The Mathville Puzzles: The Heirloom Salt Cellar

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One thing everyone knows in Mathville is that Mayor Abscissa Adams hosts excellent dinner parties for the members of her cabinet. Fine food, champagne and good conversation combine to make a memorable evening. One Friday evening, as a thunderstorm brewed outdoors, Abscissa and her guests sat in the dining room, eating and chatting. The conversation focused on a beautiful salt cellar, which everyone knew had been in the Mayor's family for generations and was usually placed on the table during elegant dinners.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky outside, followed by deafening thunder. The lights went out for less than 5 minutes and then returned. After a few moments, the conversation resumed, until the Mayor noticed that her salt cellar was missing. The police were called, and after a couple of hours, the detective in charge arrested the thief.

Can you figure out who stole the salt cellar? Here are your clues.
  • Only these people were present in the Mayor's house at the time of the robbery: Mayor Abscissa Adams, Bob Beacham, Chris Cavanaugh, Dale Davidson, Ella Eames and Francis Fairfield.
  • No one else was in the house. 
  • No one entered or exited the dining room. 
  • For the duration of the brief power outage, the house was in complete darkness.
  • The stolen item was not insured. 
  • No two people have the same weight, hair color, car color or make, shoe color, or scarf color.
  • The person who drives a purple Dodge wore tan shoes.
  • Abscissa Adams has grey hair.
  • The person who drives a black Nissan wore blue shoes.
  • The person who weighs 180 pounds drives a green Toyota.
  • Dale Davidson was wearing a purple scarf.
  • Francis Fairfield has curly hair.
  • The person who weighs 150 pounds wore tan shoes.
  • Bob Beacham weighs 210 pounds.
  • Chris Cavanaugh drives a green Toyota.
  • The person who weighs 190 pounds wore blue shoes.
  • The person who was wearing a red scarf is not the one who wore black shoes.
  • The thief drives a black Nissan.
  • The person who drives a white Ford is not the one who weighs 170 pounds.
  • Ella Eames wore brown shoes.
  • The person who weighs 190 pounds does not have curly hair.
The clues above contain all the information you need to figure out the identity of the thief. 

Contest Rules
  • You must send the solution via email to Laura Skinner at lskinner@pvcc.edu.
  • Solution due by Thursday, March 27th at 11:59 p.m. Solutions sent after the deadline will not be considered.
  • You must email the solution from your PVCC email address.
  • You must explain how you arrived at the solution -- that is, you must show your work, explain your reasoning. 
  • Only correct solutions with explanations of the reasoning used to arrive at the solution will be considered.
  • Three entries will be drawn from all the correct solutions, to determine a first, second and third place.
  • The first place prize will be a $30 gift certificate to the PVCC Bookstore.
  • The second place prize will be a $15 certificate to the Mermaid Express coffee cart.
  • The third prize will be a big Hershey’s milk chocolate bar.
  • Drawing will be conducted on Friday, March 28th. Winners will be notified by email, and their names will be published on a blog post. 
  • The solution to the puzzle will be published on the blog after winners have been announced.
  • Winners must pick up their prizes by Thursday, April 3rd at 9 p.m., or they forfeit their prizes. Prizes must be picked up in person. Please present your student I.D.
Would you like another chance to solve a puzzle and win a prize? Check out the puzzle posted outside of Room 160 in the main building by Mu Alpha Theta, the Math Honors Society.