The Night Desk · Season 1 · Case 15 · Locked room ·
The Organ Loft
A locked loft above the choir, a key that never left its pocket, and three other ways up that nobody counted.
The case file
Monday, 8:15 pm. During the tea break at choir practice in St. Brannoc's, someone took the parish Christmas fund, $160 in a japanned cash box, from the cupboard in the organ loft. The loft door at the top of the stair was locked, and the only key never left Mr. Lanyon's waistcoat. The whole choir could see that door from the tea urn, and nobody used it.
But a loft has more than one way in. During the break four people were each beside one of them: the loft stair door, the hatch from the bellows room below, the door from the bell gallery and the loft window above the churchyard. Each had one thing to hand: the loft key, a candle snuffer pole, a step ladder or a length of bell rope. Find the way in, and who took it.
Who was there
- Septimus Lanyon, organist of St. Brannoc's. Long white fingers, a watch he checks constantly, and a horror of wrong notes.
- Mrs. Maud Dowrick, verger. Keys at her belt, a black dress, and a firm view on where everyone should sit.
- Kit Polglaze, organ blower. Thirteen, strong in the arms from the bellows, and hungry at all hours.
- Jago Rule, sexton. Clay on his boots, a lantern on a hook, and the quiet of a man who digs for a living.
The places: the loft stair door, the bellows room hatch, the bell gallery door and the loft window.
The means: the loft key, a candle snuffer pole, a step ladder and a length of bell rope.
Case 15 · Monday, November 9
The questioning room
This case's night is Monday, November 9, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: Every bolt has two sides
A room locked from the inside still has an outside, and a lock or bolt is only as good as the gap around it. When the obvious door is guarded, ask of every other door, hatch and window: from which side does it fasten, and what would reach it from the wrong side? A long pole, a hook or a bit of wire turns a locked room into an open one.
How to solve a Night Desk case, with a worked example.
The solution
The night desk's write-up appears here once you solve the case, or from Tuesday, November 10, the night after it opens.