The Phantom Burner at Skarrow Point

≈ 9 min

Skarrow Point Lighthouse Service Depot maintains three working lights along the Northumberland coast and is entitled to quarterly reimbursement from the Trinity House district office for oil and mechanical parts consumed in their operation. Depot Keeper Ambrose Quilley has submitted the consumption log for the quarter ending 30 June 1888, claiming replenishment of lamp oil, wick stock, and several mechanical components. The district inspector has received a recent survey of the depot's stores and a sheaf of supplier invoices that do not fully agree with Quilley's submission. You are asked to identify which line of the consumption log is false and which record exposes it.

The scene

Skarrow Point Lighthouse Service Depot, Northumberland, England, 1888

Source documents

District Inspector's Stores Survey, Skarrow Point Depot — 3 July 1888
Invoice — Messrs. Harland & Fitch, Lamp Suppliers, Newcastle, dated 9 April 1888
Depot Stores Receipt Manifest, Skarrow Point — Quarter ending 30 June 1888
Trinity House Component Register — Skarrow Point District, 1887–1888

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This case first aired on July 16, 2026. A fresh audit runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.

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