The Night Desk · Season 2 · Case 46 · Timeline ·
The Lightship Lamp
A lightship on the bar, four men standing watch alone in turn, and twenty minutes when the light was not there.
The case file
Thursday, 9:00 pm. Last night the lightship on Harrow Bar went dark for twenty minutes, and the fishing boat Kittiwake had to drop anchor in the snow rather than run for the harbor blind. The skipper had no watch and could not say when. At dawn the lamp was burning as if nothing had happened.
The lightship's four men stand watch alone, two hours each, from 8 pm, 10 pm, midnight and 2 am, while the others sleep below. Each kept one thing on deck that could put out the light for a while: a boat cloak, a fire bucket, wick scissors or a spanner. Put the watches in order, then find whose hand put out the light, with what, and when.
Who was there
- Captain Elias Hichens, master of the lightship. Twenty years on the bar, a boat cloak over everything, and a wife ashore he sees once a month.
- Jory Bosanko, lamp trimmer. Soot in every crease of him, a pair of wick scissors on a lanyard, and pride in a clean flame.
- Tobias Odgers, seaman and engine man. Oily hands, a quiet way, and a daughter ashore who marries on Christmas Eve.
- Kit Tremewan, seaman, the youngest aboard. Nineteen, homesick, and the name the Clarion has already printed.
In order: the 8 pm watch (8 pm), the 10 pm watch (10 pm), the midnight watch (Midnight) and the 2 am watch (2 am).
The means: a boat cloak, a fire bucket, wick scissors and a spanner.
Case 46 · Thursday, December 10
The questioning room
This case's night is Thursday, December 10, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: A handover is a hinge
When people take turns, each handover joins two of them: one ends where the other begins. A single "she took over from me" places two people at once if either end is fixed. Pin the first and last turns from what everyone agrees on, then use the handovers to swing the middle into place.
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 Friday, December 11, the night after it opens.