The Planted Proof

The Proof Was Planted
Solved the case of The Planted Proof.

Patron: Halvik Storn, in Dreskmark Market Square. The sheet asks for Culprit, Motive, Method. Each answer must rest on a finding; a lead only points you onward.

Usually heard from Maret (“Ask Maret which stories are still untidy”), or Halvik Storn (one matter at a time, while no other case is open). You need not wait for it: a case enters your casebook as soon as you hold one of its facts.

Gather the proof

1. Take the Planted Coin in The Tarnished Coin.
   Needed before Maret: “Show Maret the planted coin”.
2. Take the Watch Roster in The Tarnished Coin.
   Finding Tamm Guarded Chest: “The watch-roster names one man sole-keyed to the strong-chest from curfew to dawn, unrelieved: Roeg Tamm, the Concord pay-guard.”
3. Talk to Maret in The Tarnished Coin and choose “Show Maret the planted coin”.
   Finding Evidence Planted: “The marked coin was never handled — bright and set down to be found, not spent; the proof against Sten Brec was placed there by another hand.”

Keep the order: a topic only appears once you hold the lead or the item it needs.

The answer

Show the case sheet

Question	Answer	Proved by
Culprit	Roeg Tamm	Evidence Planted; Tamm Guarded Chest
Motive	Hide His Theft	Tamm Guarded Chest
Method	Framed The Peddler	Evidence Planted

The trap

These are true findings that point at the wrong story. Presenting a sheet built on them costs a segment of the day and the clean pass.

• Foss Shortfall makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Marden Foss, Motive: Hide A Shortfall). “The robbed chest belonged to the Concord paymaster Marden Foss, whose counts had been running short — a robbed purse is a loss no auditor can tally.”
• Proof In Brecs Room makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Sten Brec, Motive: Peddler Greed). “The marked Concord coin and the prised lock-plate were truly found among Sten Brec's things in the gable room — the whole reason the town names the peddler.”
• Lock Forced makes a wrong sheet presentable (Method: Forced The Lock). “The chest's lock-plate was found genuinely prised clean off and sprung — the very picture of a break-in forced by main strength, and so the watch first read it.”

Close the case

Stand beside Halvik Storn and present. When the sheet holds, Halvik Storn offers courses; the case closes, and The Proof Was Planted unlocks, once you commit to one. Any course counts; they differ in the morale and marks shown beside each. This run chose Convict.