The Night Desk · Season 1 · Case 17 · Timeline ·
The Fog Signal Rounds
Four rounds of the signal house in a thick fog, one brass reed gone, and a horn that stopped calling.
The case file
Wednesday night, in the thickest fog of the year. The new fog horn on Fogbell Point sounds every thirty seconds, and the signal house is checked once every forty minutes: at 9:00, 9:40, 10:20 and 11:00. Four people made one round each, carrying one thing: a storm lantern, a tool roll, a surveyor's satchel or an oil can.
By midnight the horn was silent and its brass reed, the tongue that makes the note, was gone. Without it the Point has no voice, and the Harbor Board is already asking whether the Point needs a light at all. Hester Trewin heard the horn from the cottage at a quarter past nine, so the reed was still in place after the first round. Put the rounds in order, and find whose round it was.
Who was there
- Amos Trewin, head keeper of the Merrow Light. Older than he looked two weeks ago, and angrier. Somebody is trying to close his light.
- Kit Rowe, assistant keeper. New on the Point, sharp, and keen to be useful.
- Lucas Brand, fog signal engineer from Saltholm. Oil on his cuffs and pride in his horn, which he calls her.
- Miss Esme Pollard, lights surveyor for the Harbor Board. Sensible boots, a measuring eye, and a report half written before she arrived.
In order: the 9:00 round (9:00 pm), the 9:40 round (9:40 pm), the 10:20 round (10:20 pm) and the 11:00 round (11:00 pm).
The means: a storm lantern, a tool roll, a surveyor's satchel and an oil can.
Case 17 · Wednesday, November 11
The questioning room
This case's night is Wednesday, November 11, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: Chain the befores and afters
A clue that says one person went before another does not place anyone alone, but two of them together often do. Write each one as an arrow between two names. When the arrows make a chain as long as the open slots, the order is settled: the first name takes the first open slot, and so on down the line.
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 Thursday, November 12, the night after it opens.