The Detective’s DeskLina Ward
Print assistant
What happened from your point of view?
I returned the exhibition photograph to its envelope. I did not replace it.
What detail should I check independently?
The original has a small crescent tear at its lower edge.
MEDIUM · CASE FILE
The Photograph in the Wrong Envelope
Medium · A small print workshop
A reproduction reaches an exhibition in an envelope meant for the original. Three people handled the job. Decide who substituted the sheet, using what the records establish rather than who seems nervous.
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 original is missing from the sealed exhibition envelope. You have the workshop handling record and the delivered sheet. No envelope or carrier left the building after reception accepted it.
People and accounts
Omar Lake
Workshop tutor
What happened from your point of view?
I lent Lina a reproduction so she could practise mounting it.
What detail should I check independently?
The reproduction has a printed border. The original has no border.
Bea North
Reception volunteer
What happened from your point of view?
I carried the closed envelope from the workshop to the display desk.
What detail should I check independently?
The workshop hatch recorded the envelope being closed before I collected 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.
Physical record · Display desk
The delivered sheet
The delivered photograph has a printed border and no crescent tear. It is the practice reproduction, not the exhibition original.
Physical record · Workshop
Practice loan slip
Omar lends the bordered reproduction to Lina for mounting practice. The slip does not authorise replacing the exhibition original.
Physical record · Workshop
Workshop hatch recording
A continuous view shows Lina removing the crescent-torn sheet from the exhibition envelope and placing a bordered reproduction inside. She closes the envelope before Bea arrives; no one reopens it during delivery.
Physical record · Display desk
Reception handover receipt
Bea collects the already closed envelope. The same intact closure reaches the display desk. Carrying the envelope does not establish that she chose its contents.
Questions to resolve
Who knowingly substituted the exhibition sheet?
What reached the display desk?
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.