[0:00]Uh, tell me, Miss Watson, uh, what training have you had for your job? Well, a college education and after that a library course at Columbia. I was going to take a PhD, but I ran out of money. Is this an interview? I mean I would have had my hair done or something. No, no, no, just getting the vital statistics. Uh, no, thank you. Continue. Well, my, uhm, I've read every New York newspaper backward and forward for the past 15 years. I don't smoke. I only drink champagne when I'm lucky enough to get it. My hair is naturally natural. I live alone, and so do you. How do you know that? Because you're wearing one brown sock and one black sock. Oh, you're right. If you lived with anybody, they would have told you. That's one of the advantages of living alone. Nobody tells you anything. Up? Yes, yes, perfectly.
[0:52]Nice place. I followed the other day while I was in the building. Have you been up here before? Many times, in July. Lunch. Now, we have, uh, roast beef and a ham and cheese. You can have your choice. A picnic. Ideal place for concentration, isn't it? No waiters, no people, no telephones. No central heating. Plenty of hot coffee. Have a seat. Thank you. Oh.
[1:23]Now I have a kind of a personality quest, so forth, and they may also be a bit of a tease for your memory. Oh, a tease, huh? Just answer the question, you know, without uh uh, don't dwell on the question. How long? Often when we meet people for the first time, some physical characteristic strikes us, uh, now what is the first thing you notice in a person? Oh, tell me an olive. Four olives, three pieces of celery. You're right. Passengers of oil in the cruise line is 125th Street. Four got off and nine got on. At White Plains, three got off and one got on. At Chappaqua, nine got off and four got on. And at each successive stop thereafter, nobody got off, nobody got on until the train reached its next to the last stop, where five people got off and one got on. Then it reached the terminal. That's easy. 11 passengers and a crew of nine. That's not the question. Oh, I'm sorry. How many people got off at uh Chappaqua? Nine.
[2:24]That's correct. Yes, I know. Would you mind telling me how you arrived at that conclusion? Spooky, isn't it? Did you notice that, um, there are also nine letters in Chappaqua? Are you in the habit of associating words, you know, with the number of letters in them? I associate many things with many things. I see. Uh, I was going to ask me how many people got off at White Plains. You see, I don't have ever been to White Plains three times in my whole life. Well, uh, supposing you'd only been there twice? But I wasn't, I was there three, no, but it is the next to the last stop on that line, anyway. One. Aren't you cold? No, no, no, don't worry about me. I never get cold. Now, uh, do you notice anything unusual about the following sentence? Able was I, ere I saw Elba. Uhm, no, but I doubt that Napoleon ever said anything like that. Adam on Adam. I doubt if he ever said that.
[3:32]Now, I have three telephone numbers. I'm going to repeat them just once. Uh uh, see if you can repeat them backward. Mhm, mhm. Are you ready? Yeah. Plaza. 23391. Murray Hill, 31099. Plaza, 23931.
[3:56]Uhm, of course not.
[4:00]Uh-huh. I have roast beef. Uh, Plaza 2, 3391. Murray Hill 3, 1099. And Plaza 2, 3931.
[4:15]Would you mind telling me how you arrived at that? The first is Plaza 2, with the year of the bank panic reversed. And the second one is Murray Hill 3, with 33 years after the date of the Norman conquest. And the last one is Plaza 2, with the number the same as the first and the second and the third digits transposed. Except that there's something terribly wrong with that question. Really? I don't think there is any Plaza 2 exchange.
[4:40]What if anything is wrong, well I guess we'll skip that.
[4:47]Now before asking you the next question, I must advise you it contains a trick. In order to see into the trick, I give you two words of advice. Never assume. Don't worry, I won't. Are you ready? Mhm.
[5:01]A detective broke into an apartment, found Harry and Grace lying on the floor dead. Beside them was a small pool of water and some fragments of broken glass. Above them on a sofa, looking down at them was a pet cat, his back arched. The detective concluded, without further investigation that the victims had died of strangulation. How was this conclusion possible? Never assume.
[5:31]Hey, Well, Harry and Grace, oh, you're so silly. Well, Harry and Grace goldfish?
[5:39]No, they weren't. They were rare tropical fish.
