Detective Sing was sitting at his desk when he was approached by a young lady.
“I’ve come to you for advice, Detective Sing,” she said, “I met this guy, Dr. Howard, a few months ago. He’s an archaeological expert, specialising in sun rituals in ancient times. A few days ago, he approached me and said that he had found a beautiful vase which had pictures on it celebrating the summer equinox. He said that it’s a rare find, but if I give him $2000, he’ll give me a half share in any proceeds he gets when he sells the vase. I was wondering whether you could find out some more about him for me, to make sure I’m not going to be handing over money to a fraud.”
“Well,” said Detective Sing, “The vase may well be a genuine artifact, but I’d be careful of this guy ‘Howard’—he’s a fraud.”
What made Detective Sing feel so sure?
Solution
There are four “ritual” times when seasons pass/change—the vernal equinox, the summer solstice, the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. The times of change in spring and autumn are always known as equinoxes, and those in summer and winter are always solstices. If Howard is the expert in ancient sun rituals that he claims, he wouldn’t have made the mistake of claiming that the vase represented a scene celebrating a summer equinox.
