Crimzle › Previous cases › Case 026

Arson in the Night Run

Case 026 · 22 October 2026 · Medium

Prescott Printing had agreed to a rare overnight run, filling the old brick building with the slow thunder of presses and the sour smell of ink. Sometime before dawn, a small but deliberate fire started inside the production wing, scorching one corner of the archive where sensitive financial records were stored. A night porter smelled smoke, raised the alarm, and the blaze was beaten back before it could take hold, leaving only a blackened patch and a mess of warped folders. By morning, the presses were idle, the staff were kept back from the cordoned area, and the question hanging over the place was simple: who tried to burn those records, and why during this particular run?

Suspects

• Gwendolyn Prescott

  managing director and heir to the printing house

  Gwendolyn keeps the presses running on tight margins, juggling old debts and new clients while the family name remains on every invoice. The ruined records could hide decisions she made to keep the business afloat, or expose arrangements she never meant to see daylight.

  175 cm

• Philippa Oakes

  night press operator

  Philippa knows every quirk of the aging machinery and resents how little she is paid to keep them going. Whispered complaints suggest she has been blamed for breakdowns caused by decisions in the office upstairs.

  168 cm

• Adrian Vandeleur

  commercial client and legal advisor on site

  Adrian insisted on supervising the night run in person, bringing a briefcase full of contracts and a cool lawyer’s detachment. If the burned files contained discrepancies, they might undermine the deal he was pushing through.

  183 cm

• Lucinda Marchetti

  freelance typesetter on temporary contract

  Lucinda has been hired in rushes like this before and knows the building from late nights past. Rumour has it she once worked for a rival firm now circling Prescott Printing’s remaining clients.

  179 cm

Possible tools

• the metal clipboard

  A scuffed metal clipboard used for tracking print runs and paper stock, with corners sharp enough to scratch. It could be carried anywhere on the floor without attracting attention.

  950 g

• the heavy typewriter

  An old office typewriter, dense and weighty, brought downstairs so contracts could be amended on the spot. Moving it from room to room needed strength and a certain stubbornness.

  3.2 kg

• the dented thermos

  A dented steel thermos filled with over-brewed coffee, its outer shell warm to the touch for longer than it should be. In the right hands, it could hide the smell of something more flammable.

  1.5 kg

• the folded paper-bag

  A plain brown paper-bag, folded flat after someone finished a late sandwich. It would take only a spark to turn it into kindling among the ledgers.

  400 g

Places

• the binding workstation

  A long, scarred table where finished sheets are collated, clamped, and bound under a hanging lamp that shows every speck of dust. From here, the thud of the presses sounds distant and regular.

  Indoors

• the ink mixing corner

  A cramped corner where open tubs of pigment and drums of solvent crowd together, the concrete underfoot stained in permanent swirls of colour. A small extractor fan rattles overhead, never quite clearing the heavy smell.

  Indoors

• the plate storage racks

  Tall metal racks hold stacks of metal printing plates, wrapped and labelled for each client. The narrow aisle between them feels hidden from the rest of the floor.

  Indoors

• the loading bay doors

  A wide pair of loading doors opening onto the rear yard, with pallets of paper stacked nearby and a cold draft creeping in through the gaps. A single yellow security light hums above.

  Indoors

Evidence & statements

1. Whoever was carrying the heavy typewriter was the tallest of the four workers under review.
2. Philippa Oakes was not the one carrying the metal clipboard.
3. At least one of these is true: whoever stayed at the plate storage racks was Lucinda Marchetti, or whoever had the folded paper-bag spent those minutes at the plate storage racks.
4. Whoever worked at the binding workstation was the shortest of the four.
5. Exactly one of these is true, never both: whoever was at the ink mixing corner was carrying the dented thermos, or whoever stayed at the plate storage racks was Adrian Vandeleur.
6. A streak of solvent-darkened coffee lay in a crescent on the stained floor beneath the racks of pigment drums, matching the spill pattern on one pair of shoes: the arsonist spent those minutes at the ink mixing corner.

Play this case