The Detective’s DeskTess North
Singer
What happened from your point of view?
My name was on the panel’s first-page carbon.
What should I check to test that account?
Mara told me the panel changed its mind.
EASY · CASE FILE
The Missing Page Number
Easy · A rehearsal room
A singer is removed from a shortlist. Ask who handled the master, then compare page identifiers.
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 displayed list has two pages. A carbon copy of the signed master is kept separately.
People and accounts
Joel Lane
Panel chair
What happened from your point of view?
We approved both numbered pages as one document.
What should I check to test that account?
Our retained carbon includes the initials beside every page number.
Mara Cole
Audition secretary
What happened from your point of view?
I displayed the list exactly as approved.
What should I check to test that account?
The panel signs only the final page.
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 · Panel desk
Secretary’s correction request
Mara asks to remove Tess. Joel replies “No change; display the signed M7 master.”
Case record · Noticeboard
Displayed first page
The posted page omits Tess, lacks the M7 page identifier and matches a fresh print from Mara’s draft file.
Case record · Panel desk
Retained carbon
Page 1 of master M7 includes Tess and the chair’s initials. Page 2 identifies the same two-page master.
Case record · Noticeboard
Approved second page
The genuine signed second page was retained beneath the substituted first page.
Questions to resolve
Who supplied a page contradicting an explicit approval instruction?
Does the genuine final-page signature authenticate a substituted first page?
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.