Twice in Tears
A man hated someone with all his heart.
When he heard that this person had been arrested, he was so happy he cried.
But when he heard that the person had died, he broke down in tears, saying, “I wish they hadn’t died.”
He hadn’t been hoping to take revenge himself.
Why did the arrest bring him joy, but the death leave him devastated?
Question your assumptions, one by one.
Choose questions to gather clues, then build your theory.
Ask your AI to host, then ask questions and work out the mystery.
View Hints
Hints
Use as many hints as you need, one at a time.
Hint 1
Besides having a reason to hate this person, the man also had a reason to want them alive.
Hint 2
The man hoped the arrest would lead to a piece of information.
Hint 3
The person knew the whereabouts of someone who was important to the man and had not yet been found.
Check the Answer
Answer
That person had kidnapped the man’s daughter and locked her away somewhere only the kidnapper knew.
She had still not been found. Her father believed she was alive and hoped that finding out her location from the kidnapper would allow her to be rescued.
But the kidnapper died without revealing where she was.
The man broke down, having lost what he had thought was his chance to get the information needed to rescue her.
He had wanted his daughter to come home, not for the kidnapper to die.
Explanation
The arrest made him happy because he hoped it would lead to information that could help rescue his daughter. He could hate the kidnapper and still want them to stay alive so that her location could be learned.
What the kidnapper’s death took away was the chance to get that information from them. It did not establish that his daughter had died or that rescuing her had become impossible.
Whether she was actually alive is not revealed. Her father’s belief that she was alive, and his wish for her to come home, explain both sets of tears.
If the solution makes sense to you, add your vote. One vote per browser.