1.69. Mr. H meets Mr. X in a hotel bar; after a heated discussion, they leave the bar and head upstairs. Partway up the stairs, Mr. X clutches his chest, then punches Mr. H in the face.

1.69 answer: Mr. H and his new wife are in the hotel for their honeymoon. Mrs. H is upstairs in their suite; Mr. H has stopped for a drink. In the bar he strikes up a conversation with a complete stranger, Mr. X, who turns out to be a hypnotist. Mr. H claims he can't be hypnotized; a heated discussion ensues, after which Mr. X hypnotizes Mr. H, telling Mr. H to kill his wife. (Mr. X intends to stop Mr. H before he actually commits the crime.) They head for the honeymoon suite, but partway up the stairs Mr. X has a heart attack; he punches Mr. H in an attempt to end the trance before Mr. X dies. (JKM original?)

1.69a. Two friends have just had lunch in a restaurant. At the end of the meal, one draws a pistol and shoots the other. (DW)

1.69a answer: The solution is essentially the same, except (a) the topic of the lunch discussion was specifically whether someone can be hyponotised to do something they normally would not do, (b) there's no mention in the teaser of the heart attack, and (c) the men are long-time friends. Also, the hypnotist is a doctor, so he's sure the heart attack will be fatal. The shooting is non-fatal and is intended to "wake up" the hypnotized friend to keep him from killing his wife.