The Detective’s DeskMEDIUM · CASE FILE
Medium · A small conservation laboratory
A protected sample is damaged after a bottle labelled as cleaner is used nearby. Trace the actual bottle and decide whether a routine carrier knowingly helped the damage.
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 damaged sample and every bottle remain in the laboratory. The etched codes survive even where paper labels have changed. No chemical knowledge is required beyond the examination findings supplied here.
Laboratory assistant
The spill happened after I left the sample bench. The bottle labelled “cleaner” was not mine.
I relabelled a bottle because its original tag was torn.
Bench supervisor
I sealed a retained sample from the cleaner supply before the shift. It was normal.
The label is removable; the glass bottle also has a permanent etched code.
Instrument operator
I moved a closed bottle into the bench tray at Ilan’s request. I never opened it.
His message named bottle B7, not the shared cleaner supply.
Shift observer
I saw Ilan open a bottle beside the damaged sample. I could not read its paper label.
The bench still photograph clearly shows its etched B7 code.
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 · Sample bench
The clear still identifies B7 in Ilan’s hand while he opens it beside the sample. The continuous log records him applying its contents before he leaves. It does not support a later spill.
Physical record · Supply cupboard
Ilan asks Leo only to move the closed bottle B7 into the tray. He does not tell Leo the contents or ask him to open, relabel or apply it.
Physical record · Sample bench
Celia identifies Ilan opening a bottle but could not read the paper label. The still, not her recollection of a label, supplies the etched code.
Physical record · Supply cupboard
Mina seals and tests the shared cleaner before the shift. Its etched code is C2. The false paper label on B7 does not change the source of her retained sample.
Physical record · Sample bench
The sample was damaged by the liquid in etched bottle B7. The retained cleaner supply is harmless to this sample. B7’s paper label says “cleaner”, but its contents are not that cleaner.
Physical record · Supply cupboard
Ilan replaces B7’s original warning tag with “cleaner”. His signed slip acknowledges the original warning and predates the application at the bench.
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.
Compare the records with each account. Work out what the evidence establishes, then separate that finding from anything it does not prove.