The Midnight Trolley File

Sunday night, 12:05 a.m. Car 9 of the Hollis Avenue trolley line lies derailed at the curve past the barn. It rolled out with the controller at OFF and nobody in the cab, and a warranty crate is missing from the maintenance pit. The freight auditor arrives Monday morning. You have the complete incident file tonight. What you get Player Pack (7 pages, PDF): the briefing, 30 numbered documents from four places (the car barn, the dispatcher's office, the yard and the city papers), an evidence log, the key-ring board, a notes page and the accusation sheet. Everything needed to solve the case is in it. Hint Ladder (3 pages, PDF): nine questions, one for each link of the solution, each with three tiers: a nudge, a focus and a direct answer. It is a separate file, so the answer never sits next to the question. Sealed Solution (3 pages, PDF): culprit, method and motive; the nine-link deduction chain, with every link citing the numbered documents behind it; why each other person is ruled out; every red herring resolved. Every file comes in US Letter and A4. How it plays Read the evidence in any order. When two documents disagree, one of them was written to deceive. Two people share the initials R.K., and not every suspicious detail is evidence. When you stall, open the hint ladder. When you are ready, fill in the accusation sheet, then open the solution and grade yourself link by link. For: one player, one evening, ages 13 and up, no special knowledge. Print in black and white or read on screen. Limits: the 45 to 60 minute play time is a design estimate; no timed playtest has been recorded. One complete case. All people and places are fictional. Made with AI assistance: AI tools helped write the case text and the build code, and the cover and rail artwork are drawn by code an AI tool wrote. The case logic is checked by an automated verifier. Support: leave a comment below.