DOSSIER 01
CASE FILE No.015 STATUS: OPEN EYES ONLY
COLD CASE · PRACTICE
THE MARLOW COURT BLACKOUT
One minute of darkness. One blow to the temple. Marlow Court woke to a corpse.
INCIDENT REPORT. Roland Marlow was found in the library at nine o'clock, struck once across the temple with a brass candlestick taken from the mantel. The blow came during a six-minute power failure that left the whole house in total darkness — not a lamp, not a candle was lit anywhere inside. The fuse box in the cellar had been opened by hand and a single fuse drawn out; there was no storm and no fault. A servant put the fuse back at six minutes past nine. The library door stood ajar, its only key still in Marlow's own waistcoat pocket. Five of the household and guests cannot be placed in those six dark minutes. Each has given a statement. One of them cannot be true.
Decode each statement, then name the one liar. The cipher is the same for all five.
STATEMENT No.01 ENCRYPTED
— C.H.— Clara Hewitt
STATEMENT No.02 ENCRYPTED
— J.F.— Julian Frost
STATEMENT No.03 ENCRYPTED
— A.P.— Agnes Poole
STATEMENT No.04 ENCRYPTED
— H.C.— Major Hugh Crale
STATEMENT No.05 ENCRYPTED
— W.S.— Walter Stubbs
Who's lying?
Four stories hold. One won't. Name the liar.
You file one verdict.
The Bureau does not reopen the case. Sign off against —?
ANALYZING
VERDICT IN
KEY EVIDENCE
×0STREAK
—VERDICT