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The Lunchroom Murder 

On an otherwise uneventful Thursday afternoon police heard a shot inside Ernie’s

Lunchroom, rushed in, and found the scene shown in Figure 1.4.

They identified the body as that of a prominent racketeer named Fannin. Ernie,who is both the owner and only employee, had only one fact to tell: the murderer

had leaned against the wall while firing at point-blank range. The imprint of his

hand is in clear view. The cash register has just been rung up at $8.75.

This is a difficult case. Your investigative team must attempt to determine which

of the people in the lunchroom killed Fannin. You will have to observe the details

carefully. There is enough evi- dence to help you explain most of what happened.

In working out the solution, consider the following questions.

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1. With what hand did the shooter fire the gun? What is the evidence? What is the

warrant?

2. Did customers B, C, and D know each other? What are the evidence and warrants?

3. How do the three customers differ in their habits or ways of doing things? What isthe evidence and what is the warrant?

4. Which set of footprints are Ernie’s? What is the evi- dence? What is the warrant?

5. To whom do the set of footprints marked X belong? How do you know?

6. Who killed Fannin? How do you know? Outline all the evi- dence and all of the

warrants necessary to support this claim.

Through investigation, it was discovered that Customer C killed Fannin. The firstpiece of evidence that proves that Customer C killed Fannin is that his silverware

was on the left side of his platter. His coffee cup was ALSO on the left side of his

plate. Typically, if the silverware and cups are placed on the left-hand side of the

plate, it means that the diner is left-handed. The conclusion can be drawn that C is

left-handed. The second piece of evidence that proves that Customer C killed

Fannin is that there was a right handprint on the wall. As a rule, if there is a right

handprint on the wall, the shooter pulled the trigger with his left hand. Since C is

left-handed, it can be drawn that he/she pulled the trigger. The final piece of

evidence that points to C as the murderer is that

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Hillocks, George, Jr. "Teaching Argument Writing, Grades 6-12."  Heimann. N.., 2!11. We. # $e. 2!1#.