The Detective’s DeskMara Ellis
Curatorial assistant
“The gallery clock read 20:55 when I left. I was out before closing.”
MEDIUM · CASE FILE
Twelve missing minutes
Medium · THE MERIDIAN GALLERY
A sketch disappeared around closing time. Mara insists she left before the gallery closed. Two other witnesses also reported their departure times. Work out whose statement about leaving before closing is false.
Read the case file below, or open the interactive desk to examine records, keep notes and submit your reasoning. These are the case materials, without the solution.
Your assignment
Who actually left after closing?
- Closing time is expressed in accurate civil time.
- The gallery clock kept the same fixed offset all evening.
People and accounts
Theo Marsh
Exhibition designer
“The gallery clock read 20:40 when I left. That was before closing.”
Ivo Reed
Framer
“My accurately set phone read 20:58 when I left. I was out before closing.”
Case records
Read each record on its own terms. A claim made by a person is different from a fact established by an independent record.
CLOCK INSPECTION
A slow-running evening
At exactly 18:00 civil time, the gallery clock displayed 17:48. It continued running normally at that fixed offset until the building closed.
Add twelve minutes to a gallery-clock reading to obtain civil time.
CLOSING NOTICE
Doors close at nine
The gallery closed at 21:00 civil time that evening. A departure after 21:00 is after closing.
Staff may leave after closing; that is permitted. The question concerns the truth of their timing claims.
COLLECTION REGISTER
A different sketch
The missing sketch was catalogue 48. Its neighbouring picture remained in place.
This describes the missing object. It does not establish a departure time.
Questions to resolve
Put every reported departure onto accurate civil time.
- Mara: gallery clock 20:55
- Theo: gallery clock 20:40
- Ivo: accurate phone 20:58
Use the interactive case desk to select your finding and cite the records that support it. The answer is checked there, and your progress stays in your browser.
Build your finding
Compare the records with each account. Work out what the evidence establishes, then separate that finding from anything it does not prove.