Daily Casefile · Forensic
The Freezing Hold of Barge Heron
≈ 6 min
Barge Heron has been in locked winter mooring at Fossdyke Basin since the navigation closed in November. When basin warden Nora Petch made her weekly round, she found the forward hold's iron bar had been sawn partway through and bent aside, a heavy cargo crate inside the hold had been shifted from its stowed position, and the spare key from the warden's key-board was missing from its hook. Someone — almost certainly a member of the basin's own work crew — had engineered an exit from the locked hold. Petch has asked you to establish the precise order in which the three escape methods were employed and the surrounding events unfolded.
The scene
The narrowboat Heron, moored in winter lay-up at Fossdyke Basin, Lincolnshire, England, 1979
The events
- Basin Crew Reports a Missing Member
- Spare Key Retrieved From the Warden's Board
- Crate Heaved Across the Hold Floor
- Warden Petch Discovers the Disturbance
- Bar Filed Partway Through at the Grille
- Hold Padlock Opened from Inside
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This case first aired on August 13, 2026. A fresh forensic runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.