The Detective’s DeskPEN & PAPER · CASE FILE
Pen & Paper · An overnight research ferry
A call from cabin seven seems to place Elin alive after a disputed delivery. A deckhand moved the visitor’s case, and a coat appears to supply an alibi. Determine who killed Elin and whether the deckhand actually knew what he was helping.
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.
Elin is found dead in cabin seven. The sealed deck video records every cabin approach from 21:55 onward. All six named people were aboard; there is no unrecorded route into her cabin. The examination places death at 22:04–22:12.
Dining steward
I set a place for Tom. At 22:05 his coat was on its chair, but I did not see his face until 22:16.
My till is short. I concealed that when the captain questioned me.
The covered tray outside cabin seven was already there at 22:02.
Elin’s colleague
I scanned documents in the passengers’ office until 22:14. Its camera runs continuously.
We disagreed over publishing credit. I wanted the research published with my name attached.
Elin left a duplicate manifest with me in case her appointment failed.
Radio operator
I was on an uninterrupted radio check with shore from 21:58 to 22:18. The recording includes the ship’s time signal.
Elin had complained that passenger messages were delayed. I had no interest in her research.
At 22:09 a service-corridor camera alarm briefly illuminated my panel.
Ship’s doctor
I attended a passenger on the upper deck from 22:00 until 22:20. The cabin call was logged at 22:17.
The victim accused me of mishandling a previous illness. It was an accusation I disputed.
The call displayed cabin seven, but a cabin call identifies a handset, not its user.
Medical-supplies agent
I delivered a sealed sample case at 21:50 and went straight to the dining saloon. I did not return to cabin seven.
Researcher Elin Ward planned to expose my company’s falsified trial documents. I wanted time to answer her.
Elin expected a confidential handover of documents, not a social visit.
Deckhand
Tom asked me to move an ordinary sample case to the cold store after 22:10. He said Elin had finished with it.
I accepted a small delivery tip. I did not know she had died.
Tom later asked me to say I had seen him in the saloon. I refused; I saw only his coat on a chair.
Read each record on its own terms. A claim made by a person is different from a fact established by an independent record.
Physical record · Cabin seven
Elin’s death was deliberate and occurred at 22:04–22:12. Her untouched supper does not contain the harmful contaminant; her private drink does. No delayed-delivery device is present.
Physical record · Cold store
Before the visit Tom asks Rafi only to carry a case. At 22:18 Tom adds, “If asked, tell them you saw me at dinner.” Rafi replies, “I did not. I will say I moved the case, nothing else.”
Physical record · Cabin seven
Both calls originated from the same cabin handset. The second at 22:17 contains no voice: a weighted receiver held the call button down. A call cannot independently establish Elin was alive.
Physical record · Service passage
At 22:02 Tom enters cabin seven. At 22:12 he leaves carrying the sample case. He is the only person to enter during the fatal interval. The exterior window cannot be opened and the service hatch does not reach the cabin.
Physical record · Service passage
Mira is visible in the upper-deck treatment recording, Cora in the office scanner stream, Hugo in the saloon camera and Pavel on the authenticated radio test throughout the fatal interval.
Physical record · Cold store
The case contains Tom’s papers and an opened private-drink vial with the same laboratory marker found in Elin’s glass. Rafi’s marks are only on the outside handle; this corroborates, rather than proves by itself, his limited errand.
Physical record · Cabin seven
Cora’s copy predates the visit. It records Elin’s plan to disclose falsified trial numbers, not to conceal or sell them.
Physical record · Cabin seven
The sample case belongs to Tom’s company. Its false trial batch numbers match the documents Elin intended to hand to the maritime investigator the next morning.
Physical record · Cold store
Rafi logged the small tip before the visit. It names a routine cold-store errand and no request to conceal a person or medical material.
Physical record · Dining saloon
Tom’s coat stays on a chair. His face first appears at 22:16. Rafi is visible moving the closed sample case at 22:14, after Tom leaves it beside the service door.
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Compare the records with each account. Work out what the evidence establishes, then separate that finding from anything it does not prove.