Crimzle › Previous cases › Case 025

The Ledger Over Dark Water

Case 025 · 15 October 2026 · Easy

The canal barge lay moored in the quiet industrial basin, its generator humming while rain freckled the black water. Inside, a charity audit meeting had run late into the night as the four trustees pored over years of accounts. Locked in a small steel cashbox was the only complete handwritten ledger for the foundation’s earliest donations, a book that could prove either faithful stewardship or years of hidden fraud. During a brief fifteen‑minute break, the lockbox was opened and the ledger vanished without a trace. When the police boarded, it was clear that someone on that barge had risked everything to erase what those pages could reveal.

Suspects

• Mortimer Hargreave

  foundation treasurer

  An imposing accountant in late middle age, Mortimer has handled the foundation’s books since it was first registered. The missing ledger could either clear him of whispered accusations or destroy the reputation he built over decades.

  188 cm

• Prudence Sandford

  independent auditor

  Prudence was hired to examine every receipt and ledger before the foundation renewed a major government grant. If the missing book proved corruption, her report could bring charges—and cut off badly needed funding.

  179 cm

• Rupert Lindsay

  charity director

  Younger than the other trustees, Rupert rebuilt the foundation’s public image after a past scandal. If that early ledger showed misused donations, sponsors might walk away—and so would his career.

  171 cm

Possible tools

• the master key ring

  A heavy ring of brass keys that opened every padlock and cabinet on the barge, including the small steel cashbox that had held the ledger.

  1.1 kg

• the slim pry bar

  A narrow steel bar used for lifting floor panels and shifting cargo crates, polished smooth from years of work along the canals.

  650 g

• the leather briefcase

  A dark leather briefcase with reinforced corners, large enough to hide the missing ledger among ordinary contracts and meeting notes.

  800 g

Places

• the navigation nook

  A cramped corner beside the wheel and chart shelf, where the barge’s instruments and logbook were kept under a dim lamp.

  Indoors

• the sleeping berth

  A low built‑in bunk with a curtain half‑drawn, blankets rumpled where someone had sat to make a private phone call during the break.

  Indoors

• the galley counter

  A narrow strip of counter beside the tiny stove and sink, cluttered with mugs, a thermos of coffee, and the remains of a late supper.

  Indoors

Evidence & statements

1. Witness notes record that during the break, Prudence Sandford was the one carrying the slim pry bar. «تدوينات الشهود تذكر أنّ برودنس ساندفورد كانت في فترة الاستراحة هي من تحمل العتلة الرفيعة.»
2. Exactly one of these is true, never both: whoever carried the master key ring is taller than whoever stayed at the sleeping berth during the break, or whoever was at the galley counter at that time was the one carrying the slim pry bar. «واحد من هذين صحيح لا كلاهما: من كان يحمل حلقة المفاتيح الرئيسية أطول ممّن بقي في مكان النوم أثناء الاستراحة، أو من كان عند طاولة المطبخ في تلك اللحظات هو من كان يحمل العتلة الرفيعة.»
3. According to the seating chart the crew sketched, Prudence Sandford spent the break at the navigation nook. «بحسب مخطط الجلوس الذي رسمه الطاقم، قضت برودنس ساندفورد فترة الاستراحة في ركن القيادة.»
4. A faint smear of fresh shoe polish was found on the edge of the bunk frame and nowhere else on the barge: the thief spent those minutes at the sleeping berth. «عُثر على لطخة خفيفة من ملمّع أحذية حديثة على حافة سرير مكان النوم ولم يُرصد مثلها في أي موضع آخر على القارب: اللص قضى تلك الدقائق في مكان النوم.»

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