The Detective’s DeskCal Moss
Guest producer
What happened from your point of view?
I only collected paper. I never took equipment.
What should I check to test that account?
The badge log will name Suri, not me.
EASY · CASE FILE
The Case of the Borrowed Badge
Easy · A community radio station
A badge log names one person, but a microphone is found with another. Decide whether a badge identifies its wearer.
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 missing microphone has serial M12. Three people stayed on the station grounds.
People and accounts
Jo Lane
Engineer
What happened from your point of view?
I issued microphone M12 to the locked store.
What should I check to test that account?
Its serial is engraved under the stand.
Suri Bell
Presenter
What happened from your point of view?
I lent Cal my access badge to fetch script copies.
What should I check to test that account?
I stayed on air throughout the store visit.
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 · Equipment store
Supervised bag search
Microphone M12 is recovered from Cal’s zipped equipment bag beside the copied scripts.
Case record · Control desk
Store issue register
M12 was in the store before Cal’s visit. No equipment loan to Cal or Suri was authorised.
Case record · Control desk
Badge loan and broadcast
Cal signs for Suri’s badge before the visit. The uninterrupted broadcast and engineer’s desk record keep Suri in the booth throughout.
Case record · Equipment store
Store badge log
Suri’s badge opens the store. The log identifies the credential, not the body carrying it.
Questions to resolve
Who removed the identified microphone?
Who is established as a knowing helper to that removal?
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.