# Another 2 minute mystery **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288 "2001-01-22T17:32:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/1 "2001-01-22T17:32:10Z")
A ‘locked in thea room’ puzzle. A man and a woman are taken to a room and locked in by several other men. The room is large, about 24x18 square feet. There is only one way in and one way out, through a large oak door, two inches thick. Utterly unbreakable, locked with two deadbolts. The keys are still in the locks but getting a hold of them seems pretty impossible. Several small windows line the west wall and the room is well lit as a result. The windows are double glazed and locked. They are about 2 1/2 meters above the ground and there is no support to stand on to reach the windows. There are also bars on the windows, thick ones. The next day the men come back and unlock the room. They unlock the doors to find that the man and the woman have vanished. Rather than blaming the security guard one of the men finds the buildings janitor and fires him on the spot for aiding and abetting the escape, even though the janitor had gone home before the man and woman were locked in the room, didn’t know they were coming, hadn’t seen them come in and hadn’t even been in the locked room at all that day. So, I ask you… How did they get out of the room? What did the poor unfortunate janitor to aid their vanishing act? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/2 "2001-01-22T17:38:01Z")
The janitor had been in the room the day before to fix the plumbing. He left the water turned off. The couple called for someone to come turn the water on; when that person arrived, they left the room and, after the water was turned back on, locked the door. ---
**Author:** ![rundogrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@rundogrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rundogrun)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/3 "2001-01-22T17:48:37Z")
The janitor failed to empty the garbage. The couple slid a piece of paper under the door, banged into it to knock the key onto the paper, and slid it back to their side. That’s provided the janitor put the deadbolts on correctly in the first place. If it’s just a knob on the couple’s side, escape is pretty obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/4 "2001-01-22T17:52:34Z")
The room was a walk-in freezer, the man and woman were ice sculptures. The janitor raised the thermostat in the room (he did not know the man and woman were coming) and the sculptures melted. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/5 "2001-01-22T17:57:10Z")
The man and the woman had a stick and broke it in half. Two halves make a whole. So they put the two halves of the stick together and climbed out the (w)hole. Trust me, that sounds a lot better when spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Colzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Colzee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colzee)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/6 "2001-01-22T17:59:17Z")
The janitor left his mop in the room the day before. The couple broke the mop in half. Two halves make a whole they crawled through it to freedom. ---
**Author:** ![McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/7 "2001-01-22T20:42:30Z")
Robot arm has it. Well done. ---
**Author:** ![St.Attila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@St.Attila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Attila)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-2-minute-mystery/51288/8 "2001-01-23T00:43:13Z")
The janitor left his mop in the room. **St. Attila** breaks the mop in half, then stabs **TheVoiceofReason** in the throat with the jagged end for coming up with such a stupid riddle. 🙂