15 Facts About Crimes, Hollywood, And Flying Bears

The city is dark under a blanket of cloud when the detective arrives at the scene of the murder. He's got his revolver tucked into his belt and is wearing a raincoat over his usual uniform. There's nothing unusual about that, but as he approaches the corpse in the alleyway between two tall buildings, he finds himself thinking: This can't be right. It was only five minutes ago I left him alive. What has happened here?

The dead man is dressed all in black—a tuxedo. He wears gloves. A pair of shiny shoes. His tie is red, like something out of a stage play or film from long ago, but the detective notices the tie isn't fixed right. When he leans in to inspect the tie, he spots the corner of a piece of paper peeking from an inside pocket of the tux. The detective takes it out and examines it -- and, to his amazement, it's a list of fifteen facts.

This is what it says:

15 The last surrender of the Civil War wasn’t in America.

14 It took over two months to drive cross-country the first time.