The scene
Miramar Hall · Soft drink competitionThe competition judges open the final bottle and find plain water instead of the prizewinning soft drink. The bottle was not refilled: someone swapped two labels as a joke.
Each assistant worked with a pair of bottles on their own tray. Moving the trays during preparation complicates their accounts, but the records preserve the order.
What we know for certain
One person swapped the labels within their own pair of bottles. No bottle left its tray. Afterwards there was exactly one movement of complete trays, without changing their contents. The preparation records are exact.
The three accounts
Damián Ros
Bar assistant«I prepared the left-hand tray. The bottle the judges opened was not there.»
Nerea Vidal
Table supervisor«My tray started in the middle. What happened later does not change how I prepared it.»
Biel Costa
Glassware assistant«Mine was on the right before they ordered everything moved.»
Examine the evidence
0 of 5 openedOpening these five clues does not cost points.
01The final service
The judges opened a bottle from the tray that finished on the left. The other bottle on that same tray still held the soft drink under the water label.
02The initial positions
Before the move, Damián’s tray was on the left, Nerea’s in the middle and Biel’s on the right.
03A single instruction
All three trays moved one position right at the same time. The right-hand tray wrapped round to the left end. There was no second move.
04When the labels were attached
The labels were attached before the move. Each assistant handled only the two bottles on their original tray.
05The end of the chain
After the trays moved, staff simply carried the left-hand tray to the judges, without touching caps or labels.