The Detective’s DeskArun Lake
Restorer
What happened from your point of view?
I was delivering a clock at noon, so I could not take the pendulum.
What should I check to test that account?
The apprentice heard twelve chimes during my visit.
MEDIUM · CASE FILE
A Night Bell at Noon
Medium · A clock-restoration workshop
A witness hears twelve chimes and assumes noon. Establish which clock rang, then follow the pendulum during the actual interval.
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
One workshop clock is set six hours fast for testing. The other is synchronised to the supplied bench timer.
People and accounts
Tia Reed
Apprentice
What happened from your point of view?
I heard twelve chimes but did not read a clock face.
What should I check to test that account?
The testing clock was on the sounding bench.
Milo Hart
Owner
What happened from your point of view?
The pendulum was in tray P3 at 17:50.
What should I check to test that account?
Arun’s padded case was beside that tray during collection.
Zara Cole
Delivery clerk
What happened from your point of view?
Arun delivered his clock to me at 18:10.
What should I check to test that account?
My receipt records the reference timer time, not a chime count.
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 · Collection desk
Packing authority
Arun’s collection order covers a repaired clock only, explicitly excluding the separately owned pendulum.
Case record · Collection desk
Case recovery
The pendulum, matching its owner’s engraved P3 mark, is inside Arun’s padded clock case at delivery.
Case record · Pendulum bench
Tray check
P3 contains the identified pendulum at 17:50 and is empty at 18:05 after Arun’s sole collection visit.
Case record · Sounding bench
Apprentice’s full account
Tia heard twelve strikes and inferred noon; she did not see a synchronised clock or the contents of Arun’s case.
Case record · Collection desk
Reference delivery receipt
Arun’s delivery is recorded at 18:10 by the synchronised timer. It is not a noon receipt.
Case record · Sounding bench
Test setting sheet
The sounding clock is six hours fast; at reference 18:00 its dial reads midnight and strikes twelve.
Questions to resolve
Who carried away the separate pendulum?
When did the twelve-chime event occur by the reference timer?
What did Tia observe directly?
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.