Detective Cases

The Night Owl Limited leaves Ashford at ten at night and crawls through the dark toward Fenwick, stopping at four small stations on the way. It is a 1950s sleeper, all brass lamps and green curtains. Tonight the conductor has lost something: a wealthy widow’s jewel case has vanished from her compartment. The five people who rode with her have each told him when they stepped aboard and when they stepped off. Nobody lied. Each statement is a small piece of the schedule, and you must assemble them into one timetable before the thief becomes visible.

The Maple Street Diner has served the same four stools and three booths for decades. On a rainy Thursday night in a small Ohio town, the day’s cash deposit disappeared from under the register while the waitress was out of the room. Four regulars were inside at some point, and each told the sheriff a story. Some of them tell the truth in every sentence, and the rest never say a single true word. The physical evidence is thin, a receipt and a dripping umbrella, but it is solid.

Harrow House is a quiet country home with a library, a kitchen, a heated greenhouse and a small study where old Mr. Harrow keeps the things he loves most. On a rainy night in November, a pair of gold cufflinks that belonged to his father vanished from the study desk. Four people were in the house, the doors were locked from the inside, and the inspector has only their words to work with. This is a pure logic case: there are no hidden fingerprints or surprise twins. Everything you need is on the page, and there is exactly one answer.