# Which fictional mystery would you like to be solved? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498 "2017-01-18T22:50:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/61 "2017-01-20T02:19:59Z")
What was the deal with The Colorado Kid? Don’t give me any of that Haven lore. That doesn’t count. Wheel of Time - who was Nakomi? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/62 "2017-01-20T14:32:27Z")
Who was the Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct’s Deaf Man? He never wrote EXIT to finish the series. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/63 "2017-01-20T14:41:02Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > Every time I watch the film, I always wonder why the guy needed the money so badly. He’d fiddled with the inventory of his car lot. That needed to get sorted. But, that wouldn’t have been the original problem. That was just another of his half-way-thought-through methods of delaying financial doom due to his original problem. > > If it was an addiction, such as gambling or alcohol, he never showed any subsequent signs. So, we’re left without our central motivation. It’s weird. It wasn’t any one thing. He needed to not look like a failure to his FiL, so he embezzled money to maintain a slightly higher standard of living than he otherwise could. Slightly bigger house, slightly better clothes. And then once he got it, he couldn’t not keep doing it. Probably started slow, then when, maybe, his FiL says that Jerry should take the family on a vacation, or donate more to church (because he’s doing so well) or invest in some scheme the FiL has, well, how could he say no without losing face? Jerry was the kind of guy for whom appearances were very important. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/64 "2017-01-20T16:26:51Z")
The secret behind all of Gob’s ill_u_sions would be nice to know. At least I’ve figured out the knife-blade-across-mouth thing. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/65 "2017-01-20T16:36:44Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > What was Shepherd Book’s past, and why did he know so much about the Operative? Much of his backstory is explained in [the comic books](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(comics)#The_Shepherd.27s_Tale), although I can’t remember off the top of my head what was said about the Operative if anything. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/66 "2017-01-20T16:49:09Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > If [Victor von Doom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Doom) was expelled for his college experimentation, why does he call himself Doctor Doom? Who’s gonna stop him? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/67 "2017-01-20T17:27:10Z")
Deckard. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/68 "2017-01-20T18:37:10Z")
Who was The Woman in the Doctor Who episode\* The End of Time: Part Two\*? She was in the company of the time lords and it seemed like the Doctor was the only one who could see her. They never got around to resolving that lingering development. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/69 "2017-01-20T18:59:19Z")
In “Cordially Invited to Meet Death” , a Nero Wolfe mystery novella by Rex Stout, why Wolfe sent some of the rare black orchids to Huddleston’s funeral . ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/70 "2017-01-20T20:05:32Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Who was The Woman in the Doctor Who episode\* The End of Time: Part Two\*? She was in the company of the time lords and it seemed like the Doctor was the only one who could see her. They never got around to resolving that lingering development. And Tasha Lem from “the Time of the Doctor” (the one where Matt Smith regenerates into Peter Capaldi.) She’s a high-ranking member of The Silence, but apparently is very close to the Doctor (even though she had never appeared before.) She can even operate the TARDIS controls. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/71 "2017-01-20T22:37:06Z")
Did Catwoman really die near the end of _Batman Returns_? After all, there was that interesting [silhouette](https://youtu.be/21bFkRsS_k4?t=137) before the credits rolled. If she lived, how??? Her nine lives were up. How’d she get out of the electrical explosion, etc.? And _Brazil_ … Well, basically all of it. How much was real, fantasy, fantasy of a fantasy, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/72 "2017-01-20T23:10:55Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And _Brazil_ … > > Well, basically all of it. How much was real, fantasy, fantasy of a fantasy, etc.? That one’s easy, IMO: [spoiler]Everything up to the point where he’s strapped in the chair is real. Tuttle breaking in to rescue him and everything after that, including Jill being alive, is fantasy. The final shot of him back in the chair, having completely lost his mind, is back to reality. Except that Jill doesn’t really exist, and is simply a manifestation of Sam’s alter ego. So Jill is all fantasy. Except that for certain plot points to work, she must be a real person. So those parts are real. Except where those plot points are actually part of the fantasy. Quite simple, really.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/73 "2017-01-20T23:22:21Z")
Who shot Nice Guy Eddie (Reservoir Dogs)? What was in the briefcase (Pulp Fiction)? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/74 "2017-01-20T23:23:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It’s a sort of MacGuffin. A plot device. The mention of a MacGuffin makes me think of one–what was the deal with that thingamajigger in [_Night Train_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Train_%282009_film%29)? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/75 "2017-01-20T23:44:27Z")
Just had a thought: while there are many interesting mysteries mentioned so far (though most fly over my head because you just can’t know any cultural reference), they all come from novels, movies or songs, but not from classic mythology. But there must be also many examples in the Bible, Greek and Norse mythology and such, and by no means I am thinking of theological mysteries and subtleties (please let’s not go into that in CS ;)), but of actually plot points or even plot holes that affect the story. Got any? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/76 "2017-01-21T01:17:35Z")
Not so much a fictional mystery as a literary one: What would the rest of _Kubla Khan_ have been like if Coleridge hadn’t been interrupted by the [Person from Porlock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_from_Porlock)? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/77 "2017-01-21T01:20:33Z")
I think Dirk Gently got pretty close to answering that one ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/78 "2017-01-21T01:53:02Z")
In the “Moonlighting” tv Series the Anselmo case was mentioned early on (first episode I think) and when it finally ground to a halt, they noted it was never solved ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/79 "2017-01-21T01:58:40Z")
[quote=“EinsteinsHund, post:75, topic:777498”] Just had a thought: while there are many interesting mysteries mentioned so far (though most fly over my head because you just can’t know any cultural reference), they all come from novels, movies or songs, but not from classic mythology. But there must be also many examples in the Bible, Greek and Norse mythology and such, and by no means I am thinking of theological mysteries and subtleties (please let’s not go into that in CS ;)), but of actually plot points or even plot holes that affect the story. Got any?[/QUOTE Cain kills his brother Abel, flees and eventually marries. Where did this wife come from. Some faiths such the Ethiopian church says her name was Awan and she was a full sister to Cain. But most Christian religions do not answer this. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498/80 "2017-01-21T02:03:43Z")
Why can’t anyone in the government fix the Cone of Silence? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-mystery-would-you-like-to-be-solved/777498.md?page=5)