lat-puzz.com

Is it a food fish? Pet fish? Fish exhibit? Is the fish owned by the boy? The man? Someone else? Relevant how it appears unwell? Does it eventually get better? Die? Relevant? Does the boy take relevant action after seeing the sick fish? Was there actually a murder? Poison relevant? Drowning?

Was the fish tank at someone's home? In a public aquarium? Outdoors? Was there relevantly any other fish in the tank?
Was the fish held under unsuitable conditions? Was it placed in the wrong tank? Did the water come in contact with a dead body? With poison?

Is the man arrested because of the boy's observation? did the boy tell the police about his observations?
Is the man actually the killer?
Did the murder happen in the other town? did it happen after the boy made his observation? at the same time? before?
Was the fish in a fish tank on display in a restaurant?

GalFisk

Is it a food fish? Pet fish? Fish exhibit? this Is the fish owned by the boy? The man? Someone else? this Relevant how it appears unwell? somewhat Does it eventually get better? yes Die? Relevant? yes Does the boy take relevant action after seeing the sick fish? no Was there actually a murder? yes Poison relevant? yesish, FAs lurking Drowning? no

LemonCurry

Was the fish tank at someone's home? In a public aquarium? this Outdoors? Was there relevantly any other fish in the tank? no
Was the fish held under unsuitable conditions? no Was it placed in the wrong tank? Did the water come in contact with a dead body? With poison? no to these

Sundowner

Is the man arrested because of the boy's observation? directly, no, indirectly, yes did the boy tell the police about his observations? no
Is the man actually the killer? yes
Did the murder happen in the other town? yes (as per the true story), but it could equally have occurred in the place with the aquarium did it happen after the boy made his observation? at the same time? before? this
Was the fish in a fish tank on display in a restaurant? no

Was the fish poisoned? Was the murder victim poisoned? Venom relevant? Would the man be arrested if the boy didn't see the fish? Didn't understand that it was sick? Had been a girl instead? Any qualities of the fish apart from being sick and at an aquarium relevant? Such as size? Age? Diet? Behaviour? Where it's found in nature? Nature of the illness? Symptoms?

Did the boy do something relevant after observing the sick fish? did he tell someone about? did the boy come as an ordinary visitor to the aquarium? or does he have a closer relationship to this place? (maybe: he's the aquarium keeper's son?)
Is the species of fish relevant? a species that is particularly sensitive to some substances in the water? were there more fish (of different species) in the aquarium? if so: were they all sick?
Does the boy know the killer? does he know the victim?
Is the killer somehow related to the aquarium? does he work there? was he ever there? did the victim work there? was he ever there?
The killer HAM? The victim HAM? relevant? Is the boy the victim?
Did the killer drop the weapon or other pieces of evidence into the aquarium? to get rid of them?

Is the fish actually quite unwell? Does it only appear unwell?

GalFisk

Was the fish poisoned? yesish Was the murder victim poisoned? no Venom relevant? no Would the man be arrested if the boy didn't see the fish? the boy specifically? Yes, but explore Didn't understand that it was sick? yes Had been a girl instead? yes Any qualities of the fish apart from being sick and at an aquarium relevant? yes Such as size? yes Age? no Diet? yes Behaviour? yope Where it's found in nature? yes Nature of the illness? not this so much as... Symptoms? ...this

Sundowner

Did the boy do something relevant after observing the sick fish? did he tell someone about? It didn't have to be him specifically, but we can assume for the purposes of the puzzle that yes, he was the one who alerted someone else did the boy come as an ordinary visitor to the aquarium? yes or does he have a closer relationship to this place? no (maybe: he's the aquarium keeper's son?)
Is the species of fish relevant? yes a species that is particularly sensitive to some substances in the water? I will say yes, FAs lurking were there more fish (of different species) in the aquarium? yes, but irrelevant if so: were they all sick? no
Does the boy know the killer? does he know the victim? no to both
Is the killer somehow related to the aquarium? no does he work there? no was he ever there? not relevantly did the victim work there? was he ever there? as above
The killer HAM? The victim HAM? yes to both relevant? no Is the boy the victim? no
Did the killer drop the weapon or other pieces of evidence into the aquarium? yope! to get rid of them? yes, this was the intention

Balin

I see the reaping got you too... I suppose, as a kiwi, I should be used to avoiding widespread unpleasantness that is claiming the rest of the world, but it's still a bit of a shock to see your friends affected

Is the fish actually quite unwell? yes Does it only appear unwell? no

Did the fish get sick while in the aquarium? Before getting there? Was it caught after the murder? Before? During? Was it horn in captivity? Relevant? Was it big? Small? A predator? Did it get sick from eating something? From being in the water? Are any other sick fishes relevant? Symptom: floating? Sinking? Lethargy? Not eating? Being upside down? Acting differently from fellow fishes of the same kind? Changes in color? Being disoriented? Having seizures?

Did the fish get sick while in the aquarium? thisBefore getting there? Was it caught after the murder? this Before? During? Was it horn in captivity? I assume you mean 'born' - if so, no Relevant? yes Was it big? yes Small? no A predator? yes Did it get sick from eating something? yes! From being in the water? no Are any other sick fishes relevant? no Symptom: floating? Sinking? Lethargy? Not eating? this is closest; no to rest Being upside down? Acting differently from fellow fishes of the same kind? Changes in color? Being disoriented? Having seizures?

Did it eat something belonging to the victim? Part of the victim? When alerted, did aquarium staff inspect the fish and find what it had eaten?

Was the fish caught in a lake? in a river? in the open sea?
Is it a shark, by any chance?
Did the fish eat something of relevance while in the aquarium? before? Did it eat another fish?
Did the fish get sick because the water in the aquarium was quite different from the water where it used to live in before?
Was the aquarium water taken from the same place where the fish was caught? was it sea water? fresh water? artificial sea water (fresh water + salt added)?
Did the criminal drop something into the aquarium directly? drop or dump something into a lake? river? the sea? wash something down the toilet? down the sink?
Did we already say that the victim was poisoned? were traces of the poison found in the aquarium? in the water were the fish was caught?
Is the poison also fatal for fish? for sharks only?
Would the fish also have gotten sick if it had stayed in the place where it was caught?
Is the aquarium ventilation relevant? Some traces of dangerous substances in the air that got pumped into the aquarium?
and just to be sure: did the fish get sick from the same substance that killed the victim?

GalFisk

Did it eat something belonging to the victim? Part of the victim? When alerted, did aquarium staff inspect the fish and find what it had eaten?

Sundowner

Was the fish caught in a lake? in a river? in the open sea? this
Is it a shark, by any chance? it is!
Did the fish eat something of relevance while in the aquarium? before? this Did it eat another fish? no
Did the fish get sick because the water in the aquarium was quite different from the water where it used to live in before? no
Was the aquarium water taken from the same place where the fish was caught? not necessarily was it sea water? yes fresh water? artificial sea water (fresh water + salt added)?
Did the criminal drop something into the aquarium directly? no drop or dump something into a lake? river? the sea? this wash something down the toilet? down the sink?
Did we already say that the victim was poisoned? no were traces of the poison found in the aquarium? no in the water were the fish was caught? no
Is the poison also fatal for fish? for sharks only? irrel/FA
Would the fish also have gotten sick if it had stayed in the place where it was caught? most probably yes
Is the aquarium ventilation relevant? no Some traces of dangerous substances in the air that got pumped into the aquarium? no
and just to be sure: did the fish get sick from the same substance that killed the victim? no

Did you forget to add answers to mine? Did the shark eat the murder weapon?

Did the shark eat something that wasn't good for it? A murder weapon? A murder victim? Something else?
Was the victim murdered by being put in such a position as to be eaten by the shark?

GalFisk

Did you forget to add answers to mine? yes (sorry - especially as they revealed some very relevant info) Did the shark eat the murder weapon? no

Did it eat something belonging to the victim? Part of the victim? this When alerted, did aquarium staff inspect the fish and find what it had eaten? yes

Traveller

Did the shark eat something that wasn't good for it? yes A murder weapon? no A murder victim? yes, or part thereof Something else? there was potentially something else the shark ate that caused it to feel ill, but it's not pivotal to the solution
Was the victim murdered by being put in such a position as to be eaten by the shark? no, and this is relevant

Trebor

Attempting to PM. You are correct, and thank you for sending the response via PM

Did it eat a hand? Foot? Toe? Finger? Arm? Leg? Head? Torso? Did it get something lodged inside itself? Was the thing that made it sick natural? Prosthetic? An accessory? Such as jewelry? Clothing? Something that had been used to murder the victim? To make him sink?

Did it eat a hand? Foot? Toe? Finger? Arm? this Leg? Head? Torso? Did it get something lodged inside itself? yes, the arm Was the thing that made it sick natural? yes Prosthetic? An accessory? Such as jewelry? Clothing? Something that had been used to murder the victim? To make him sink? no to rest

Relevant how they were able to identify the victim from the arm? If so: DNA? Fingerprints? Tattoos? Relevant how they tied the identity of the victim to the murderer? Was the shark involved in this? The victim?

Relevant how they were able to identify the victim from the arm? no If so: DNA? Fingerprints? Tattoos? this, if you were wondering Relevant how they tied the identity of the victim to the murderer? this is outside the scope of the solution Was the shark involved in this? The victim? n/a to both

Looking at the previous answers, I think there's only one missing detail - how did they know that the victim had been murdered, and not just become shark food by happenstance?

Was the fact of the murder evident on the arm? The shark's illness? Somewhere else? Was the victim reported missing? Was the victim related to the aquarium somehow? Was there a connection between the murder and the catching of the shark?

Was the victim already dead when thrown into the ocean?
Was the victim on a ship or boat? if so: did he die there?
Did someone report the victim missing? if so: was it the killer?
Was the remainings of the victim's body ever found? relevant?
Was it alone the fact that the victim's body came close to a shark that gave the killer away?
Relevant that it took one month since the shark had his meal until the killer was finally arrested? Did there something relevant happen in between?

GalFisk

Was the fact of the murder evident on the arm? yes The shark's illness? Somewhere else? no to rest Was the victim reported missing? yes Was the victim related to the aquarium somehow? no Was there a connection between the murder and the catching of the shark? no, outside of the victim's arm and the shark ending up in the same place at one point

Sundowner

Was the victim already dead when thrown into the ocean? yes
Was the victim on a ship or boat? irrel if so: did he die there? n/a
Did someone report the victim missing? yes if so: was it the killer? irrel
Was the remainings of the victim's body ever found? outside of the arm? no relevant? only inasmuch as this was not a factor
Was it alone the fact that the victim's body came close to a shark that gave the killer away? no
Relevant that it took one month since the shark had his meal until the killer was finally arrested? no Did there something relevant happen in between? no (aside from the chain of events that led to the shark eating the victims arm and being captured and put into an aquarium)

Did the arm have relevant marks? Lack marks that would've been present if he was alive when the arm was eaten? Did the arm have a rope? Handcuff? Other restraint? Relevant what the victim dies from? What he was killed with? Relevant how much of the arm ws found int he shark? Did the arm have traces of the perpetrator? Something stuck under the fingernails?

Did the arm have relevant marks? yes Lack marks no that would've been present if he was alive when the arm was eaten? but the fact that the arm would have lacked these marks if he died naturally is the key

***** SPOILER *****

A short time ago, a man had been murdered and thrown into the sea, whereupon his body was eaten by a shark. The shark was soon captured and put into an aquarium. While on display, the shark took ill and vomited up the dead man's (distinctively tattooed) arm. A specialist was alerted, who identified that the injuries on the arm were not consistent with a shark attack and more in line with a weapon. This gave rise to a murder case, and the perpetrator, who lived in a town on another coast of the sea, was eventually identified.

Congratulations, GalFisk, on the solution, and thank you everyone for playing!