Who Guild Mr. Body? Quiz | Thematic Fun

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. You question Dr. Sklodowski in his laboratory cautiously, not because you're afraid of him-- he seems a sedate, scholarly man. No, you fear any wrong move would send a stack of arcane scientific equipment crashing down on you! But that was not what could have killed Mr. Body. "Dr. Sklodowski, I hear that you are a renowned inventor. What kind of devices do you create?" "I make gadgets for removing static electricity during industrial processes like rolling paper, wire, and sheet metal." "What do you use in these devices? Anything special?" "No, nothing special, really..." "But," whispers pu2-ke-qi-ri in your ear, "You should know better. What radioactive element, used in devices that eliminate static electricity, has been implicated in the 2006 poisoning of former Russian KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko?"

Answer: Polonium

Polonium and radium were the first elements discovered by Marie Curie. She noticed that pitchblende, a rock containing uranium, was more radioactive than it should be if it just contained uranium. She correctly predicted that at least one new radioactive element was present in the mixture, then succeeded in isolating polonium and radium from several tons of pitchblende.

Polonium is an alpha particle emitter. Alpha emitters can only cause radiation damage to humans if it enters the body, such as through inhalation or ingestion. However, polonium is also chemically toxic. Weight for weight, polonium is 5 million times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide.

2. As you sit down across from Rev. Robert Hopkins III in a sunny corner of the study, you feel relatively confident that the interview is a mere formality that will competely absolve the Southern Baptist minister from anything having to do with Mr. Body's demise. After all, Rev. Hopkins had led a blameless, selfless life and is known for his tireless campaign against sin and depravity. But then he mentions, almost offhandedly, that his wife Ruth was raised in Appalachia and was a member of a fundamentalist religion sect that "handled snakes" as part of their style of worship. "Were the snakes poisonous?" you ask. "Yes, very," he replied, smiling. "But my wife and her family were never so much as bitten. In fact, even though I don't recommend that type of worship in my church, my wife insists on keeping a snake around as a reminder. It's just a little coral snake that we keep in its own terrarium at all times. But she's quite fond of it from a distance." As you walk out of the study, Gretas muses to herself, "Which of these does the venom of a coral snake affect most strongly?"

Answer: Breathing

Coral snake bites account for less than one percent of snake bites in the United States and almost always occur only if the snake is being handled. In other words, the person who is bitten is usually the aggressor in the situation.

3. While searching the house of Mr. Body's brother-in-law, Geoffrey, you discover a blood-soaked axe, a wall covered in photos of Mr. Body, each with the words "You must die" scrawled across them in red marker, a copybook containing a selection of plots for Mr. Body's murder, and a signed, sealed and witnessed confession. Over a supper of roast lamb, Geoffrey claims that he is innocent, and just created the above for "a bit of a laugh". True to his characterization of himself, Goeffrey chuckles as you leave, and you wonder why. Before any thoughts can fully form in you mind, Islington asks you, "Which gas is commonly known as 'Laughing Gas'?"

Answer: Nitrous Oxide

Nitrous Oxide has legitimate medicinal uses (as a sedative), but apparently some people on occasion sneak into surgeries and use it as a recreational drug. One wonders how they are not caught.

4. Next, you travel to the home of Mr. Body to see what you can discover there. You happen to stumble into the unique and exquisite billiard room. The walls of the room are filled with antique weapons spanning all the way back to the War of 1812. John Smith (the owner of these weapons), greets you with a handshake and a pint of beer. You tell him that one of these weapons might have been used in this mysterious murder. Apathy100 points to a replica of this weapon on the wall and tells John that you are looking for more information about this unique weapon. John replies, "This weapon was one of the largest weapons ever used in land warfare. It was a popular weapon that became famous during the Boer War." What weapon is this?

Answer: British 9.2

The British 9.2 inch gun was the largest land warfare gun ever used during a major war. During the Boer War, this gun was typically mounted onto railway wagons and train cars. Due to its immense size and the unique tactics of Boer commandos, however, this type of weaponry was almost useless.

During WWI and WWII, however, this weapon became a lot more effective as there were mass forces and siege warfare to defend against. As technology progressed and changes to the British 9.2 proved effective, it is estimated that over 450 of these large weapons were produced from 1914-1918. At its peak, the British 9.2 weighed close to 15 tons, fired 130 kg shell of explosives, and took engineers 36-48 hours to dismantle when not in use.

5. In the boudoir, you find a jar of cold cream in front of the mirror on a dresser and ask the suspiciously un-bereaved Mrs. Body about it. "Oh, that's nothing," she says, flicking her wrist dismissively. "My skin gets so dry at this time of year." You can't stop staring at it, though: As CellarDoor reminds you, in 1960, the CIA famously concealed poison pills in a similar jar. They were attempting to kill Fidel Castro; on whom did they rely to deliver the pills?

Answer: His lover, Marita Lorenz

Nineteen-year-old Marita Lorenz, daughter of a German mariner and an American spy, began her relationship with Castro on board a cruise ship captained by her father in 1959. Returning to the U.S. after seven months of pleasure in Havana, she was recruited by the CIA to make an attempt on his life.

She made it into her lover's bedroom, beset by doubt, only to discover that the botulin capsules had melted into the cold cream. Castro then apparently announced that no one could kill him, handed her his own loaded gun, and watched as she lost her nerve.

She visited Cuba again in 1981; he is said to have embraced her and called her "my little assassin".

6. All this questioning has made you rather hungry, so you stroll down to the kitchen where you can "kill two birds with one stone"; grab a sandwich and question the chef, one Wolfgang Steinitz von Hejdunk. The chef, an amicable fellow explains to you that he has been in Mr. Body's employ for the past 13 months. "Last night's dinner," he recalls, "was a fine lobster bisque, followed by my signature spinach lasagna and sole fillets". "So," you inquire, "how do you explain the jar of cyanide that was found in your drawer." "Oh that, I use that for keeping the mice out of the pantry, and besides, I could never have used cyanide, after all, everybody knows that cyanide has a very distinct smell" he responds without even batting an eyelid. "Really? What does cyanide smell like?" LeoDaVinci asks.

Answer: Almonds

Cyanide has a distinct nutty odor. Interestingly enough, almost 40% of all people aren't able to make out this smell.

Cyanide is the generic name for the chemicals that have any triply-bonded carbon atom to a nitrogen atom. The compounds are often very soluble, and they are often colorless, making them a favorite murder weapon for many mystery thrillers. Cyanide is very toxic, and can quickly induce a coma with seizures, death following within a few minutes.

7. You leave the kitchen (after enjoying a sandwich of succulent home-cured ham on homemade bread) and Cymruambyth suggests you go in search of the housekeeper, Mrs. Lightbody. You find her in her parlor, brewing tea. She invites you to join her for a cup, and you settle down to take her particulars and her recollection of the events surrounding the murder. You note that she has the same first name as Sherlock Holmes' housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson. What is Mrs. Lightbody's first name?

Answer: Martha

Mrs. Hudson is more than Sherlock Holmes' landlady and housekeeper. She takes a maternal interest in her celebrated tenant, fussing over his health, plying him with substantial meals, putting up with visitors arriving at all hours of the day and night, and above all that constant violin playing! Moreover, she displayed a most forgiving attitude when Holmes damages her premises (q.v. the bullet holes creating the patriotic V.R. on the wall, done by Holmes in what Watson referred to as "one of his queer humours" - not to mention the ruin of the mantelpiece because Holmes pinned letters to it with a jackknife, the nasty smells issuing from Holmes' scientific experiments, and the time that a gunshot fired through the window (at a wax bust of Holmes) and laid waste to the window, the window shade, and the bust before lodging in the wall opposite the window. To top it all off, Moriarty's men set fire to Holmes' rooms!). Mrs. Hudson's maternal instinct really shows itself, however, in the fact that, for the three years during which Holmes' is presumed dead after that contretemps with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, she literally turns his rooms into a shrine, keeping everything as he left it (although, as Watson points out, "with an unwonted tidiness").

8. Slightly overwhelmed with the abundance of possibilities, you decide to take a walk around the gardens, to clear your mind. As soon as you step outside you are assaulted by the sweet smell of freshly mown hay, but there are no fields nearby. You track down the source of that heady aroma to a bed of white flowers, on long stems with green leaves. Right away you recognize the plants as being Woodruff, which is a natural source of coumarin, a well known anticoagulant. "That's interesting," Skunkee says, "What other plant(s) naturally contain coumarin?"

Answer: All of these

Coumarin is also present in, cherries, strawberries, apricots, sweet clover and tonka beans. It tastes a little like vanilla, and was once popular as a flavouring for everything from wines to sausages and pipe tobacco. It was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1940, except as an additive to some alcoholic beverages that have been flavoured with coumarin containing plants like Woodruff.

Because of its anticoagulant properties, coumarin has been synthetically reproduced as Warfarin, once commonly used as a rat poison. It can be toxic to humans if consumed in high doses for a prolonged period of time.

You make a mental note to ask the cook if Mr. Body suffered from insomnia, and was partial to drinking Woodruff tea to help him sleep.

9. Stumbling into the sordid crime scene, our sleuth finds a woman covered in gold paint sprawled dead on the bed. Bruyere exclaims, "Ah yes, this happened to the famous Bond girl in the movie 'Goldfinger'! And didn't Shirley Eaton, the actress playing Jill Masterson, unfortunate gilded Bond girl, die of the exposure to gold paint later?"

Answer: No

This is one of the great urban legends of the sixties perhaps because the image was so widespread and even appeared on the cover of 'Life' in 1964. And who would doubt the truth of Bond's explanation (as played by Sean Connery) that exotic dancers with gold paint on them usually left a small square inch of bare skin at the base of their spine so they would not suffocate!? Snopes.com lists this one as one of the most persistent urban legends.

The truth of the matter is that the toxic chemicals in the paint might eventually harm you enough to kill you, but that as long as you could breathe through your mouth or nose you wouldn't suffocate via your pores being covered with paint. You might overheat however. Eaton published her autobiography entitled, 'Golden Girl' in later years.

It must be added that the entire publicity campaign featured another actress covered in gold named Margaret Nolan.

10. After the day you have had, you seek some refreshment from your worries. You head to the lavatory to splash some water on your face. You notice that the medicine cabinet is open just a crack so you decide to have a look. While shuffling aside bottles of Xanax, Paxil, Vicodin and Viagra, Joemc37 spots a small bottle prescribed by a Dr. Christine Frantz with a skull and crossbones on the label. Upon a closer look you notice that this bottle is containing rat poison. What is the pungent garlic-like smelling inorganic chemical compound found in rat poison? Submit the quiz to discover "Who Guild Mr. Body"! The answer is in the interesting info of this very question! Was it the cold cream and a jilted lover? Ertrum thinks the dinner at Geoffrey's reminds him of Roald Dahl. Or was it Dr. Sklodowski and his "scientific" equipment?

Answer: Zinc Phosphide

The digestive system acids of the rats react with the phosphide to create a phosphine gas. The garlic-like odor of the phosphide attracts many rodents, but makes whatever food you put it in repulsive smelling for other animals and birds, thus killing only what you intended to. The typical lethal amount used on rats is 0.75-2%.

--The Solution to the Murder of Mr. Body--
Roald Dahl wrote "Lamb to the Slaughter" in which a wife uses a frozen leg of lamb to kill her husband, then roasts the lamb and serves it to the police (her husband's colleagues), thereby neatly disposing of the murder weapon. It was Mr. Body's brother-in-law, Geoffrey, from Question 3!

Source: Author pu2-ke-qi-ri

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
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Who Guild Mr. Body? Trivia Quiz

Mr. Body is dead-- murdered. The Body count is ten questions. Ten clues. Can you, with the help of the Quiz Makers' Guild, solve the mystery of "Who Guild Mr. Body?"

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