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The Detective’s Desk

MEDIUM · CASE FILE

The mirrored nameplate

Medium · ROSE OPTICS CABINET

A horizontal row of name tokens was recorded only through a mirror. A note identifies one position in the real row. Also reconstruct the review register: it records who examined which source, independently of whether their later proposed answer is correct. Review slots describe order, not travel or clock times.

Investigate this case

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.

Your assignment

Whose token occupied the requested real position?

People and accounts

Alba Dean

Proposed deduction

“My token is the requested one.”

Yara Grove

Proposed deduction

“My token is the requested one.”

Zeno Ward

Proposed deduction

“My token is the requested one.”

Bex Reed

Proposed deduction

“My token is the requested one.”

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.

PRIMARY RECORD

Mirror transcription

In the mirror, the four complete name tokens appeared left to right as YARA, ZENO, ALBA, BEX. The transcription records token positions, not reversed letter shapes.

This supplies the observed mirrored order.

LINKED RECORD

Cabinet request

The mirror reverses the order of the tokens. Select the person second from the left in the REAL row.

This defines the transformation and requested position.

CONTEXT NOTE

Cabinet frame

The mirror has a thin brass border.

Its border gives no positional information.

RECONSTRUCTION RECORD

Review register

This is the same investigation’s document review record. There are 3 ordered events, labelled Review 1, Review 2, Review 3. Each listed person, location and item occurs exactly once. These slots describe record order, not times from the analytical problem.

  • The event reviewed by Alba Dean occupies slot 3 (Review 3).
  • The event reviewed by Bex Reed occurs immediately before the event involving “Cabinet request” (consecutive rows, with no event between them).
  • The event involving “Cabinet frame” occurs immediately before the event involving “Cabinet request” (consecutive rows, with no event between them).

Use each column’s choices exactly once. Verified relationships govern the board; proposed answers and later recollections do not override them.

RECONSTRUCTION RECORD

Review cross-check

The relationships below were verified independently. “A immediately before B” means A is in the row directly above B, with no row between them. Keep relationships from all worksheet sources together. The following later recollections are claims to test, NOT verified facts. Exactly one disagrees with the reconstructed board; this alone is not proof of deliberate deception.

  • The event at Intake counter occupies slot 1 (Review 1).
  • The event at Reading desk occurs immediately before the event involving “Cabinet request” (consecutive rows, with no event between them).

Use each column’s choices exactly once. Verified relationships govern the board; proposed answers and later recollections do not override them.

Questions to resolve

Match every recorded item to its event location or reviewer.

When was the primary analytical record reviewed?

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.

Open the interactive case More Medium case files