The Detective’s DeskTara Lane
Driver
What happened from your point of view?
I returned every payment. Ben must have shown an old receipt.
What should I check to test that account?
My return form says I collected nothing at Ben’s door.
EASY · CASE FILE
A Paw Print on the Receipt
Easy · The village bakery
A driver says a customer never paid. Speak to the three people and follow the numbered receipt.
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.
The scene
The customer has a receipt bearing a small paw-shaped bakery stamp. Cash is missing from the delivery pouch.
People and accounts
Ben Cole
Customer
What happened from your point of view?
I paid Tara in cash and she stamped receipt 42.
What should I check to test that account?
The baker’s counterfoil should carry the same number.
Mina Bell
Baker
What happened from your point of view?
Only today’s delivery pad had numbers 40 to 49.
What should I check to test that account?
I issued that pad and the paw stamp to Tara this morning.
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.
Case record · Bakery counter
Receipt 42
Ben’s receipt and the retained counterfoil both record cash received today by Tara; both carry the bakery’s paw stamp.
Case record · Bakery counter
Old receipt sample
Last month’s receipts use a square stamp and a different number series.
Case record · Delivery desk
Pad issue register
Tara receives today’s numbered pad and stamp. Ben has no access to unused slips.
Case record · Delivery desk
Signed return form
Tara signs that no cash was collected from Ben. The pouch contains only the other customers’ exact payments.
Questions to resolve
Whose cash return omits a payment they received?
Which detail tests the old-receipt explanation?
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.