The Clockmaker’s Missing Minutes

[00:00:00] [Printed Secret introduction.] [00:00:03] Three visitors. A vanished nightingale. Two clocks that disagree. Can the records tell you who had the opportunity? [00:00:11] The clockmaker had built a nightingale from brass. One evening, someone took it from his workshop. [00:00:17] He saw it before he left. When he returned, the case was empty. The thief was one of these three visitors. [00:00:24] The door record is complete and accurate. Nobody else entered. There was no other entrance, hidden person, accomplice, or delayed device. The theft happened during his absence. [00:00:35] Earlier that evening, at exactly eleven by a correct clock, the wall clock showed ten fifty-six. The pocket watch showed eleven oh six. [00:00:47] Both clocks ran steadily at the correct rate. Neither was adjusted after that check. Every reading belongs to the same evening. [00:00:56] Mara arrived at ten fifty-eight on the wall clock, and left at eleven twelve on the pocket watch. [00:01:04] Owen arrived at eleven twelve on the pocket watch, and left at eleven fourteen on the wall clock. [00:01:12] Iris arrived at eleven oh eight on the wall clock, and left at eleven twenty-two on the pocket watch. [00:01:20] When the clockmaker saw the nightingale and left, the wall clock read eleven oh four. The bird was still there at that moment. [00:01:30] When he returned and found it missing, the pocket watch read eleven sixteen. The theft happened between those two inspections. [00:01:40] Here is the attendant’s original record. Each arrival and departure preserves the reading from the clock used. The names and readings are reliable. [00:01:52] You have the earlier clock check, the two inspections, and all three visits. Take your time. Every fact you need is on the screen. [00:02:02] Who could have taken the nightingale? Give the visitor’s name and the interval on a correct clock. Explain why. [00:02:10] [Complete evidence board. Pause to investigate. Music only.] [00:02:22] It was Owen. At the reference check, the wall clock was four minutes slow; the pocket watch, six minutes fast. [00:02:32] The bird was present at eleven oh eight, and missing at eleven ten, on a correct clock. [00:02:42] Mara had already left. Iris had not arrived. Owen was in the workshop throughout those two minutes. Only he had the opportunity. [00:02:54] For the full explanation and more mysteries, visit The Printed Secret.