The cases for 2026-08-16

Security says nobody left between the last badge-in and midnight. The ledger says a small fortune did. Pin every employee to a desk before the auditor takes the elevator up. Statements were taken from all 4 employees; Abel Mwangi's is the first page.

1. 1. Priya Nair was in a lower-numbered desk than Umar Haddad.
2. 2. The employee with the energy drink was right next to the employee from IT.
3. 3. Abel Mwangi was in a lower-numbered desk than the employee from marketing.
4. 4. The employee with the matcha latte was somewhere after the employee with the green tea but before the employee with the energy drink.
5. 5. Abel Mwangi and the employee with the matcha latte are the same person.
6. 6. The employee with the matcha latte was in the desk right before the employee from marketing.
7. 7. Priya Nair and the employee from accounting are the same person.
8. 8. The employee with the green tea was right next to the employee from facilities.
9. 9. Priya Nair was in the desk right before the employee from IT.
10. 10. The employee with the cold brew was right next to the employee from accounting.
11. 11. The employee with the green tea was in the desk right before the employee from IT.
12. 12. Abel Mwangi was in a lower-numbered desk than Umar Haddad.
13. 13. The employee with the energy drink and the employee from facilities had exactly 2 desks between them.
14. 14. The employee with the cold brew was in the desk right before the employee from accounting.

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. 5 players, 5 rooms, and no two accounts that quite agree — start with Lev Ostrovsky.

1. 1. Cordelia Frost was in the room right before whoever stacked the ivory chips.
2. 2. Vivienne Laroche and whoever stacked the amber chips are the same person.
3. 3. Vivienne Laroche and the dominoes player are the same person.
4. 4. Whoever stacked the silver chips was in the room right before whoever stacked the rose-gold chips.
5. 5. Whoever stacked the pearl chips was in a lower-numbered room than whoever stacked the silver chips.
6. 6. The gin rummy player was right next to whoever stacked the silver chips.
7. 7. Bianca Reymond was somewhere after Salvatore Greco but before Lev Ostrovsky.
8. 8. Cordelia Frost and the solitaire player had exactly 2 rooms between them.
9. 9. Bianca Reymond and the mahjong player are the same person.
10. 10. The dominoes player was in the room right before whoever stacked the pearl chips.

By the time the chapel bells rang, every story matched: locked library, missing volume, a corridor of scholars who saw nothing. The rooms know better. Place every professor before the college calls its hearing. Statements were taken from all 5 professors; Dr. Albright's is the first page.

1. 1. The professor who claimed to be at the porter's lodge was in the room right before whoever the porter saw at half past eight.
2. 2. The professor reading the treatise on optics and whoever the porter saw at half past eight had exactly 2 rooms between them.
3. 3. The professor reading the star chart was in the room right before whoever the porter saw at eleven o'clock.
4. 4. The professor reading the botanical atlas was right next to the professor who claimed to be at the pantry.
5. 5. Dr. Albright was in a lower-numbered room than the professor reading the Greek primer.
6. 6. The professor reading the star chart was right next to the professor who claimed to be at the porter's lodge.
7. 7. The professor reading the botanical atlas and whoever the porter saw at eleven o'clock are the same person.
8. 8. The professor reading the treatise on optics and whoever the porter saw at quarter to one are the same person.
9. 9. Tutor Penhallow was right next to the professor who claimed to be at the rose garden.
10. 10. Provost Crewe was right next to the professor who claimed to be at the pantry.
11. 11. Tutor Penhallow and the professor who claimed to be at the dining hall are the same person.
12. 12. The professor reading the star chart was in a lower-numbered room than the professor who claimed to be at the pantry.
13. 13. Magister Finch was somewhere after Chaplain Sykes but before Provost Crewe.
14. 14. Dr. Albright was in the room right before the professor who claimed to be at the archives.
15. 15. Chaplain Sykes and whoever the porter saw at ten o'clock had exactly 3 rooms between them.