The Night Desk · Season 2 · Case 54 · Misdirection ·
The Owl Cards
Twelve cruel little verses, twelve gray wax owls, and a town that has read enough of Crale to know who to blame.
The case file
Friday, 7:40 pm. When the Chapel Row congregation opened their hymn books for the carol service, twelve of them found a Christmas card inside, each with a cruel little verse about the choir and each sealed with gray wax and an owl. Crale's column has made the gray owl famous, and the Hollin Trust's new agent was in the chapel tonight with a stick of gray sealing wax in his pocket.
Between six and seven, while the chapel was made ready, four people were inside, one each in the vestry, the organ gallery, the porch and the kitchen. Each had something that could press a shape into soft wax: a signet ring, a brass button, a thimble or a toffee tin. Find who sealed the cards, with what, and where.
Who was there
- Silas Venning, new agent of the Hollin Trust. Saltholm manners, an owl on nothing he owns, and gray sealing wax for the Trust's letters.
- Miss Philippa Dunstan, chapel organist. Thin and exact, always something sweet in her pocket, and a choir that complains about her tempos.
- Mrs. Mercy Pearce, the minister's wife. A thimble on one finger, tea for sixty in the urn, and a reading glass on a ribbon.
- Wesley Tresize, chapel steward. His old bandsman's tunic with one brass button loose, and a list of who sits where.
The places: the vestry, the organ gallery, the porch and the kitchen.
The means: a signet ring, a brass button, a thimble and a toffee tin.
Case 54 · Friday, December 18
The questioning room
This case's night is Friday, December 18, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: A famous mark is easy to borrow
When a crime carries a signature everyone recognizes, ask who else has read about it. A trademark, a nickname or a calling card can be copied by anyone who wants the blame to land elsewhere. Look at how the mark was actually made. A forger of signatures rarely has the original tool.
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 19, the night after it opens.