Investigating one case, the investigator John Smith discovered that the key witness is the one from the Richardson family who, on that fateful day, came home before the others. The investigation revealed the following facts.
1. The neighbour Maria Ramsden, wanting to borrow some salt from the Richardson’s, rang their doorbell, but no one opened the door. At what time though? Who knows? It was already dark...
2. Jill Richardson came home in the evening and found both children in the kitchen, and her husband was on the sofa – he had a headache.
3. The husband, Anthony Richardson, declared that, when he came home, immediately sat down on the sofa and had a nap. He did not see anyone, nor did he hear anything, and the neighbour definitely did not come – the doorbell would have woken him up.
4. The daughter, Sophie, said that when she returned home, she immediately went to her room, and she does not know anything about her father, however, in the hallway, as always, she stumbled on Dan’s shoes.
5. Dan does not remember when he came home. He also did not see his father, but he did hear how Sophie got angry about his shoes.
“Aha,” thought John Smith. “What is the likelihood that Dan returned home before his father?”.