The Detective’s DeskJules Hart
Visitor
What happened from your point of view?
Mine has a silver repair under its handle.
What should I check to test that account?
The umbrella left at the café has Ada’s stitched name.
EASY · CASE FILE
The Blue Umbrella Mix-up
Easy · A café coat stand
Two visitors have nearly identical umbrellas. Decide whether the evidence establishes a theft or an honest exchange.
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 café is closed for cleaning. Both umbrellas have been recovered, one from each visitor.
People and accounts
Rafi Cole
Café owner
What happened from your point of view?
Ada called before anyone told her an umbrella was missing.
What should I check to test that account?
I logged her call and kept the item from the stand.
Ada Moss
Visitor
What happened from your point of view?
I picked the blue umbrella beside my coat and left.
What should I check to test that account?
I called when I saw an unfamiliar stitched name.
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 · Coat stand
Stand layout
The two matching blue covers were side by side. Ada left her own umbrella in the stand.
Case record · Coat stand
Two handle inspections
The umbrella Ada returned has Jules’s silver repair. The one left behind has Ada’s stitched name. The covers are otherwise identical.
Case record · Service desk
Incoming call log
Ada reports the wrong stitched name and asks to exchange umbrellas before the missing-item complaint arrives.
Case record · Service desk
Repair photograph
Jules’s earlier repair receipt includes the silver patch visible on the returned umbrella.
Questions to resolve
Which explanation is supported?
Who is established as a knowing thief?
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.