DENOUEMENT (Pages 108–109)

Using all the information you’ve discovered so far can you eliminate 7 of the 8 suspects and work out who stole the Tiger’s Eye?

Mary Hawkins

The other suspects can all be eliminated as follows:

Harriet Wheeler – Harriet is a superstitious woman and a strong believer in mysticism, often to the frustration of her more cynical colleagues; she had cause to steal the Tiger’s Eye to keep its legend alive. From analysing the evidence you’ll know that Harriet has recently joined the secretive Kensington Mystic Society. The gift on the desk in her office tells you she is the member known as Stone Eagle. From analysing the crime scene you know the Eye was stolen between 8:30 and 8:32pm pm on the night of 17th February 1926. A coded note from the society proves that the Stone Eagle was attending their first secret meeting at that time and so Harriet Wheeler cannot be the thief.

Bill Cooper – Bill is a good man who fell in with a bad crowd and ended up in debt. He had motivation to steal the stone to pay off his debts and cut himself loose from
the tightening grip of his creditors. From looking at the museum staff medical records you’ll know that one member of staff suffers from severe arthritis in both hands. We know whoever this is couldn’t possibly have undone the stiff bolts on the display. The staff member with arthritis weighs 140lbs.

By calculating the weights of the members of staff in the elevator you can work out that the only member of staff who is 140lbs is Bill Cooper, meaning those must be his medical records and he could not have opened the case and stolen the Tiger’s Eye.

Sam Cooper – Sam could have been motivated to steal the Tiger’s Eye to help her father out of debt, but from the reliable Eyewitness statement from the resident across the street the figure seen making off with the Tiger’s Eye was under 6ft tall. From the investigation we know that Sam is 6ft 2in. She couldn’t possibly be the thief.

Sir Stephen Cartwright – Sir Stephen is the Chairman of the museum. We know from correspondence that someone at the museum is who is a Capricorn is currently engaged in an extramarital affair. By
working out Stephen’s date of birth you can work out that he is a Capricorn. From his correspondence we also know he left a size 10 pair of shoes at his lover’s house. The thief’s footprint left at the crime scene was left by a shoe that was a size 7, 8 or 9. Stephen could not have left the footprint and so cannot be the culprit.

Earnest Robinson – Robinson is the museum’s Deputy Director and has long coveted Dr. Knight’s position as Director. Earnest could have been motivated to steal the Tiger’s Eye to damage Elizabeth’s reputation. However, by decoding the telephone log book you can work out one member of staff was taking a call in their office (extension 312) at the time the theft was committed. By examining the telephone exchange in the basement you can work out that Earnest’s telephone extension code is 312 and he must have been in his office when the Tiger’s Eye was stolen and therefore cannot be the thief.

Dr. Elizabeth Knight – Elizabeth Knight is the director of the museum and took out an insurance policy on the Tiger’s Eye in her own name shortly before the theft took place. Was she just being careful or could her plan have been to steal the stone and collect the insurance money as well? We know from analysing a partial fingerprint found at the scene that the thief had either a loop or whorl fingerprint type. From examining the fingerprints of the staff you can see that only one member of staff doesn’t have a whorl or a loop fingerprint. By working out every suspect’s employee number you can work out that Dr. Knight (employee number 1101) has the arch finger print and therefore couldn’t have committed the crime.

Prof. Richard November – Richard is the museum’s Curator of Sciences and has been complaining lately of a reduced budget in his department which is impacting his research. Richard could have been motivated to steal the Tiger’s Eye to better fund his work. However, we know from the Eyewitness statements that the thief entered the Grand Hall by the North West Door. By examining the spare locks in the basement and by linking the bunches of keys in the key cupboard to the different staff members you can deduce that Richard is the only member of staff who does not hold a key to the North West Door of the Grand Hall and couldn’t have got inside without forcing the lock – and so cannot be the thief.

Therefore Mary Hawkins must be the thief.

Mary’s potential motive is simple… she adores the Tiger’s Eye. All the physical evidence fits with Mary… her height falls within the range given by the reliable Eyewitness, she was in possession of the key to the North West Door of the Grand Hall and has a fingerprint type consistent with the one found at the scene of the crime. This evidence could also implicate 4 other suspects – Earnest Robinson, Harriet Wheeler, Sir Stephen Cartwright and Bill Cooper – but Earnest and Harriet can be proven to be elsewhere when the theft took place, Sir Stephen’s shoe size rules him out and Bill could not have unscrewed the stiff bolts on the glass case because of his arthritis. Mary was the only other person in the vicinity at the time the crime took place. Mary therefore must be the thief.