Daily Casefile · Audit

The Kornhaus Tally of Diederich Voß

≈ 9 min

Each quarter, the Kornhaus keeper of Lübeck's principal grain warehouse must submit a storage tally and toll schedule to the Rat (city council) listing every service rendered to merchant tenants: grain measured, sacks turned, vermin-proofing carried out, and river-toll stamps affixed. The Rat's toll-master then verifies the schedule against the warehouse survey, the merchant guild's register of sack-counts, and any letters of instruction on record before releasing payment from the civic purse. In the summer quarter of 1650, keeper Voß has filed his schedule claiming payment for six distinct services. The toll-master suspects one entry covers a service that was never actually performed. Your task is to identify which filed line is fabricated and which record proves it.