8 exhibits · 4 people · 3 deductions Read at your own pace · Free to investigate
The evidence Open each exhibit to inspect the record Field photograph · Survey station and Nora’s map · Open full photograph Scene photograph · The station light at dusk · Open full photograph Exhibit 01 · Witness notes Six, then four Two drivers, interviewed separately at 9:40 and 10:05 p.m., each sketch six blue flashes, a long pause, then four. The light remains above the survey hut from both turnouts despite the different viewing angles. Neither sees an object between flashes. Exhibit 02 · Camper’s map A circled grid Nora’s folding map has grid 6–4 circled twice and “capped?” penciled beside a mine symbol. A different margin note gives the survey hut’s milepost, 47. The ink circle predates the dust smudges on the map. Exhibit 03 · Ranger inventory Battery on the desk A ranger books Nora’s portable battery at 4:20 p.m. and places it in a sealed evidence bag. At 9:10 a carrier on her usual frequency repeats the six-four pulse pattern. The signal log records a call sign, but the ranger never identified the sending device by serial number. Exhibit 04 · Survey ledger A second radio A 1983 survey inventory lists a mains-powered transmitter at the hut with call sign SV-47. The 9:10 signal log prints SV-47. The cabinet lock has no pry marks; the sign-out book shows Nora borrowed its key at 3:12 p.m. Exhibit 05 · Power meter An overnight draw A remote utility meter registers power at the hut from 8:56 to 9:31 p.m. after three weeks of zero use. Its load peaks every time a witness records the blue flashes, then drops while the radio carrier continues. Exhibit 06 · Lamp hood A mechanical shutter The hut’s roof lamp has a mechanical shutter; the timer wheel is found with stops at six and four. A highway camera sees the light fixed above the hut but has no view of the open mine gate. Exhibit 07 · Road log The open gate A road crew logs the chain gate at grid 6–4 hanging open at 5:05 p.m. A toll camera captured Nora’s car entering that spur at 4:54; there is no matching exit image before midnight. Exhibit 08 · Field note A reason to signal A torn page of Nora’s notebook found by the station transmitter says “If the gate is open, mark the grid before dark.” A second line is torn away. The note supports a signaling plan but does not establish who switched the hut on at 8:56 p.m.
Reconstructed timeline 4:09 p.m. Nora’s car is photographed heading toward grid 6–4. 4:20 p.m. Her radio battery is entered at the ranger station. 5:05 p.m. A truck finds the grid gate unlatched. 8:56 p.m. Station power is restored. 9:10 p.m. The station signal and blue flashes begin.
People in the file Nora Pike Missing camper whose map, car route, and borrowed cabinet key point toward the survey station.
The ranger Booked a battery but did not record a radio serial number.
The road crew Noted the open grid gate before the lights appeared.
The search team Must choose a location from the light pattern.
Close the case Study the exhibits, then make three deductions. Each answer has a clue trail in the file.
01 · What does the light’s 6–4 pattern indicate? Survey grid 6–4 June 4 A spacecraft code
Show hint 02 · How could the radio signal continue without Nora’s battery? The station’s mains-powered transmitter Her portable radio still had a battery An atmospheric echo
Show hint 03 · Where should the search begin? Under the moving lights in the sky The open shaft at grid 6–4 The ranger’s desk
Show hint Check deductions Reveal reconstruction (no rank credit) Another file awaits Case 003: The voice under the stairs A call from a disconnected number warns a family away from the third step.
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Original fictional mysteries. The people, locations, and records in these files are invented. 
