Daily Casefile · Forensic
The Orchid House Stoppage
≈ 4 min
The automated misting system inside Greenhouse Block C — a pressurised Vapora-12 unit that keeps the orchid propagation trays at 85% humidity — was found disabled on Thursday morning, leaving two hundred rare seedlings wilting on their benches. Head gardener Paloma Ritch suspects deliberate sabotage: the Vapora-12's drive belt had been cut and its pressure gauge needle bent back to zero. Your task is to reconstruct the order of events from the time the system was last working until the damage was discovered.
The scene
Thornvale Botanical Garden, Greenhouse Block C (the orchid propagation house), present day
The events
- Curator Nessa Obi pins the weekly watering schedule to the corkboard beside the Vapora-12
- Vapora-12 completes its scheduled morning cycle
- Ritch reports the sabotage to the garden director and seals the greenhouse
- Apprentice Dex Hurn props the side door open and sweeps the access corridor
- Head gardener Paloma Ritch photographs the wilting seedling trays
- The Vapora-12 drive belt is cut and the pressure gauge is forced to zero
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This case first aired on August 6, 2026. A fresh forensic runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.