The Night Desk · Season 2 · Case 59 · Timeline ·
The Cave Under the Point
Finale, part two. A smugglers' cave under Point Cottage, eight canvas bags gone, and a coastguard who logged every lantern.
The case file
Wednesday, 8:00 am. At first light the Board's search party went down through the cellar of Point Cottage into the old smugglers' cave beneath it. They found eight rotten canvas bag shapes in the sand, and drag marks to the slipway. The Halcyon's silver lay there twenty-two years and was moved last night. The snow stopped at half past eight, and the drag marks lie on top of it.
The coastguard logged four lanterns out to the Point last night, one each at 8, 9, 10 and 11 pm, each carried by one person alone. Each came with something that could carry heavy bags away: a handcart, a pony trap, a wheelbarrow or a rowing boat. Put the visits in order, then find who moved the silver, with what, and when.
Who was there
- Abel Trevaskis, coxswain, for the Lifeboat Fund. Thirty rescues, a beard like a gale, and the Fund's new cottage to look after.
- Perran Uren, gasworks foreman, who drove the cart in 1904. Big hands, a borrowed pony, and twenty-two years of not sleeping right.
- Hosea Pawley, chauffeur to Mrs. Marwood. Leather gloves, a seaman's rolling walk, and no answers that his employer has not approved.
- Silas Venning, agent of the Hollin Trust. Sent out last night to "collect the last of the Trust's property," and still not sure what it was.
In order: the 8 pm visit (8 pm), the 9 pm visit (9 pm), the 10 pm visit (10 pm) and the 11 pm visit (11 pm).
The means: a handcart, a pony trap, a wheelbarrow and a rowing boat.
Case 59 · Wednesday, December 23
The questioning room
This case's night is Wednesday, December 23, from midnight your time. The questioning room plays here with JavaScript on; the case file above reads without it.
The inspector's note: A trace laid on snow has a clock in it
Snow, frost, dust and wet paint all record time. A mark on top of fresh snow was made after the snow stopped; a mark under it was made before. When you know when the weather changed, every trace in it becomes a timestamp, and a timestamp can cut a line of visitors in two before anyone says a word.
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 Thursday, December 24, the night after it opens.