The Night Desk · Season 2 · Case 47 · Alibi web ·
The Hotel Parrot
A Christmas ball, a forty-year-old parrot in the lobby, and twenty minutes of grand march when nobody was watching him.
The case file
Friday, 10:40 pm. Admiral, the Grand Marine Hotel's gray parrot, has lived on a brass perch in the lobby since 1920. At 10:15 every guest and the band went into the ballroom for the grand march. At 10:20 the perch was empty and the chain unclipped. At 10:35 Admiral was back on it, ruffled, warm, and saying something nobody had ever heard him say.
During the march four people were out of the ballroom, one each in the cloakroom, the linen room, the conservatory and on the front steps. Each had one thing that would hold a parrot for a while: a hatbox, a laundry hamper, a top hat or a doorman's greatcoat. Find who took him, in what, and where to.
Who was there
- Mrs. Ivy Scantlebury, cloakroom attendant. Gentle, slow, a pocket of sunflower seeds, and a running quarrel with the manager about drafts.
- Miss Bessie Treneer, chambermaid. Seventeen, starched to the eyebrows, and terrified of the manager.
- Linus Crale, reporter, Saltholm Clarion. Borrowed evening dress, a top hat he keeps putting down, and a notebook full of other people's secrets.
- Fred Trenoweth, doorman. Six foot four in a braided greatcoat with pockets like coal holes, and a soft spot for the bird.
The places: the cloakroom, the linen room, the conservatory and the front steps.
The means: a hatbox, a laundry hamper, a top hat and a doorman's greatcoat.
Case 47 · Friday, December 11
The questioning room
This case's night is Friday, December 11, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: Small crimes have kind motives
Not every taking is a theft for gain. Sometimes a thing is moved to be kept safe, warm or hidden from someone else, and then put back. The board does not care why; it only asks who, with what and where. But when the motive is kind, the clue is often a comfort left behind: warmth, food or a soft 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 Saturday, December 12, the night after it opens.