"This ignition coil... is dead."
Several guests gasped; others merely frowned in disapproval.
Lady Etrescu, always one to question the world around her, quickly asked, "But who would do such a thing?"
The Detective replied, "I don't yet know, but let's examine the evidence, shall we? Every crime has a reason, and by discovering the circumstances and history of the deceased, we will find the culprit. Who can tell me the recent history of this car?"
Professor Erickson rose, pausing a moment to clear his throat before speaking. "I was in this car barely a month a go, when it suddenly began misfiring. I was merely a passenger, so I can't tell you the details, but I do know that it was fixed shortly thereafter."
"You were the passenger." The Detective paused to light his pipe. With a puff of exhaled smoke, he continued, "Who was the driver?"
"That would be Master Black."
"I see." The Detective puffed again on the pipe, then addressed the maid. "Would you be so kind as to bring the master down? I would like to have a word with him."
"At once, sir." The maid disappeared up the stairs.
Moments later, Master Black appeared, visibly disturbed. "This had better be good. I was on the verge of completing a very delicate and interesting algorithm."
"I assure you, I am dealing with a matter quite non-trivial. Do you recall one month ago when your car began misfiring?"
"I do."
"Could you explain what happened, and how the problem was solved?"
"I was driving around with Professor Erickson, who was with me searching for a house to rent this fall. After seeing a few houses, my car began mysteriously misfiring at more than half throttle. It was found later that a part of the distributor had broken, causing a poor connection. After replacing the distributor cap, the rotor, the spark plugs, and plug wires, the problem mostly went away, except for an occasional misfire I attribute to lower quality replacement parts. Until recently, the car has run fine."
The Detective puffed again. "Until recently?"
"Recently, the car has started misfiring again, but only after it has warmed up. The ECU gave me code 15 — Ignition Output Signal — but after clearing that code, the misfire has continued and that code has not been seen again."
"Are you aware, Master Black, that your ignition coil has been found dead this very night?"
"No, but that would explain the misfire."
"Indeed, but that's only half the mystery. Without understanding what caused the coil to die, any replacement might suffer the same fate. Fortunately, I think you've provided me with all the evidence I need to solve this case."
Lady Etrescu once again queried the Detective. "Then who did it? Who killed the ignition coil?"
Who indeed... If you have an idea what killed the coil, post it in the comments. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion in part 2!