The Night Desk · Season 1 · Case 21 · Sunday cold case ·
The Drowned Bell
Fifteen years ago a chapel bell sank in a storm. This summer the divers opened its crate and found stones.
The case file
Sunday cold case. Fifteen years ago, the old bronze bell of Kettle Cove chapel was crated to go to the Saltholm foundry for recasting. The barge Dorcas sailed with it at dawn and sank in a squall off Gull Rock, and the insurance paid $900. This summer, divers reached the wreck and opened the crate. It held stones from the chapel yard: the bell never left the chapel.
Five people were about the cove the night before she sailed, one each in the barge hold, on the quay, in the chapel, in the sexton's cottage and on the cove beach. Each had a hand on one of the quay crane, a block and tackle, a handcart, a rowing boat or a farm wagon. Whoever swapped the bell for stones lied then and is lying now.
Who was there
- Saul Chegwin, sexton of Kettle Cove, then and now. Eighty, deaf in one ear, and still the first up the chapel path every morning.
- Captain Reuben Vosper, master of the barge Dorcas. Lost his barge that night, and he is still bitter about it.
- Mrs. Philippa Lark, widow of the chapel warden. Black silk, a straight back, and her late husband's accounts by heart.
- Hugh Noy, agent for the Saltholm foundry. Prosperous now, with a gold watch, and a way of smiling before he answers.
- Bessie Tamblyn, schoolteacher, then a girl of twelve. Clear eyes, chalk on her sleeve, and the memory of a child who was not supposed to be out.
The places: the barge hold, the quay, the chapel, the sexton's cottage and the cove beach.
The means: the quay crane, a block and tackle, a handcart, a rowing boat and a farm wagon.
Case 21 · Sunday, November 15
The questioning room
This case's night is Sunday, November 15, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: In a cold case, trust the thing over the testimony
Old testimony has had years to harden, and a liar has had years to polish it. Physical facts do not change: a crate full of stones, a rut in a lane, a stopped clock. Put the hard fact on the board first, before any statement, then use it as the test every story must pass. A claim that cannot sit beside the fact belongs to the liar.
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 Monday, November 16, the night after it opens.