The Detective’s DeskLotte Gray
Dispatch worker
“My eight-by-five-centimetre face passed through.”
EASY · CASE FILE
The crate that would not fit
Easy · DOCKSIDE DISPATCH
A dispatch hatch accepts rigid rectangular boxes straight through. Boxes may be rotated by a quarter turn, but cannot tilt, bend or compress. Each worker describes the box’s width and height as it faces the hatch.
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
Inspect, test and record the finding. What does the verified record establish?
- The source records are verified and their stated conditions apply to every account.
- Find the account contradicted by a record. A contradiction alone does not establish wrongdoing.
People and accounts
Juno Reed
Dispatch worker
“My rigid six-by-six-centimetre face passed straight through.”
Kamal Ash
Dispatch worker
“My seven-by-four-centimetre face passed through.”
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.
DESK RECORD
The box labels
The boxes were labelled Fragile, Books and Tools.
The boxes were labelled Fragile, Books and Tools.
PHOTOGRAPH
The dispatch trolley
A trolley stood on the receiving side of the hatch.
A trolley stood on the receiving side of the hatch.
HATCH MEASUREMENT
Eight wide, five high
The hatch opening is exactly 8 cm wide and 5 cm high. A rectangular face fits only if width ≤ 8 and height ≤ 5, or if its quarter-turned dimensions satisfy both limits. No other rotation is allowed.
This is a verified source record for this case. Compare its stated facts with the exact question.
Questions to resolve
Whose claimed straight-through fit is impossible?
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.