The Night Desk · Season 2 · Case 53 · Timeline ·
The Goose Club Goose
Four stalls in a row along the quay, a crated goose at the end of them, and a honk in the dark.
The case file
Thursday, 7:45 pm. The Christmas market runs along the quay in a single row of stalls, from the harbor wall to the fish market. At the fish market end stood the Goose Club's crate, with this year's prize goose in it, to be drawn at eight. At half past seven the crate was open and the goose was gone. It had not left the quay: the constable at each end saw nothing go by.
Four stalls stand in the row, numbered from the harbor wall. Each stallholder had one thing a goose could be hidden in: a tea chest, a potato barrow, a wreath cart or a wool hamper. Put the stalls in order, then find who took the goose, into what, and at which stall.
Who was there
- Mrs. Rosina Clemo, holly and wreaths. Scratched hands, a wreath cart heaped with holly, and a laugh you hear before you see her.
- Amos Jenkin, baked potatoes. A potato barrow with a little iron oven, coal smoke in his beard, and a bad knee.
- Barnaby Trevail, toy seller. Tin soldiers in tea chests, a widower's patched coat, and a little girl who named the goose.
- Mrs. Sarah Bawden, knitwear. Needles going even while she talks, a wool hamper, and mufflers in every color but gray.
In order: stall 1, by the harbor wall (Stall 1), stall 2 (Stall 2), stall 3 (Stall 3) and stall 4, by the fish market (Stall 4).
The means: a tea chest, a potato barrow, a wreath cart and a wool hamper.
Case 53 · Thursday, December 17
The questioning room
This case's night is Thursday, December 17, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: A neighbor at the end of the row
In a line, the places at the ends have only one neighbor. When a clue says something happened next to the person at the end, it names a single place. Fix the ends first: they turn every "next to" clue into a certainty, and the middle of the row falls into place around them.
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 18, the night after it opens.