The Case of the Three Lighthouses

Section I

The Scene

Hand-drawn Dorset coast map showing Bridport harbour, the Wreckstone Light, lighthouse cutaway, and evidence boxes. — The ground in question.

Setting: The Crown Inn, Bridport harbour, Dorset
Time: Sunday afternoon, third Sunday of March 1894
Weather: A bright spring afternoon; the harbour calm; gulls about the masts
Atmosphere: A small inn-parlour with a coal-fire; the smell of tar and salt-water; a deal table with the dead keeper's pocket-book, watch, and a folded handkerchief; the survivors at the inglenook.

Section II

The Suspects

Mr Trew

Senior keeper, twenty-two years on the service

A spare, weathered man of fifty, the principal of the Wreckstone Light. He had served twenty-two years on the service and had Mr Bell as his second on three previous reliefs.
Mr Caple

Junior keeper, three years on the service

A younger man of twenty-eight, the junior of the three, on his fifth tour of the Wreckstone. He had spoken little since the relief; his account agreed broadly with Mr Trew's but was uncertain in particulars.
Captain Wadham

Master of the relief vessel

A bluff, careful seaman of forty, who had worked the relief these eight years. He had taken the keepers off on the Saturday morning at half-flood and had brought them, in the saloon's little space, to Bridport by tea-time.
Mr Cripps

Innkeeper of the Crown

A heavy, listening man of fifty-five, ten years at the Crown. He had served the keepers their tea on Saturday afternoon and overheard a conversation he had since reported to Captain Wadham - Mr Trew telling Mr Caple, slowly and carefully, what Mr Caple should say to the magistrate.

Section III

The Evidence

Mr Trew's vivid account

Mr Trew's account to the magistrate placed Mr Bell's last meal - a stew of mutton, potatoes, and a small ration of beer - at half past six on Friday evening. The account named the dish, the meat's grain, the bread cut from the morning's loaf. It was given confidently and in detail.
Mr Caple's account

Mr Caple agreed broadly with Mr Trew's narrative, but did not have the detail of the meal. He could not say with certainty what Mr Bell had eaten on Friday evening; he had been on the upper light from five to nine and had not joined them at the table.
A private conversation behind the parlour-wall

The innkeeper, on Saturday afternoon, had heard the senior keeper's voice and the junior's behind the parlour-wall - slow, careful, and at length. Mr Cripps could not catch the substance; he had thought no more of it at the time. He could say only that one man was speaking and the other listening.
Mr Bell's pocket-book

Mr Bell's pocket-book showed his last entry on Wednesday evening, complaining of a recurrent dispute with Mr Trew over a small sum of relief-money owed since November. The dispute had not been entered as resolved.
The body's stomach

Holmes asked, with a magistrate's authority, for the dead man's stomach to be examined by the Bridport surgeon. The surgeon's report came in by tea-time: a meal had been eaten by the dead man some hours before death. The surgeon could put it no closer than "within twelve hours of the end," which spanned Friday afternoon and Saturday morning equally.

Section IV

Statements & Testimony

Mr Trew

Senior keeper

“"Mr Bell stumbled on the lower stair on Friday afternoon at three o'clock, sir, and struck his head. We laid him in his bunk; he died in his sleep towards morning. He had been with the service twelve years; this was his fortieth tour of the Wreckstone. Mr Caple and I were both at the light through the night; the man went quietly."”
Mr Caple

Junior keeper

“"I was on the upper light from five to nine, sir. I came down at nine to take my supper; Mr Bell was in his bunk and Mr Trew was tending him. I - I did not see him eat his supper with us. The senior says he ate at six; I cannot speak to that."”

Section V

Your Verdict

Three picks render a verdict. Name the culprit, choose the method, and nail the keystone clue. We score all three — partial credit if you got the culprit but missed the method, full credit only if you got Holmes’s exact reasoning.

1. Name the culprit

Mr Trew Senior keeper, twenty-two years on the service Mr Caple Junior keeper, three years on the service Captain Wadham Master of the relief vessel Mr Cripps Innkeeper of the Crown

2. Choose the method

Which of these accounts of the deed best matches the evidence?

Mr Bell fell upon the lower stair at three, lingered through the night in his bunk, and died before the Saturday relief vessel reached the Wreckstone Light. Mr Caple returned from the upper light before nine, killed Mr Bell during the long evening watch, and used the unsettled relief-money dispute to direct suspicion elsewhere. Mr Bell died in his bunk from a sudden illness after Friday's supper; the earlier lower-stair fall was harmless, and neither surviving keeper caused his death. Mr Trew killed Mr Bell on Friday afternoon and volunteered a vivid supper-detail to seem too forthcoming to be the killer.

3. Pick the keystone clue

Of all the evidence above, which single piece nails the case?

Mr Trew's vivid account Mr Caple's account A private conversation behind the parlour-wall Mr Bell's pocket-book The body's stomach

Choose a culprit, a method, and a keystone clue to render your verdict.