The scene
Ladera Garden · Orchid exhibitionThe greenhouse bell was supposed to tell the public they could enter. It rang while the gardeners were still arranging pots, leaving everyone waiting among wheelbarrows.
The system does not use a clock time: it counts minutes from the press of the start button. Three people could programme it, each through a different profile.
What we know for certain
One of these three people programmed the bell at 10:00 and then pressed start. There were no changes or restarts. The profiles perform exactly the described operations, in that order. All records use the same correct time.
The three accounts
Pau Vidal
Visitor guide«My profile adds ten minutes to the stored value. Then I only have to press start.»
Lara Cots
Exhibition gardener«Mine first doubles the stored value, then subtracts five minutes.»
Ernesto Cano
Greenhouse technician«My profile replaces the stored value with fifteen minutes.»
Examine the evidence
0 of 5 openedOpening these five clues does not cost points.
01The previous value
Immediately before the intervention, the timer’s memory showed five minutes. It was not a time of day.
02The start
The start button was pressed at exactly 10:00, after one of the three profiles had run in full.
03The sound
The bell rang at exactly 10:05. The counter triggers it when the programmed number of minutes has elapsed.
04The profiles
Pau adds ten; Lara multiplies by two and then subtracts five; Ernesto writes fifteen without retaining the previous value.
05The technical check
The timer neither speeds up nor rounds values. The bell has no manual control, and nobody opened the circuit during the countdown.