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Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Watson have taken a case to identify the whereabouts of a mystery man. The only clue thus far is a single photograph of the man, presented here.

enter image description here

Watson starts in. "Well he's a stylish dresser, he's wearing a nice suit and matching canvas tennis shoes. I think that's the trend these days, yes? And we know he's definitely not married."

"Oh? Not married? I don't think I follow." Sherlock was a bit taken back by Watson's certainty on the matter, for Watson rarely seemed this certain. Sherlock wondered if, for once, he had missed some obvious clue. But quickly decided that he had not.

The question to you: Why did Watson believe this man was unmarried? And why had Sherlock not drawn the same conclusion?

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  • $\begingroup$ I guess I'll add as an addendum. This riddle takes place in a simplified world where married men all wear wedding rings on their left hand, and unmarried men never wear rings on their left hand. I don't know of how to interject that into the above w/o messing up the little mini-story I have going. $\endgroup$
    – JnBrymn
    Commented Dec 6, 2022 at 19:55

1 Answer 1

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Watson believed the man was unmarried because

he doesn't appear to be wearing a wedding ring on his left hand.

Sherlock disagrees because

the picture was taken in a mirror and we only see his right hand.

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