1.31. A man gets onto an elevator. When the elevator stops, he knows his wife is dead. (LA; partial KH wording)

1.31 answer: He's leaving a hospital after visiting his wife, who's on heavy life-support. When the power goes out, he knows she can't live without the life-support systems (he assumes that if the emergency backup generator were working, the elevator wouldn't lose power; this aspect isn't entirely satisfactory, so in a variant, the scene is at home rather than in a hospital).

1.31a. Variant: The music stops and a woman dies.

1.31a answer: The woman is confined in an iron lung, and the music is playing on her radio or stereo. The power goes out. (RW) (See also #1.59, #1.70a, and #1.75c.)

1.31b. A man lives in a high-rise apartment building in the city. One day, as usual, he gets up, has breakfast, showers, dresses, kisses his wife good-bye, and leaves for work. He walks down the corridor to the elevator. After standing there for a minute or so, he realizes his wife is dead. (RW)

1.31b answer: Same as #1.31.