The Detective’s DeskNell Hart
Designer
What happened from your point of view?
I thought I picked my own box.
What should I check to test that account?
Mine has a raised dot under the lid; I cannot eat sesame.
EASY · CASE FILE
The Two Identical Lunch Boxes
Easy · A shared office kitchen
A lunch disappears from a shelf. The boxes look identical, so follow their contents and names rather than their colour.
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
A half-eaten lunch and an unopened lunch box have both been found.
People and accounts
Milo Cole
Receptionist
What happened from your point of view?
Nell stopped eating and called Sami immediately.
What should I check to test that account?
I found Nell’s own unopened sandwich on the same shelf.
Sami Reed
Archivist
What happened from your point of view?
My missing lunch is sesame noodles.
What should I check to test that account?
My box has no raised dot.
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 · Kitchen shelf
Two lid inspections
The opened noodle box has no raised dot. The unopened sandwich box has Nell’s raised dot.
Case record · Kitchen shelf
Shelf labels
Both blue boxes stand on an unassigned shared shelf. No one has removed either label.
Case record · Kitchen shelf
Lunch order slips
Sami ordered sesame noodles; Nell ordered a sandwich without sesame.
Case record · Kitchen table
Immediate message
Nell tells Sami she opened the wrong box, identifies the noodles and offers a replacement before Sami notices the shortage.
Questions to resolve
What does the combined evidence support?
Who is established as deliberately taking someone else’s lunch?
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.