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Fire in the Tidebound Customs House

Case 018 · 19 September 2026 · Medium

Dawn found the old customs house still reeking of smoke, its stone walls beaded with moisture from the night’s hasty firefight. Someone had set a small but deliberate blaze among the paperwork, charring a tight circle of files before the sprinklers drowned it. The blaze was no accident: only one stack of records had been dragged into the open and soaked through, as if someone meant to wipe out a particular trail. With the harbour authority already on edge over smuggling rumors, any missing document could tip an investigation off course. The task now is to work through the statements and traces from inside the customs building, and uncover who tried to erase the evidence, with what, and exactly where.

Suspects

• Imogen Netherby

  junior customs clerk

  Imogen handles intake paperwork for small cargo vessels and is known for her meticulous handwriting. She insists she only discovered the chaos after being called in early to help with the cleanup.

  168 cm

• Frederick Fenwick

  senior customs inspector

  Frederick oversees high-risk cargo inspections and has recently been under pressure over a botched seizure. He claims he spent the crucial minutes reviewing ship manifests away from the smoke.

  182 cm

• Constance Ashby

  harbour security officer

  Constance patrols the docks at night and keeps keys to several restricted areas in the customs building. She says she responded to the alarm as soon as the smoke sensors tripped.

  174 cm

• Geoffrey Rooke

  shipping agent liaison

  Geoffrey negotiates with customs on behalf of shipping companies and often stays late to chase down missing paperwork. He admits being nearby when the alarm sounded but denies going near the burned files.

  178 cm

Possible tools

• the metal toolbox

  A dented steel toolbox used by maintenance staff, heavy with scattered tools and a faint smell of oil.

  980 g

• the thermos flask

  A tall metal thermos, still warm inside from strong coffee brewed during the night shift.

  780 g

• the pocket lighter

  A scuffed brass lighter with a reliable flame, the sort often flicked out of habit.

  640 g

• the leather briefcase

  A worn leather briefcase with expanding sides, just large enough to carry several thick folders.

  520 g

Places

• the records alcove

  A narrow recess lined with shelves of ledgers and old cargo books, away from the main hallway drafts.

  Indoors

• the inspection desk

  A solid wooden counter where inspectors sort declarations and stamp cargo documents under a harsh lamp.

  Indoors

• the staff break corner

  A cramped corner with a small table, two mismatched chairs, and a lingering smell of reheated food and coffee.

  Indoors

• the document storage room

  A locked room stacked with sealed boxes and long rows of file cabinets, kept cool and dry for archived paperwork.

  Indoors

Evidence & statements

1. Imogen Netherby never went into the document storage room.
2. Geoffrey Rooke was the one carrying the thermos flask.
3. Whoever was in the records alcove was carrying the heaviest of the four objects.
4. Whoever was at the inspection desk is taller than whoever was carrying the leather briefcase.
5. Exactly one of these is true, never both: whoever was in the staff break corner was carrying the thermos flask, or whoever was at the inspection desk was carrying the leather briefcase.
6. On the scorched edge of the burned ledger, fire investigators found a clear smear of fuel residue matching droplets on the pocket lighter’s casing: the arsonist was the one carrying the pocket lighter.

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