CASE FILE · No. 003 · 1892
The Rhyme at Alderwick Hall
ALDERWICK HALL, KENSINGTON · DIFFICULTY: MISDEMEANOR
THE BRIEFING
During a private supper at Alderwick Hall, Sir Rowan Alderwick collapsed in his locked study shortly before midnight. The study window was open, the writing desk had been disturbed, and one page had been torn from Sir Rowan's private ledger. No guest admitted entering the study. On the desk, beside an overturned ink bottle, Scotland Yard found a folded sheet of paper — unsigned. Each line points somewhere in the records. Follow them.
POEM FOUND ON THE DESK
By the eastern stair, seen twice at night, With violet mark and cedar light. No soldier's steel, no tailor's thread, But legal ink and debt instead. A fair hand praised the pale moon low, Where private ledgers quietly show. Count each step, then weigh what's owed, One quiet name will end the road.
/ THE EVIDENCE
Database Schema
The tables we have warrants for. Cross-reference them carefully.
- suspect_idINT
- nameVARCHAR(100)
- occupationVARCHAR(100)
- relationship_to_victimVARCHAR(200)
- movement_idINT
- suspect_idINT→ suspects.suspect_id
- room_nameVARCHAR(100)
- movement_timeTIMESTAMP
- observed_byVARCHAR(100)
- notesVARCHAR(300)
- effect_idINT
- suspect_idINT→ suspects.suspect_id
- item_descriptionVARCHAR(300)
- color_noteVARCHAR(100)
- scent_noteVARCHAR(100)
- debt_idINT
- suspect_idINT→ suspects.suspect_id
- debt_typeVARCHAR(150)
- amountDECIMAL(10,2)
- statusVARCHAR(100)
- ledger_noteVARCHAR(400)
- sample_idINT
- suspect_idINT→ suspects.suspect_id
- sample_sourceVARCHAR(150)
- sample_textVARCHAR(500)
- handwriting_noteVARCHAR(250)
/ THE QUERY TERMINAL
Interrogate the records
This is your magnifying glass. Run queries to explore the tables and chase down clues — the terminal won't solve the case for you, but it will surface the evidence you need.
/ THE NOTEPAD
Your field notes
Jot down leads, suspicious names, patterns you've spotted. The page is yours.
/ THE ACCUSATION
Name your suspect
One name. No second guesses. The constable is at the door.
NEXT IN THE PILE
The Emerald Street Murder →"A banker dead in his private office. Suicide, they said. The locked door and the carriage records say otherwise."