Crimzle › Previous cases › Case 014

The Ledger in the Glasshouse

Case 014 · 14 September 2026 · Easy

The Winter Garden’s glasshouse had been closed to the public for a single hour while a private inspection of its rare hybrids took place. When the curator went to lock up, the pollination ledger documenting years of secret grafts and questionable plant imports was gone from its locked case. That ledger was the one thing that could prove a fund‑draining fraud in the garden’s accounts and expose whoever had been selling rare specimens off the books. All three visitors inside during that quiet hour had reason to want it hidden or destroyed, and all swore they never went near the display. Snow pressed against the panes outside, and inside the humid air, someone had used the brief isolation to slip the ledger away.

Suspects

• Marian Drake

  Head horticulturist

  Marian oversaw every specimen in the Winter Garden and had fought for years against budget cuts that left entire beds to wither. Whispers had begun to reach the trustees that some of her most prized hybrids were appearing in private collections abroad.

  174 cm

• Leon Carter

  External auditor

  Leon had been hired to trace inexplicable gaps in the garden’s accounts and had already hinted that his preliminary findings would embarrass someone on staff. His methods were methodical but made him few friends among those he questioned.

  182 cm

• Nora Miles

  Donor’s representative

  Nora managed the foundation that funded most of the Winter Garden’s expansions and demanded spotless reports for her board. A scandal over misused grants in another city had already cost her one major partnership.

  166 cm

Possible tools

• the steel pruning shears

  Heavy, sharp pruning shears used for cutting thick stems and small branches, recently cleaned but with a faint sap stain near the hinge.

  1.1 kg

• the iron watering lance

  A long iron lance that attaches to a hose, its perforated head delivering a fine spray for the tallest beds, solid and weighty in the hand.

  1.4 kg

• the brass master key

  A worn brass master key that opens most internal locks in the glasshouse, with a numbered tag hanging from a short chain.

  700 g

Places

• the orchid gallery corner

  A warm, misted corner where rare orchids hang in layered tiers, with the locked display case for the garden’s records set discreetly against the glass.

  Indoors

• the central potting bench

  A broad wooden bench cluttered with soil, empty pots, and labels on sticks, where most of the repotting and grafting work is done.

  Indoors

• the tropical mist walk

  A narrow path between dense foliage where fine nozzles release warm mist at intervals, beading on the broad leaves under the glass roof.

  Indoors

Evidence & statements

1. Witness notes show that Leon Carter was the one carrying the steel pruning shears.
2. At least one of these is true: whoever walked along the tropical mist walk was carrying something heavier than whatever was in the hands of Marian Drake, or whoever walked along the tropical mist walk was the one carrying the steel pruning shears.
3. Log entries from the staff door show that Leon Carter spent those minutes at the central potting bench.
4. A faint smear of brass on the edge of the records display case was matched to the master key kept in the glasshouse office: the thief was the one carrying the brass master key.

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