Murdok case library
A City of Alibis
Twenty larger investigations behind theatre curtains, laboratory glass and archive doors. Expect longer chains of spatial deduction and conflicting appearances.
CASE 030Granite Municipal Annex
The Elevator That Stayed
A lift inspector was killed during a recheck. The indicator showed the top floor, but the car remained downstairs with its door ajar. Someone had moved only the dial.
CASE 031White Cape Signal Station
The Lighthouse at Noon
A lighthouse keeper was killed after recording timed flashes in clear daylight. No vessel needed help, yet the beam repeatedly faced the same unloading point.
CASE 032Winter Window Toy Shop
The Warm Snow Globe
A shop assistant was killed after a display key went missing. One snow globe felt warm and its base glue was soft. Identical globes beside it were cold.
CASE 033Canal Survey Office
The Map of a Closed Door
A surveyor checking a right of way was killed in an old building. The new plan showed a street entrance where a wall had been bricked up for years.
CASE 034Marionette Hall
The Phone Beneath the Stage
A puppet-theatre custodian was killed during inventory. A ringing phone drew witnesses from the store, although it was a stage prop with its cable cut long ago.
CASE 035Orchid Glass Perfumery
The Rose Without a Scent
A perfumer was killed before comparing a new batch with its reference bottle. The reference was missing, and the perfume on sale smelled unusually faint.
CASE 036Elm Street Sorting Office
The Night Postmark
A postal clerk was killed over a tender letter. Its stamp predated the deadline, but the receipt used a numbering series introduced the next day.
CASE 037Echo House Conservatory
The Violin in the Wall
A violin repairer was killed before returning an instrument. Opening a wall cupboard triggered a brief tune, although nobody touched the violins hanging nearby.
CASE 038Paper Harbor Map Archive
The Folded Sea
A map restorer was killed before showing an altered coastal chart. Along one fold, a narrow pasted strip repeatedly covered the same stretch of shore.
CASE 039Crescent Rehearsal House
The Locked Applause
A hall accountant was killed while checking concert attendance. Few ticket stubs matched the roaring recorded applause, and separate ovations contained the same cough.
CASE 040Ember Printing Works
The Ash That Would Not Fall
A custodian was killed before returning a blackmail letter. A blackened scrap was offered as proof that it had burned, but the supposed ash would not crumble.
CASE 041East Window Film Studio
The Door With Two Dawns
A stage designer was killed over a copied competition model. A witness recalled two dawns: one outside the window, the other behind a closed scenery door.
CASE 042Silver Leaf Restoration House
The Glass Without a Reflection
A glazier was killed while inspecting a new mirror wall. Most of it reflected the room, but one patch showed a lamp behind the wall. The installer called it solid mirror.
CASE 043Hollow Oak Boarding House
A Dinner for the Missing
A care-home clerk was killed before a meal audit. Daily photographs showed a full place setting for a resident whom neighbours said had moved away weeks before.
CASE 044Moss Crown Botanical Lab
The Bell Jar Garden
A reviewer was killed before inspecting seedlings said to flower overnight under sealed glass. The bell jar's seal was intact; the removable tray beneath it had none.
CASE 045Rail Memory Museum
The Train in the Cabinet
A model-railway curator was killed before a handover. A locked engine whistled during a power cut, although its label specified an electric sound unit.
CASE 046Salt Stair Marine Institute
The Tides on the Stair
A curator was killed while checking specimens lost in a reported flood. Salt marks climbed the stairs, but the lower passage leading outside was completely dry.
CASE 047North Arc Planetarium
The Star Behind the Curtain
An observatory inspector was killed after a lens replacement. Fixed points of light appeared on the curtain only when a lamp in the store was switched on.
CASE 048Iron Sparrow Assay Office
The Weight of an Empty Safe
A silver-store custodian was killed before a recount. The cabinet's weighing platform showed its usual load, but inside it was empty and its lining looked much thicker.
CASE 049Horizon Bookbindery
The Last Page Is First
An estate clerk was killed before dating a diary. A revoked gift appeared before the promise it cancelled, and two sets of stitch holes marked the binding.