The Night Desk · Season 2 · Case 50 · Misdirection ·
The Salted Mince Pies
Seven years a champion, a rival with a salt cellar in her handbag, and a judge who bit into a mouthful of the sea.
The case file
Monday, 8:15 pm. At the Women's Institute Christmas show in the Chapel Hall, Mrs. Lavinia Keverne's mince pies have won seven years running. Tonight the judge bit into one and spat it into his handkerchief: salt, under the lid, in the mincemeat. Every entry was warmed in the hall oven before judging, and every pie of hers had been salted.
Mrs. Tozer, second seven years running, carries a salt cellar in her handbag and stood by the entries all evening, and the hall has made up its mind. Four people were about the hall, one each in the kitchen, on the platform, in the committee room and at the tea hatch, each with one thing that could salt a pie: a salt cellar, a sugar dredger, a piping bag or a teaspoon. Find who, with what, and where.
Who was there
- Mrs. Lavinia Keverne, champion seven years running. Eighty-one, very upright, with a silver tasting spoon on a chain and hands that shake a little now.
- Mrs. Hester Tozer, second seven years running. A salt cellar in her handbag for her nerves, and a very good reason to be blamed.
- Miss Clara Mabyn, show secretary. Lists, a pencil, and royal icing up to the elbows from the show cake.
- Mrs. Elsie Nancarrow, caretaker's wife, who does the teas. A sugar dredger in one hand, a teapot in the other, and an opinion of everyone in the hall.
The places: the kitchen, the platform, the committee room and the tea hatch.
The means: a salt cellar, a sugar dredger, a piping bag and a teaspoon.
Case 50 · Monday, December 14
The questioning room
This case's night is Monday, December 14, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: The victim is on the board too
Every name in the file belongs on the board, including the person the crime was done to. People do harm themselves, to escape a duty, a debt or an ending they cannot face. If the evidence keeps placing the victim at the scene with the means in hand, follow it, however unkind it feels.
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 Tuesday, December 15, the night after it opens.