The Night Desk · Season 1 · Case 19 · Misdirection ·
The Gazette Darkroom
One glass plate of four men shaking hands, a darkroom left for supper, and a rival reporter caught at the door.
The case file
Friday, 10:50 pm. On Wednesday the Gazette's photographer, Leon Daunt, made a single glass plate at the Harbor Board: four men shaking hands over the lease of Berth 9. Tonight, while Daunt was at supper, the plate was taken from the drying rack in the darkroom.
Four people were on that floor of the Gazette building, one each in the darkroom corridor, the newsroom, the advertising office and on the fire stairs. Each had one thing that would hide a plate: a hatbox, a satchel of proofs, a mop bucket or an advertising portfolio. Cass Rendle asked Daunt for a print three times this week and was refused, and the night editor found her standing at the darkroom door with a hatbox. The six reporters in the newsroom swear no plate left that room.
Who was there
- Cass Rendle, gazette columnist and inquiry agent. Sharp hat, sharper pencil, and no patience for being suspected.
- Miss Opal Fenwick, daunt's darkroom assistant. Stained fingertips, a nervous laugh, and her employer's every habit by heart.
- Morris Skerry, advertising manager. Spats, a carnation and the easy charm of a man who sells space.
- Mrs. Nora Bassett, night cleaner at the Gazette. Sleeves rolled, a mop over one shoulder, and eyes that miss nothing.
The places: the darkroom corridor, the newsroom, the advertising office and the fire stairs.
The means: a hatbox, a satchel of proofs, a mop bucket and an advertising portfolio.
Case 19 · Friday, November 13
The questioning room
This case's night is Friday, November 13, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: Suspicion is not a square
A suspect can have the motive, the opportunity and the look of guilt and still be innocent, because none of those things is a fact on the board. When one person looks guilty, give them exactly the squares the testimony gives them and no more. If the evidence then lands somewhere else, believe the evidence.
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 Saturday, November 14, the night after it opens.