The Detective’s DeskZoe Hart
Curator
What happened from your point of view?
I stood by the practice display for that photo.
What should I check to test that account?
The mirror reverses the room labels.
MEDIUM · CASE FILE
The Person in the Reflection
Medium · A gallery installation
A photograph seems to place the curator beside the original. Check its mirror and hanging labels before using it as an alibi.
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 room has a large mirror facing a separate practice display. The actual painting has a crescent-shaped loss on its lower frame.
People and accounts
Sami Cole
Framer
What happened from your point of view?
The original frame has a crescent loss.
What should I check to test that account?
The practice frame is unchipped.
Edda Reed
Store attendant
What happened from your point of view?
Luca returned a wrapped frame to the store.
What should I check to test that account?
The original’s accession number was visible under its wrapping.
Luca Vale
Installer
What happened from your point of view?
The photograph proves I left the original untouched.
What should I check to test that account?
You can see the painting beside the curator.
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 · Gallery
Original wall check
After Luca’s sole installation interval the original wall holds intact-frame T2, although its outside label still says G8.
Case record · Gallery
Full uncropped photograph
The visible display label reads backward in the mirror. It shows T2 reflected from the practice wall, not the original G8 wall.
Case record · Framing desk
Frame identifier
The original’s lower frame has a crescent loss and accession G8. The practice version has an intact frame and number T2.
Case record · Framing desk
Installation assignment
Luca is authorised to move T2 only and acknowledges that G8 must remain displayed.
Case record · Gallery
Curator’s photo position
The floor plan and visible mirror edges put Zoe beside the practice display throughout the photograph; the image never covers Luca’s work at G8.
Case record · Store
Store return inspection
G8, with its crescent loss, is inside the parcel Luca signed back as “empty frame”.
Questions to resolve
Who returned the original under a false parcel description?
What does the apparent alibi photo actually show?
Who is established as knowingly assisting the switch?
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.