The Detective’s DeskRonan Bell
Trail helper
What happened from your point of view?
Every team got the same map.
What should I check to test that account?
I rotated one page to fit the copier.
MEDIUM · CASE FILE
The Map with the Wrong North
Medium · A charity treasure trail
A team follows its map to the wrong checkpoint. Compare the maps, ask who copied them, and find the detail that changed direction.
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
All clues use the printed map’s north arrow. A master copy and the distributed copies survive; no outside geography is needed.
People and accounts
Esme Lane
Route designer
What happened from your point of view?
I approved the master and sealed it before copying.
What should I check to test that account?
The number 6 checkpoint is west of the bridge on that master.
Yara Cole
Team captain
What happened from your point of view?
We followed our map’s north arrow.
What should I check to test that account?
Our arrow points toward the river, unlike the sign at registration.
Bram Hart
Courier
What happened from your point of view?
I delivered closed numbered packs.
What should I check to test that account?
Ronan marked Yara’s pack with a green dot before sealing it.
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 · Trail desk
Yara’s map
The route drawing matches the master, but the north arrow alone is reversed. Rotating a whole page would rotate both.
Case record · Registration
Other teams’ maps
Every other issued map matches the master’s arrow. Only the green-dot pack differs.
Case record · Trail desk
Copy correction overlay
A tracing sheet in Ronan’s job folder masks the original arrow and draws a reversed one. It is labelled “green dot only” in his signed work log.
Case record · Registration
Approved route master
North is toward the hill; checkpoint 6 is west of the bridge. The designer’s signed master is sealed before distribution.
Case record · Trail desk
Route dispute
Ronan’s earlier request to penalise Yara’s team was refused. The dispute supplies context, not proof of the altered map.
Case record · Registration
Closed-pack delivery
Bram signs for already sealed packs. The green-dot seal remains intact when Yara opens it.
Questions to resolve
Who deliberately changed the targeted map?
What was changed?
Who is established as knowingly assisting the change?
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.