23. Captain Flint asked four of his pirates to write on a piece of paper how many gold, silver and bronze coins were in the treasure chest. Their responses are shown in the diagram but unfortunately part of the paper was damaged. Only one of the four pirates told the truth. The other three lied in all their answers. The total number of coins was 30 . Who told the truth?

A Tom
$\mathrm{B} \mathrm{Al}$
C Pit
D Jim

E We cannot be sure
Solution
B

If Tom told the truth, his answer for the number of gold coins would be 10 . However, this is the same as Pit's answer and so Pit would have also told the truth for the number of gold coins. Therefore Tom could not have told the truth.
If Pit told the truth, his answer for the number of silver coins would be 10 , which is the same as Jim's answer and so Jim would also have told the truth for the number of silver coins. Therefore Pit could not have told the truth.
If Jim told the truth, his answer for the number of bronze coins would be 11 , which is the same as Tom's answer and so Tom would also have told the truth for the number of bronze coins. Therefore Jim could not have told the truth.
However, if Al told the truth, his answer for the number of silver coins would be 11, which does not match any other pirate's answer. His answers for the numbers of gold and bronze coins also do not match any other pirate's answer. Therefore Al told the truth.