[Balin] Your brain stops ticking

[Balin]

Why did Whitley tell Dorian that he had a disease in his fingers?
Whitley = H/A/M
Dorian = H/A/M
"he" = "his" = Whitley

[GalFisk]

Did he have a disease in his fingers? In some other body part? Did he say what the disease was? Was it kleptomania? Is Whitley's profession relevant? Dorian's? Is their relationship relevant? If so, it is a business relationship? Friendship? An adversarial relationship?

[Solong]

Is the disease in his fingers, rather than on his fingers, as e.g. a rash or fungus?

[Balin]

Did he have a disease in his fingers? No In some other body part? No
Did he say what the disease was? No/Yope Was it kleptomania? No
Is Whitley's profession relevant? Yes Dorian's? Yes
Is their relationship relevant? Yes If so, it is a business relationship? Yope Friendship? No An adversarial relationship? Yes

Is the disease in his fingers, rather than on his fingers, as e.g. a rash or fungus? See above

[Westing1992]

Was Whitley a doctor? An athlete? A musician? An artist?
Did Whitley and Dorian have the same profession? (If not, did Dorian have any of the above jobs?)
Did Whitley intend to convince Dorian he had this disease? Was it an insult? A metaphor?
Amputation relevant?

[Balin]

Was Whitley a doctor? This An athlete? A musician? An artist?
Did Whitley and Dorian have the same profession? No (If not, did Dorian have any of the above jobs?) No
Did Whitley intend to convince Dorian he had this disease? Yope. There was another purpose behind the statement Was it an insult? A metaphor? Neither
Amputation relevant? No

[JenBurdoo]

Are the symptoms of the disease relevant, for example "itchy" fingers?

Was Whitley threatening Dorian? Trying to convince him of something? To do something, or not do something?

[Balin]

Are the symptoms of the disease relevant Yes for example "itchy" fingers? Not this example though

Was Whitley threatening Dorian? No Trying to convince him of something? Yes To do something, or not do something? Neither

[Westing1992]

Did Whitley have Dorian's well-being in mind? Was he trying to get Dorian to do something, except D was stubborn, and wouldn't do it unless W told a white lie?
Was the alleged disease gangrene? Leprosy? Arthritis?

[GalFisk]

Does the disease affect certain parts of the fingers: if so: skin? Nails? Joints? Nerves? Blood vessels? Tendons? Bone? Does it make fingers: cold? Hot? Stiff? Swollen? Painful? Crooked? Fragile? Sensitive? Numb? Is Dorian a patient? Another doctor?

[Balin]

Did Whitley have Dorian's well-being in mind? No Was he trying to get Dorian to do something Yes except D was stubborn Noish and wouldn't do it unless W told a white lie? Yes
Was the alleged disease gangrene? Leprosy? Arthritis? No to all

Does the disease affect certain parts of the fingers Yes, but recall my first answer in this puzzle if so: skin? Nails? Joints? Nerves? Blood vessels? This Tendons? Bone? Does it make fingers: cold? Hot? Stiff? Swollen? Painful? I'll say this is close enough; he claimed it would make his fingers bruise Crooked? Fragile? Sensitive? Numb?
Is Dorian a patient? No Another doctor? No

[GalFisk]

Did he say his fingers were bruised? Brused easily? Were going to bruise? Would bruise f a certain thing happened? Is a handshake relevant? A high five? A slap? A punch?

[biograd]

Was Dorian a nurse? a receptionist? some other kind of assistant? another type of medical professional (different from a doctor)?

Did Whitley lie in order to get out of doing an annoying job? (like for example, as a WAG, he could have refused to be on the phone with insurance companies because holding the phone too long/pressing too many voicemail buttons would bruise his fingers)

[Balin]

Did he say his fingers were bruised? No Bruised easily? Yes Were going to bruise? Yes, because... Would bruise if a certain thing happened? YES.
Is a handshake relevant? A high five? A slap? A punch? No to all

Was Dorian a nurse? a receptionist? some other kind of assistant? No to these another type of medical professional (different from a doctor)? Noish/Yope. The main category his job falls in isn't medicine.

Did Whitley lie in order to get out of doing an annoying job? No (like for example, as a WAG, he could have refused to be on the phone with insurance companies because holding the phone too long/pressing too many voicemail buttons would bruise his fingers) That's a funny alternative, but No

[GalFisk]

Would the thing happening be painful? Would it be an action performed by another human? A mechanical device? An object? By Whitley? Dorian? Does Whitley say this to annoy Dorian? To mislead him? Trick him into doing something?

[Balin]

Would the thing happening be painful? Yes Would it be an action performed by another human? Yes A mechanical device? No An object? Yes By Whitley? No, but... Dorian? Yes
Does Whitley say this to annoy Dorian? No To mislead him? Yes Trick him into doing something? Yesish

[Hobbsicle]

Is Dorian threatening Whitley? Is Dorian trying to do something criminal? Is he law enforcement? Is Whitley hoping that Dorian will let him do this action himself?

[GalFisk]

Does Dorian want to do something to Whitley? Does Whitley want Dorian to: abstain from doing something? Do something other than he intends? Do a specific thing Whitley wants? Legal concerns relevant? Would the thing Dorian wants to do be painful to anyone? To those whose hands bruise easily? Drawing blood relevant? Medical testing? Fighting? Competing? Sports?

[Balin]

Is Dorian threatening Whitley? No Is Dorian trying to do something criminal? On the contrary... Is he law enforcement? YES Is Whitley hoping that Dorian will let him do this action himself? No

Does Dorian want to do something to Whitley? Yes
Does Whitley want Dorian to: abstain from doing something? Do something other than he intends? Do a specific thing Whitley wants? This
Legal concerns relevant? No
Would the thing Dorian wants to do be painful to anyone? Yes To those whose hands bruise easily? So Yes
Drawing blood relevant? YES Medical testing? Yope Fighting? Competing? Sports? No to these

Great set of q's!

[Doriana]

Does Dorian ask Whitley to make a fist? So that he can draw blood more easily?

[Balin]

Does Dorian ask Whitley to make a fist? No So that he can draw blood more easily?

[GalFisk]

Does Dorian want to draw Whitley's blood? Drawing blood: from a fingertip? From the back of a hand? From the bend of the arm? Blood for: donation? Drug test? Test for medical issues? Is Whitley suspected of a crime? Does Whitley want Dorian to: not draw blood? Draw blood from another location? Test using a different method? Is fooling a drug test relevant?

[Balin]

Does Dorian want to draw Whitley's blood? Yes
Drawing blood: from a fingertip? This From the back of a hand? From the bend of the arm? But this is also relevant
Blood for: donation? Drug test? Test for medical issues? No to all
Is Whitley suspected of a crime? Yes
Does Whitley want Dorian to: not draw blood? Draw blood from another location? This Test using a different method?
Is fooling a drug test relevant? No

[Doriana]

Does Dorian want to draw blood from the fingertip? But Whitley wants him to do it from the bend of the arm? So he says that his fingers would bruise if blood was drawn from them?

[GalFisk]

Blood for a DNA test? Other blood identification test? Does Whitley want Dorian to draw blood from the bend of his arm instead of from his fingertip? Does Whitley intend to foil a blood test? To give Dorian blood which is not his own? To delay the test? To damage equipment? To buy time?

[Balin]

Does Dorian want to draw blood from the fingertip? But Whitley wants him to do it from the bend of the arm? So he says that his fingers would bruise if blood was drawn from them? Yes to all!

Blood for a DNA test? This Other blood identification test?
Does Whitley want Dorian to draw blood from the bend of his arm instead of from his fingertip? Yes... Does Whitley intend to foil a blood test? Yes! To give Dorian blood which is not his own? Yes! To delay the test? To damage equipment? To buy time? No to these

[GalFisk]

Does he intend for the needle to draw blood that is not his? To swap the blood afterwards? Is he wearing a fake body part or fake skin? Relevant where he got the wrong blood?

[Balin]

Does he intend for the needle to draw blood that is not his? This To swap the blood afterwards?
Is he wearing a fake body part or fake skin? Neither Relevant where he got the wrong blood? It might help. Remember, his profession is relevant

[GalFisk]

Is he a medical professional? Will the needle go into his own vein? Will he put someone else's blood into his own vein?

[Konnie]

Does he have a tube of different blood in his sleeve? Beneath his skin? Does he have chimerism?

[Balin]

Is he a medical professional? Yes Will the needle go into his own vein? NO, see below Will he put someone else's blood into his own vein? No

Does he have a tube of different blood in his sleeve? No, but... Beneath his skin? ...YES. Does he have chimerism? No, but you've got the

****SPOILER****

Dr. John Schneeberger ("Whitley" in the puzzle) had passed two DNA tests after a patient accused him of sedating and raping her, but the police had him submit to a third test years later, after the patient maintained the accusation. At that test, the forensic technician (our "Dorian") wanted to take blood from his fingertip, but Schneeberger refused, saying he had a disease that would cause his fingers to bruise. Instead, the blood was taken from his left arm, where the two prior tests had drawn blood; the blood was deemed too degraded for testing.

But after Schneeberger's stepdaughter also accused him of sexual assault, the police (with a warrant) took DNA from all over his body, which matched. Schneeberger later confessed that he had surgically inserted a tube of blood from one of his patients under the skin of his left arm, which is why the three earlier tests did not match his DNA.

I saw this on an episode of Forensic Files, which I've been watching almost non-stop since GalFisk's puzzle about the ricocheting bullet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABK6L0oHbbw

Nice job everyone!

[kalira]

Well that's disturbing. I find myself wondering how he surgically inserted the blood tube without leaving some kind of mark that any decent phlebotomist would notice when drawing blood -- I mean, he would have to have cut pretty close to where the tube would lay to get it in (I think, anyway), and the wound would be fairly fresh. I can't watch the video now to see if they discuss this at all, but it certainly is odd.

[Balin]

That's discussed late in the episode. The incision was covered by his shirt sleeve.