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On the warm and windy night of November 12, Joe was coming back home. He ordered pizza from the car, to be delivered at 8 PM. Once he got back, he realized that one of his windows was slightly ajar. He concluded that he just left it open for ventilation.

Once he got to the front door, he taped a note for the pizza guy that would arrive shortly. As he unlocked his door and walked into the house, a loud crash came from the basement. He thought that the cat somehow got locked in and was trying to escape. He walked over to the door and turned the handle. As soon as the door creaked open, he fell over, dead. The unknown assassin walked over to him and watched him bleed out. The last thing Joe saw was a masked and gloved man standing over him, laughing as the last of Joe's life left him...

Later on, Doorknob arrived with Joe's pizza. As Doorknob walked towards the house, he saw a note on the door saying, "Come in, I'm in the dining hall. Second door to the left." He went into the house. After he walked past the first door, all the lights went out, except for one. As Doorknob walked into the dining room, he saw the only light on. That light was pointed right onto the table, where Joe's body was.

Doorknob couldn't believe his own eyes. He went to go investigate the body, and saw three things:

  1. A tattoo on his chest saying: "An eye for an eye. Is it not?"
  2. A single bullet
  3. A loaded pistol with something carved into the side.

Shocked and horrified, Doorknob ran out of the house and to the police. He reported the crime.

The next morning, Doorknob was certain of where the murderer came from. He only needed to find who did it. After a bit of searching, he discovered the murderer and apprehended him.

Who was the murderer?

Bonus: What's carved into the side of the gun?

Hints Revealed:

1. This is about AskUbuntu
2. The Joe is the same Joe that posted the above question.
3. Treat everything in this post as a hint.
4. A certain pokemon is not to be blamed here.
5. Actual detective work is needed for this puzzle.
6. The killer had plenty of time to prepare.
7. Doorknob is irrelevant.
8. While AskUbuntu was murdered, something else survived...
9. You may assume that everything in the hints are true.
10. (Gun-Related) The gun has a logo etched into it..

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  • $\begingroup$ Is there any specific reason you used 'Doorknob' as the pizza boy? Is it a trick question? $\endgroup$
    – AeJey
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 5:51
  • $\begingroup$ @AeJey He's just a cameo and isn't relevant to the puzzle's solution. $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 6:16
  • $\begingroup$ Wow. This puzzle must be really challenging. I'll post the final hints over the weekend. $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 17:50

5 Answers 5

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The murderer is:

RpiAwesomeness

Exhibit A:

What Waaaaaat said

Exhibit B:

What Rpi replied

I feel like this is not the evidence I was meant to find though. My detailed report:

As I pondered the clues laid out before me, my admiration for Doorknob continued to swell. A bit of searching was all he needed?! I made a list of open questions: Why was the window ajar? What was the loud crash? Why did the lights go out? How did the killer find time to give him that tattoo before the pizza guy showed up? I dreamed up some answers, and started to get inside the mind of the killer. I shifted my thoughts to what I knew about him. He's a man. He's smart enough to wear a mask and gloves. He's a bit dramatic. And he knows how to give tattoos... Aha! Something to make his stand out from the crowd! I headed over to AskUbuntu and searched the user profiles for a tattoo artist. But my search was in vain. I found only SkyDivingPanda, whose low rep made me doubt he would have the passion and connections to commit this crime, and Wahyaohni, whose website you should definitely not click on. Still "tattoo" was the only foothold I could find in the narrative, so I pressed on. I started searching the chat logs. And I found this:

Exhibit C

Waaaaaat's suspiciously timed tattoo reference

The report continues:

Almost enough to put Waaaaaat behind bars, but given the very short tattoo timeframe, I couldn't take a chance that the judge would rule that circumstantial. I dug deeper into the chat logs. In Ask Ubuntu General, I found Seth being thanked for his "help", and he joined my suspect list. There was much discussion about a secret chat that may or may not have existed, and I feared that secret room, deleted by Seth, might have been the only real trail. I searched and searched for a careless one-boxed link. But I came up empty. Suddenly, I noticed that Waaaaaat had name-dropped the Teachers' Lounge! Off I went to find it, and what I found... made me feel like a noob. Another dead end. "I need to clear my mind", I thought, and went to do some dishes. I was back in seconds, my dishes still unwashed. I could search the chat logs for other suspicious words, like "killer"! And there I found it, the name of the true culprit, and his own cold agreement to do the deed.

Carved into the handle of the gun:

The Ask Ubuntu logo. Or maybe the Ubuntu logo.

I just don't know why there are so many bullets!

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    $\begingroup$ Huh. +1 for finding my other profile. I think you've come the closest in terms of required detective work. There's still more to go, though... $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 21:29
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks! Umm sorry for being a noob, but if I want to accuse someone else and post evidence, should I do a separate answer or edit this one? $\endgroup$
    – Johanna Belanger
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 2:14
  • $\begingroup$ Accuse someone else? Add a new answer... BTW, most of what you found was the planning chatroom so.... I need to have a word with Seth about that. But you got it 100% right. It was RPi. Note to Self: Always use IRC or something disposable to plan puzzles. $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 3:43
  • $\begingroup$ The gun also had the Ubuntu symbol on it. The Teacher's Lounge is the mod-only chat. I do not have access to that. $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 3:47
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    $\begingroup$ I see! Wow very subtle. I did read that, but it seemed like a perfectly normal response. It's always the one who seems normal... $\endgroup$
    – Johanna Belanger
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 3:56
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It's someone from the pizza place - how else would they know to leave a note telling the delivery boy where to find the body?

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    $\begingroup$ I'd counter that it IS the right answer, and the question was wrong ;) (edit: this reply to a now removed comment stating the question was wrong) $\endgroup$
    – Jon Story
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 0:21
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    $\begingroup$ My fault. This is my first puzzle. I need to learn the importance of tying up loose ends... $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 0:22
  • $\begingroup$ Haha, do I not at least get an up-vote though? I can't help that you left a loophole :p $\endgroup$
    – Jon Story
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 0:23
  • $\begingroup$ Enjoy. If you see any more, please comment so I can fix it. I suck at puzzles. $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 0:23
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The murderer is

Mew

because

he set the puzzle in which Joe died.

Carved into the side of the gun is

some sort of fish shape.

Comparing with pictures in books that you find on Joe's shelves, you determine that it appears to be

a herring, and it has been stained with berries to a deep maroon.

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    $\begingroup$ Following that logic, Joe is the SErial Killer himself. Wait... $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 15, 2014 at 20:59
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    $\begingroup$ I wish you hadn't killed him off. Now we'll never get SErial Killer part 4. $\endgroup$
    – shoover
    Commented Nov 16, 2014 at 3:53
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The answer is obvious.

After the pain and anguish of watching AskUbuntu's death in a previous puzzle, you were distraught. Thoughts of retribution whirled through your brain. Grabbing a gun, you used Teleport and arrived at Joe's house. Surprising him as he was absorbed in writing another brain teaser, you made him an unwilling star in his own personal murder mystery. "An eye for an eye" - you lost your precious stack, so Joe loses his life. This puzzle is simply a way to throw everyone off your scent. Back in the ball with you.

Carved into the gun?

'Gotta Catch This'

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  • $\begingroup$ Actually, nope. It was not me (maybe). You're pretty close though. And, are you sure I am not the other mew? Mindblast!. Also, the tags are very relevant here. $\endgroup$
    – Kaz Wolfe
    Commented Nov 13, 2014 at 7:25
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constantly being phoned up to repair the electrics he burnt out with an unbelievable amount of hours being dedicated to SE. His electrician took revenge.
the eye for an eye was when the electrician in a freak accident fixing his fuse box suffered an electric shock blowing out his retina.
the way he killed him was an electric shock through the door handle. "eye for an eye" no?. the carving on the gun was simply a electric bolt symbol.
because of his vision and depth perception being impaired he fell trying to manoeuvre in the dark in the basement.
assuming he (Joe) only went into his house and to the basement there might be 2-3 lights on at max. so unless there was more than 1 murderer (here on known as electricians), he must of been at the fuse box and knew which switches affected which lights from previous experiences. to ensure the right light was switched on.

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