DOSSIER 01
CASE FILE No.914 STATUS: OPEN EYES ONLY
COLD CASE · PRACTICE
THE DEAD LINE
He said the dead man telephoned him at eleven. The town line was down all night.
INCIDENT REPORT. Frank Stagg was found at dawn in his back store, struck down with a heavy brass scale-weight. The telephone line had been down across the town since the afternoon storm; no call could pass on any instrument that night. Five of the high-street people were awake in the small hours. Each gave an account. One of them swears the dead man telephoned him, on a line that carried nothing at all.
Decode each statement, then name the one liar. The cipher is the same for all five.
STATEMENT No.01 ENCRYPTED
— S.R.— Silas Rooke
STATEMENT No.02 ENCRYPTED
— C.B.— Clara Bly
STATEMENT No.03 ENCRYPTED
— A.C.— Arthur Cole
STATEMENT No.04 ENCRYPTED
— M.H.— Maud Hale
STATEMENT No.05 ENCRYPTED
— E.W.— Edith Wren
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
—DECODED