Fatal Compass

We climbed into a large museum-like room. There were paintings on the walls and sculptures on marble pillars leading up to a central pedestal near the back of the room. On top of that pedestal was a red cushion, with the remnants of a smashed glass case surrounding it. Behind the pedestal was a door labelled “North.” To our left was a door labelled “West,” to our right was the “East” door, and behind us was the “South” door. Sat in front of a small, wooden chair right in front of us, was a sign and a golden magnifying glass. The sign read:

“A prized gem has been stolen from the exhibit! The culprit ran through one of four doors. Whichever door he ran through is the one you must enter.

Use this magnifying glass to help you.”

I searched for a clock. There it was, on the wall. It read 12:00. Again, it began ticking in reverse. An hour, this time?

“Before we get started, what is everyone here’s specialty when it comes to investigations?” Guam asked. “I’m great at retrieval missions,” he added.

“I solve fraud,” Kelani replied.

“I mostly do robberies and missing persons cases, just like this,” Taul said.

“Homicides,” said Kiru.

I blinked. “I do a bit of everything,” I shrugged.

“Okay, so Taul has the most experience with this stuff. However, since I don’t like him, I’ll hand this over to Kugo,” Guam concluded.

“You’ll hand it over? On what authority?” Taul questioned.

“Who cares? Just solve the case, case solver,” I said, irritated. I was seriously starting to lose patience with those two.

“Whatever. First, let’s analyse the room,” Taul instructed.

We spent the next fifteen minutes searching every nook and cranny. The most important pieces of evidence were:

1. The central pedestal’s glass case being shattered, coupled with the empty, red pillow made it obvious that this was where the gem had been taken from. Most glass shards lay west of the pedestal and a smaller cluster lay under it.

2. Under the red pillow was a small card. The sloppy handwriting on it read: “You thought you could stop The Shadow, but I’m always too fast! Where there is a valuable prize like this one, I will be around to steal it!” 
3.  There were wipe marks near the jagged edges of the broken glass still surrounding the pillow. There was a cold draft near the North door.
4. A tiny piece of fibre stuck to a hangnail on one of the torches guarding the North door.
5. The torches all caused visible damage to the walls behind them, under the form of darkened patches. However, the torch to the East door’s left had created a darker stain than the others.

Once we finished sharing our observations, Taul looked confused. “Is this a joke?” he asked, dumbfounded. “I thought these rooms were meant to increase in difficulty.”

“Does that mean you’ve got it?” Kelani asked, dubiously.

“Yeah, it’s easy,” Taul replied.

“I agree. This one was far simpler,” I added. “Who else has made up their minds?”

Only Kiru raised his hand. Our other two teammates looked embarrassed.

“Alright, Taul, go ahead,” I said.

Taul cleared his throat. “The glass shards are mostly scattered to the west, indicating that they were likely smashed from the east. If a person stood here…” He demonstrated, by standing facing the North door and pretending to smash the glass with his right hand.

“The piece of fibre on the hangnail by the North door, as well as the coldness I felt standing near that door, tells me that the thief got his clothes stuck as he was exiting through the North door, which he left slightly open,” Taul concluded.

“What about the letter?” I asked.

“The thief was arrogant and sloppy, which is further exemplified in his tearing his clothes and leaving the door ajar,” Taul replied. “In other words, the thief smashed the glass and escaped through the North door.”

I audibly sighed. “You know, Taul, you really had me going for a second,” I said.

“What?” he snarled.

“You’re missing the bigger picture. Yes, you’re right that the thief went through the North door… but that was when he entered this room,” I began. “The letter is our big clue. If you analyse his handwriting, you’ll spot noticeable breaks in his cursive on the right-hand side of the paper. To me, this indicates that the culprit was left-handed. It stands to reason that the man entered through the North door and smashed the glass using his left hand, causing the glass to scatter to the west,” I explained.

“So, which door did he exit through?” Taul impatiently urged.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted.

“Great! So, now, we don’t have an answer- but take heart, because the suspect is left-handed!”

“Just shut up. We’d be disqualified if it weren’t for Kugo and his theory makes a whole lot more sense than yours,” Guam angrily interjected.

I glanced at the clock as the other two continued arguing. Eighteen minutes had passed in total.

“I think the wipe marks on the edges of the broken glass suggests that he cut himself whilst committing the theft. This would align with the general sloppiness he’s shown,” Kiru offered.

“Honestly, that’s the main lead I was focused on,” Guam said. “I was searching for bloodstains everywhere.”

“Did you find any?” I asked.

“I did, thanks to the magnifying glass. There are two tiny, dark droplets on the pillow. I think they’re the blood,” he said.

We took turns looking through the magnifying glass. It was hard to see, since the cushion was the colour of blood, but sure enough, there they were: two droplets. Suddenly, my brain did a hundred metre dash to the finish line.

“I think I know what door he went through, but I’m making a bold assumption,” I admitted. “We’ve managed to profile our culprit- The Shadow: a careless, arrogant male. Here’s what I think happened:

The Shadow snuck into this room through the North door. He used a small object, which he held in his left hand, to smash the glass. At some point, likely whilst reaching for the gem, he cut himself. He wiped the blood off the glass but missed the droplets on the cushion. He then hurried over to one specific door, making sure to dispose of his rag on his way out…”

I pointed to the East door. “He went that way!” I stated. The others looked at me in confusion, so I elaborated. “Every torch leaves charring on the wall. However, the East door’s left-hand torch left a darker stain. I’m sure there could be other reasons for this, but since this room is a puzzle, not a real crime scene, I can only use what I’ve been given. I think The Shadow threw his bloody cloth into the torch, which caused the smoke to darken and the fire to rage a little harder for several seconds. That was enough for the wall to darken more than the wall behind the other torches,” I explained.

“You’re right, that is a bold assumption,” Guam mused, uncertainly stroking his beard.

“I still think it’s the North door,” said Taul.

“Alright, then let’s take it to a vote,” I suggested. “Whoever votes for the North door, raise your hands.”

Only Taul’s hand went up.

“And who votes for the East door?”

Mine, Kiru and Kelani’s hands rose.

“Guam?” I pressed.

He shook his head. “I’m not sure. Why can’t it be the South or West door?”

“Because the evidence doesn’t point that way. Either way, it doesn’t matter. We outnumber you three to two, so we’re selecting the East door,” I said with finality.

“Fine. But if it’s wrong, I’m scalping you,” Taul scowled.

“If it’s wrong, you’ll die,” I reminded him. With that, I marched over to the East door with a confidence I didn’t feel and opened it.