Case #3 · Medium
Death on the Grand Atlantic
RMS Titanis, Mid-Atlantic Ocean · September 18, 1912
On the fourth night of an autumn crossing from Southampton to New York, the luxury liner plows through a moonlit Atlantic. At 23:15, a bedroom steward entering State Room A-14 finds the ruthless railroad financier Silas Thorne slumped lifeless over his mahogany desk, his skull fractured by a heavy nautical brass paperweight.
The victim
Silas Thorne
58. A despotic American railroad tycoon traveling in First Class. Feared for ruthlessly destroying competitors and obsessive about auditing every financial voucher down to the penny.
- Scene of the crime
- State Room A-14
- Estimated time of death
- between 22:40 and 23:10
The suspects
Lawrence Vance
Private Secretary
36. Meticulous, nervous, and Thorne's personal bookkeeper. He has handled Silas Thorne's private correspondence and rail investment portfolios for seven years.
“I was in the purser's typing alcove preparing Mr. Thorne's commercial dispatches from half past ten until past eleven o'clock. I never left the typewriter until the steward raised the alarm. My employer had enemies, but I served him loyally.”
Evelyn Thorne
The Victim's Wife
28. An elegant Boston socialite and co-trustee of the Thorne family holdings. Married to Thorne for three bitter years, she recently demanded sixty thousand dollars from the estate to secure an independent separation.
“Silas and I argued after dinner over our arrival plans. I went out to walk the boat deck to clear my head around half past ten and stayed outside in the cold sea air until eleven. I never returned to our suite during that hour.”
Genevieve Moreau
Art Dealer
40. A sharp-witted Parisian art broker who recently negotiated a sixty-thousand-dollar transaction with Thorne paid in negotiable railroad bonds—a deal Thorne suspected was fraudulent.
“I spent the late evening in the Palm Court listening to the salon quartet and having tea until after eleven. I had no reason to visit Mr. Thorne tonight; our business was settled days ago.”
Dr. Alistair Ross
Ship's Surgeon
52. A seasoned Scottish naval surgeon who has crossed the Atlantic forty times. Blunt, observant, and disdainful of haughty millionaires.
“I spent the late evening between the smoking room and a brief trip to the purser's desk to stamp port health logs before 22:40, after which I returned to my bridge game. Mr. Thorne was an unbearable bully, but I treat patients, I do not bludgeon them.”