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The Detective’s Desk

MEDIUM · CASE FILE

The remaining parcel

Medium · WREN DELIVERY CABINET

Four couriers each received one different parcel. The record names enough assignments to identify the courier carrying the compass. 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

Who received the compass parcel?

People and accounts

Kemi Bell

Proposed deduction

“I received the compass.”

Lio Reed

Proposed deduction

“I received the compass.”

Mira Hart

Proposed deduction

“I received the compass.”

Jori Vale

Proposed deduction

“I received the compass.”

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

Parcel register

The only couriers are Jori, Kemi, Lio and Mira. The four parcels contain a compass, folio, key and reel, one different parcel per courier. Kemi received the folio; Mira received the reel.

This sets the one-to-one allocation and two assignments.

LINKED RECORD

Final handover

Lio received the key. Every parcel in the register was handed to exactly one of its four couriers.

This fixes the third assignment and leaves one unmatched pair.

CONTEXT NOTE

Wrapping inspection

Every parcel was wrapped in the same brown paper.

Identical wrapping does not distinguish the assignments.

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 Jori Vale occupies slot 3 (Review 3).
  • The event reviewed by Lio Reed occurs immediately before the event reviewed by Mira Hart (consecutive rows, with no event between them).
  • The event involving “Wrapping inspection” occurs earlier than the event at Review bench, 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.

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 3 (Review 3).
  • The event at Review bench occurs earlier than the event involving “Parcel register”, 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

Match every recorded item to its handler or reviewer.

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.

Open the interactive case More Medium case files