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.