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The Detective’s Desk

MEDIUM · CASE FILE

One exchange in the display

Medium · WILLOW MINIATURE MUSEUM

Four attendants describe the display after one documented exchange. The symbols never move except as listed. 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 description conflicts with the final display?

People and accounts

Davi Oak

Recorded account

“The moon is still in slot 2.”

Ena Lake

Recorded account

“The leaf is now in slot 1.”

Fenn Bell

Recorded account

“The key is still in slot 4.”

Caro Moss

Recorded account

“The star is still in slot 1.”

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.

LINKED RECORD

Single movement log

Only slots 1 and 3 were exchanged. Nothing was added, removed or moved in any other way.

This defines the sole transformation.

CONTEXT NOTE

Object materials

Each symbol is carved from the same pale wood.

Material does not determine final position.

PRIMARY RECORD

Opening display

Left to right, the four slots held a star, moon, leaf and key. Slot numbers run 1 to 4 from the left.

This provides the initial arrangement.

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 Fenn Bell occupies slot 2 (Review 2).
  • The event at Intake counter occurs earlier than the event involving “Single movement log”, without claiming they are consecutive.
  • The event at Reading desk occurs immediately before the event reviewed by Ena Lake (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 Review bench occupies slot 3 (Review 3).
  • The event involving “Single movement log” occurs earlier than the event involving “Opening display”, without claiming they are consecutive.

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

Questions to resolve

Reconstruct the file or item order through the verified register.

Whose supplementary location recollection conflicts with the board?

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.

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