What's the next in the series?

H, Be, F, S, Mn, Kr, In, Gd, Tl, ?

I am quite hot but become too cold if you remove the first two letters. What am I?

A monk has a very specific ritual for climbing up the steps to the temple. First, he climbs up to the middle step and meditates for 1 minute. Then he climbs up 8 steps and faces east until he hears a bird singing. Then he walks down 12 steps and picks up a pebble. He takes one step up and tosses the pebble over his left shoulder. Now, he walks up the remaining steps three at a time which only takes him 9 paces. How many steps are there?

A woman named Maria was at the funeral of her mother. She met a nice young man that she had never seen before and after the service, they spent a bit of time together. Then she got busy and didn’t get his name or phone number before he left. She tried to find him, but no one knew who he was or how to contact him. A few weeks later, Maria’s older sister dies and the police suspect murder. Who killed the sister?

Can you replace the X (both small and big x) with the numbers between 1 to 19 such that all the rows of 3 numbers between X (big x) sum to 23?

I have a five and a three-gallon jar. Assuming there is an infinite supply of water, how can I measure one-gallon water?

It is always ahead of me yet I can never see it. What is it?

What have one eye but still cannot see?

All of the flowers I have are orchids except two. All of the flowers I have are hibiscuses except two. All of the flowers I have are roses except two.

Can you tell me how many flowers I have?

What is the end of everything?