woman know something he had found out? Who? did Greg realize that the man had stolen the thing? Yes Or was somehow involved in its loss? This too and if so, did he learn this from asking the question? No Or maybe he suspected it and therefore asked the question? Yes, this

Did he retrieve the something for the woman? Yes Was the something she lost-ish the same thing Greg asked for from the man? No

Was the something actually found? By Greg? Yes to both
Was the something a physical object? Yes If not, was it the woman's peace of mind?

[Sundowner]

Does Greg give the women the item the other man had stolen from her?
Is Greg police?
Did the question Greg asked the man help him to retrieve the stolen item? to confirm that the man is a thief?
Did Greg retrieve the stolen item? from the man directly? from a place where the man had hidden it?
Did Greg ask the man to give him a physical item? a physical item that carries information (like a newspaper)?
Did Greg expect to get this item? would the item have given Greg some information about the man, if he had gotten it (like a used train ticket that would reveal where the man had been)? Or was it rather the fact that he did not get this item what Greg expected and what helped him?

[CoffeeBean]

Does Greg give the women the item the other man had stolen from her? Yes
Is Greg police? No
Did the question Greg asked the man help him to retrieve the stolen item? to confirm that the man is a thief? Yes to both of these - good q
Did Greg retrieve the stolen item? Yes from the man directly? Yes from a place where the man had hidden it? No - FA
Did Greg ask the man to give him a physical item? Greg didn't ask for this, but both he and the other man would have understood that this would have been required at some time a physical item that carries information (like a newspaper)? Yes, but not like a newspaper
Did Greg expect to get this item? No, he was pretty certain he would not get it (see below)
would the item have given Greg some information about the man, if he had gotten it Yes, moreso would have confirmed the information that Greg already had
(like a used train ticket that would reveal where the man had been)? Good idea, but this isn't the kind of information that Greg would have needed
Or was it rather the fact that he did not get this item what Greg expected and what helped him? Exactly!

[Sundowner]

Did the thief have the stolen item with him when Greg met him? was the item small enough to conceal it in a pocket?
Did the man give the stolen item to Greg? Did Greg trick him into handing over the item?
Was the stolen thing a means of transport? like: a car? a bicycle? a motor bike?
Did the thief attempt to sell the stolen item to Greg? and Greg requested some proof of ownership before buying it?
Did Greg recognise the item as the woman's property already before he got possession of it?
Did he see the woman with this item before? was there an obvious name tag?

[CoffeeBean]

Did the thief have the stolen item with him when Greg met him? Yes was the item small enough to conceal it in a pocket? No...
Did the man give the stolen item to Greg? Well, in a way, yes
Did Greg trick him into handing over the item? Not exactly but some form of trickery was used at some point
Was the stolen thing a means of transport? like: a car? a bicycle? a motor bike? It's a bicycle
Did the thief attempt to sell the stolen item to Greg? No and Greg requested some proof of ownership before buying it? Actually this is what Greg did but in a different kind of way, ORT and explore
Did Greg recognise the item as the woman's property already before he got possession of it? Yes
Did he see the woman with this item before? No was there an obvious name tag? No

[trebor]

Is it a regular bicycle that any adult could use?

Was the thief trying to lock the bike up? To ride it on the sidewalk? To ride it in a crosswalk? To do something illegal with it (other than having stolen it)? Did Greg ask for the man’s ID? For his name? Did he ask if the man wanted help with something? Did he offer to provide a service? Did he ask if the man wanted him to watch the bike for him?

Did the man abandon the bike and take off running at being asked the question? Or something similar? Did he know he’d been caught?

[Doriana]

Did Greg recognise the bike as the woman’s because she had put up posters looking for it? posted about it on social media?

[CoffeeBean]

Is it a regular bicycle that any adult could use? Yes

Was the thief trying to lock the bike up? To ride it on the sidewalk? To ride it in a crosswalk? To do something illegal with it (other than having stolen it)? It's not relevant what he was doing with the bike, it's just relevant that Greg saw him in obvious possession of the bike
Did Greg ask for the man’s ID? No For his name? Not exactly but something very similar to this (ORT)
Did he ask if the man wanted help with something? Did he offer to provide a service? Did he ask if the man wanted him to watch the bike for him? No to all

Did the man abandon the bike and take off running Yes... at being asked the question? Not at the time the question was asked but within just a few seconds of that time
Or something similar? The man did run away and leave the bike but explore why he did it
Did he know he’d been caught? Yes

[trebor]

I think you missed Doriana’s questions.

Did Greg ask the man about his age? Ethnicity? Religion? Physical characteristics? His birthday? Relationship status? Did he ask him a question about the bike? Ask him to demonstrate riding the bike?

Does it matter where they were when he asked the question? Is it a special day, such as a holiday?

[CoffeeBean]

Sorry, I missed these...

Did Greg recognise the bike as the woman’s because she had put up posters looking for it? posted about it on social media? Yes, safe to assume she did both of these

Did Greg ask the man about his age? Ethnicity? Religion? Physical characteristics? His birthday? Relationship status? No to all
Did he ask him a question about the bike? At one point he did, yes
Ask him to demonstrate riding the bike? No

Does it matter where they were when he asked the question? No
Is it a special day, such as a holiday? No, could be any day

[trebor]

Did Greg say?/do? anything relevant in his interaction with the man other than ask the one question?

[CoffeeBean]

Did Greg say?/do? anything relevant in his interaction with the man other than ask the one question? Yes, besides asking the question, Greg said one other relevant thing

[CoffeeBean]

RECAP

Greg sees a man who is in possession of a stolen bicycle. He knows that the bicycle has been stolen because posters and information on social media have provided information and a description of the bike. Greg approaches the man and asks him for something worthless that has both concrete and abstract qualities. The man does not give Greg what he asks for, and this helps Greg. Greg says one other relevant thing to the man, which causes the man to know he's been caught, and the man runs away, abandoning the bicycle. Greg returns the bike to the owner and gets a reward.

The key to the solution is discovering what Greg asked the man to give him, and the other thing he said that made the man run away.

[GalFisk]

Does the worthless thing have writing? Does he ask him for something that has two meanings? Is the question related to the bicycle? Does Greg want the man to run away? does the thief feel: afraid? Threatened? Resigned? Angry? Bewildered?

[CoffeeBean]

Does the worthless thing have writing? Yes
Does he ask him for something that has two meanings? No
Is the question related to the bicycle? No
Does Greg want the man to run away? Yes - good q
does the thief feel: afraid? Threatened? Resigned? Yes, mostly this Angry? Bewildered? At one point yes, very much so!

[GalFisk]

Does Greg ask the thief to write something? Would this be worthless no matter who gave it? Is it trash? Is the writing made by human? computer? Printing pres? Machine? Did the thing formerly have value? Potentially have value? Like a lottery ticket that turned out worthless?

[trebor]

Does Greg ask the man for his autograph?

Does the other thing he says pertain to the bike? To the lost bike notices/posts? To a doppelgänger of the man? Does he say something like, “That’s funny, I thought you were the guy from The Bike Thief”? Does he make a snide remark?

[CoffeeBean]

Does Greg ask the thief to write something? Yes Would this be worthless no matter who gave it? No, it can be extremely valuable in some cases (see below) Is it trash? It probably would be Is the writing made by human? Yescomputer? Printing pres? Machine?
Did the thing formerly have value? Potentially have value? Like a lottery ticket that turned out worthless? No to these (and see below)

Does Greg ask the man for his autograph? YES

Does the other thing he says pertain to the bike? Yes To the lost bike notices/posts? Yes, this too To a doppelgänger of the man? No
Does he say something like, “That’s funny, I thought you were the guy from The Bike Thief”? No, but you're ORT with what he does say
Does he make a snide remark? It could be considered snide, sarcastic, etc

Nearly solved, just figure out why Greg would ask for a worthless autograph and what he said when the man refused to give it to him

[GalFisk]

Did he say why he wanted an autograph? Did he say something about the bike? About how he knew it was stolen?

[CoffeeBean]

Did he say why he wanted an autograph? Yes
Did he say something about the bike? Yes
About how he knew it was stolen? Yes

[GalFisk]

Did he say he wanted an autograph from: a famous person? A wanted person? A famous outlaw? The "owner" of this particular bike? A thief? Did he pretend to think the thief was a famous person? Did he say the bike was famous?

[trebor]

Did he say he’d always wanted the autograph of someone who’d gone viral?

[CoffeeBean]

Did he say he wanted an autograph from: a famous person? A wanted person? A famous outlaw? The "owner" of this particular bike? This one A thief?
Did he pretend to think the thief was a famous person? No, but did pretend to think that the thief was someone he knew by name (see above) Did he say the bike was famous? Well not "famous" but made it clear that he knew that the bike didn't belong to the thief

Did he say he’d always wanted the autograph of someone who’d gone viral? No - he never gave any indication that he thought the thief was currently or would ever be famous, he had another reason for asking for the autograph (and the thief's resulting actions showed that Greg was wise to do it)

[GalFisk]

Did he pretend that the thief was the rightful owner? Ask for proof that he was? Mention the theft?

[CoffeeBean]

Did he pretend that the thief was the rightful owner? Yes, for one moment he did (in a very sarcastic way)
Ask for proof that he was? Yes (in sarcastic form) Mention the theft? Not directly, no, but it was implied in the statement that he made after asking for the thief's autograph

[trebor]

Does it matter that the thief was a man and the bike belonged to a woman? Was she a well-known woman? Did the statement reference her?

[GalFisk]

Relevant what he wanted the autograph written on? With? Did he ask the thief to sign a "have you seen this bike" flyer or similar?

[CoffeeBean]

Does it matter that the thief was a man and the bike belonged to a woman? No, the way Greg handled the situation could be done the same regardless of the gender of the thief or the owner, but the fact that a man stole a woman's bike probably worked more to Greg's favor than if the bike was owned by a man
Was she a well-known woman? No, but anyone who had seen the information about the stolen bike would have known her name
Did the statement reference her? Yes, directly

Relevant what he wanted the autograph written on? With? No, only that he made the request for it
Did he ask the thief to sign a "have you seen this bike" flyer or similar? Not relevant

[GalFisk]

Did he call the thief by her name? Ask for her autograph?

[CoffeeBean]

Did he call the thief by her name? Ask for her autograph? Yes...and what would be his reason for doing this?

[trebor]

Did he want to compare the autograph name with the name on the posters? Did she have an unusual name? A name very much tied to her gender? Did he have a copy of the missing bike ad with him? Was his statement something like, "I already know your name"?

[CoffeeBean]

Did he want to compare the autograph name with the name on the posters? No, he never expected to actually get an autograph
Did she have an unusual name? Doesn't matter A name very much tied to her gender? Doesn't matter, it could be any name as long as Greg knew the name before he talked to the thief
Did he have a copy of the missing bike ad with him? Maybe but it's not necessary that he did
Was his statement something like, "I already know your name"? In a way, yes, he implied that he knew the thief's name

[GalFisk]

Was it something straightforward as "Hi, [name], could I have your autograph?" "Hi, [name], I recognized you by your bike, could i [...]?" Did he imply that the bike was very recognizable? That he recognized it? That it belonged to someone famous? Did he ask for the autograph in the way someone would ask a famous person for an autograph? In some other way?

[CoffeeBean]

Was it something straightforward as "Hi, [name], could I have your autograph?" Yes, except he didn't address the man by name. The first thing that Greg said when he approached the thief is, "Hi can I have your autograph?" (see below)
"Hi, [name], I recognized you by your bike, could i [...]?" Did he imply that the bike was very recognizable? This was included in the second thing Greg said to the man, Greg let the man know that he recognized the bike.
That he recognized it? Yes, and not only that but he also knows the name of the owner of the bike.
That it belonged to someone famous? Well that it belonged to someone whose name Greg knows
Did he ask for the autograph in the way someone would ask a famous person for an autograph? Yes, safe to assume In some other way? Greg approached the thief like someone would do if they saw a famous person and wanted the person's autograph. Greg asked the thief for his autograph but the man didn't give it to him. Greg never expected to get the man's autograph. Then, Greg told the man that he recognized the bike and said that he knows the owner's name. The thief then ran away because he knew he'd been caught. So the only thing left to determine is why Greg chose to handle the situation this way instead of a more typical approach...

[trebor]

Because it was more fun? Because he wanted to confuse the man? Shame the man? Because he needed to wait for the man to dismount the bike? Or walk away from the bike? (Like if the guy was still on it when Greg accused him of theft, he could just ride away?) Did Greg want to draw the attention of other people to the man? Perhaps to make it more difficult for him to escape?

[CoffeeBean]

Because it was more fun? No, he had another reason
Because he wanted to confuse the man? Yes, but why? Shame the man? Yes, but why?
Because he needed to wait for the man to dismount the bike? No Or walk away from the bike? (Like if the guy was still on it when Greg accused him of theft, he could just ride away?) Possibly, yes, but this is related to the overall thing that Greg wanted to achieve and at the same time wanting to avoid something else
Did Greg want to draw the attention of other people to the man? Yes, this would have helped, but why?
Perhaps to make it more difficult for him to escape? Yes, again a possible outcome, but why?

What did Greg NOT want to happen when he approached the thief?

[trebor]

Did he not want the thief to: damage the bike? Ride the bike away? Hurt him? Evade justice? Face justice? (Perhaps he thought that the man would be caught and punished too severely if he didn’t do it this way?) In asking for the autograph, did he get the man to reveal his name?

Is it relevant where the man runs to? What happens to the man after he runs away?

[Sundowner]

Did Greg make the man say his real name?

[CoffeeBean]

Did he not want the thief to: damage the bike? Ride the bike away? Hurt him? Evade justice? Yes to all of these
Face justice? (Perhaps he thought that the man would be caught and punished too severely if he didn’t do it this way?) Not this
In asking for the autograph, did he get the man to reveal his name? Possibly but not necessary

Is it relevant where the man runs to? What happens to the man after he runs away? No, it's just relevant that Greg got him to abandon the stolen bike without hurting Greg

Did Greg make the man say his real name? Maybe but that wasn't his goal

This is basically what we needed...

[CoffeeBean]

** SPOILER **

When Greg saw a man in possession of a stolen bike (which Greg recognized from photos and information about the bike), he had a decision to make - should he approach the man and accuse him of being a thief, or do something to catch the man off guard so that he directly or indirectly admits the bike doesn't belong to him? A direct, aggressive and accusatory approach could cause the thief to either claim that the bike is his and then maybe become violent toward Greg, or cause the man to flee with the bike never to be seen again. So Greg walks up to the man and says, "Hey can I have your autograph?" Greg knows the man won't give it to him, and the man replies, "No, why?" Greg responds, "Because this is Jane Doe's bike so you must be Jane Doe!" Flustered and aware that he's been discovered, the thief runs away and Greg takes the bike to its owner and gets a reward.

A few years ago I heard advice on how to approach a person that you know to be in possession of stolen property. The example given was seeing a person in or near a stolen car, and you know the owner's name of the car. If you approach and accuse the person of having stolen the car, the thief can either 1) claim that the car is his and looks just like the other person's car, leading to a possible confrontation that could get violent, or 2) become immediately violent and allow the thief to escape with the stolen car, or 3) claim that he or she knows the car's owner and is borrowing the car (which, if the accuser doesn't actually know the owner, could be true or false but the accuser has no proof). Instead, you should approach the thief and ask for their autograph (if this draws attention that's even better), and when they refuse to give it, tell them the owner's name and say something like, "I didn't realize there were two people with this name who owned identical cars and my friend has your same name and car so I wanted to show him your autograph," or something similar to this. In most cases, according to the person giving the advice, the thief will admit that the car is not his/hers and either immediately flee and leave the car behind, realizing they have been identified, or attempt to flee in the car but this isn't likely since they now know that at least one person knows the car, tag number and can recognize the thief.

Nicely done by all!

[Doriana]

Nice one!