The cases for 2026-07-04

Overtime was mandatory the night the accounts were cooked. Every employee swears they never moved from their desk — fine. Then the desks will testify. Work out the row, end to end. 4 employees, 4 desks, and no two accounts that quite agree — start with Zoe Park.

1. 1. The one from sales was somewhere before the one from procurement in the line.
2. 2. Zoe Park was in the desk right before the employee with the cold brew.
3. 3. Wes Porter and the one from sales were exactly 3 desks apart.
4. 4. The employee with the cold brew was somewhere before the one from procurement in the line.
5. 5. Zoe Park was somewhere before the one from research in the line.
6. 6. Ximena Cruz was in the desk right before the one from procurement.
7. 7. The employee with the chai was right next to the one from sales.
8. 8. Ximena Cruz was somewhere before the one from procurement in the line.
9. 9. Ximena Cruz was right next to the one from payroll.
10. 10. The employee with the matcha latte and the one from sales were exactly 3 desks apart.
11. 11. Zoe Park was right next to the one from research.
12. 12. Abel Mwangi was in the desk right before the employee with the chai.

A fake high-value chip worth a fortune slipped through the cashier's cage just before the house closed the books. Every suspect sat in a different private gaming room set out in a single long row. Trace the row and unmask the forger. The file names 5 players; Cordelia Frost's statement sits on top of the pile.

1. 1. Countess Mira Dolin was somewhere before the poker player in the line.
2. 2. Countess Mira Dolin was right next to whoever stacked the crimson chips.
3. 3. The high-stakes baccarat player was somewhere before whoever stacked the emerald chips in the line.
4. 4. Vivienne Laroche and the sic bo player are the same person.
5. 5. Vivienne Laroche and whoever stacked the emerald chips are the same person.
6. 6. The faro player was in the room right before the roulette player.
7. 7. Cordelia Frost was right next to whoever stacked the crimson chips.
8. 8. Ingrid Halvorsen was somewhere before whoever stacked the emerald chips in the line.
9. 9. Salvatore Greco was in the room right before whoever stacked the scarlet chips.
10. 10. The faro player was right next to whoever stacked the onyx chips.
11. 11. Cordelia Frost was in the room right before whoever stacked the emerald chips.
12. 12. Cordelia Frost was somewhere after Salvatore Greco but before Vivienne Laroche.
13. 13. Vivienne Laroche and whoever stacked the onyx chips were exactly 4 rooms apart.
14. 14. Countess Mira Dolin and whoever stacked the rose-gold chips are not the same person.

The founder's feast ended early; the library's rarest volume left earlier still. Every professor turned in to a room off the old stone corridor, each with an alibi the porter cannot quite confirm. Reconstruct that corridor, room by room. The file names 5 fellows; Tutor Penhallow's statement sits on top of the pile.

1. 1. The scholar reading the map of antiquity was right next to whoever the porter saw at quarter to one.
2. 2. Tutor Penhallow was in the room right before the scholar reading the botanical atlas.
3. 3. Magister Finch was in the room right before whoever the porter saw at quarter to one.
4. 4. Tutor Penhallow and the scholar reading the treatise on optics are the same person.
5. 5. The scholar reading the botanical atlas was right next to whoever the porter saw at quarter to ten.
6. 6. The scholar reading the anatomy folio was somewhere before the scholar reading the treatise on optics in the line.
7. 7. Whoever the porter saw at half past nine was in the room right before whoever the porter saw at quarter to one.
8. 8. Dr. Albright and the scholar reading the botanical atlas were exactly 2 rooms apart.
9. 9. Dr. Albright was in the room right before the one who claimed to be at the bell tower.
10. 10. Magister Finch was somewhere before the one who claimed to be at the wine cellar in the line.
11. 11. The one who claimed to be at the wine cellar was somewhere before the one who claimed to be at the lecture theatre in the line.
12. 12. The scholar reading the anatomy folio and whoever the porter saw at half past ten are the same person.
13. 13. The scholar reading the psalm book was right next to the one who claimed to be at the bell tower.
14. 14. Sister Beaumont was somewhere before the scholar reading the treatise on optics in the line.
15. 15. The one who claimed to be at the scriptorium and whoever the porter saw at half past nine are the same person.