The Detective’s DeskDina Bell
Donor
What happened from your point of view?
I gave twenty and received receipt 18.
What should I check to test that account?
I never pledged two hundred.
EASY · CASE FILE
The Donation with Two Amounts
Easy · A town concert foyer
A donor is thanked for ten times the sum she gave. Work out whether the donor, collector or printer changed the amount.
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 collection envelope is intact. A public thank-you card conflicts with the signed receipt.
People and accounts
Arun Reed
Collector
What happened from your point of view?
I banked twenty and copied the receipt correctly.
What should I check to test that account?
I sent the printer my scan of receipt 18.
Esme Cole
Print organiser
What happened from your point of view?
The donor must have changed her mind.
What should I check to test that account?
I rounded the public totals up to help the concert look successful.
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 · Print desk
Proof correction
Esme changes 20 to 200 on the printer’s marked proof and signs the edit.
Case record · Foyer
Printed acknowledgement
The finished card uses the altered 200 figure; it is not a second pledge from Dina.
Case record · Collection desk
Receipt 18
Dina and Arun sign a twenty-unit donation. The bank deposit includes exactly twenty for that receipt.
Case record · Print desk
Submitted scan
Arun’s image clearly says twenty. It was received before the public card was prepared.
Questions to resolve
Who altered the public amount?
What amount is established as received?
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.