Case 12: The Clocks

A stenographer arrives at 19 Wilbraham Crescent for a typing job and finds a dead man in the blind homeowner’s sitting room. The victim has no identification, and the homeowner denies sending for any typist. Meanwhile, intelligence officer Colin Lamb is in the neighbourhood pursuing a separate lead—one that involves sensitive government information.

The case weaves together two threads: a murder that turns on inheritance and mistaken identity, and a shadowy operation to pass secrets. Poirot will untangle both from his armchair.

Your mission: Use SQL to meet the people involved, trace the timeline of events, piece together motives and connections, and reveal who killed the victim—and who was passing government secrets.

About this case

Based on The Clocks (Agatha Christie, 1963). A young stenographer discovers a dead man in a house where she wasn't summoned. The victim is unidentified, the circumstances are baffling, and government secrets are at stake. In the background, an espionage operation threatens national security.

What you'll practise

This advanced case demands expert-level SQL analysis:

WHERE with multiple interlocking conditions — to untangle two separate crimes
ORDER BY — to reconstruct the precise timeline of events
Complex relationship mapping — connecting espionage agents, inheritance disputes, and murder
Pattern recognition — identifying the connection between the murder and the security breach

The database

You'll query the suspect_info table, tracking each person's connection to the victim (real or mistaken), their involvement in espionage, financial motives, and movements on the day of the crime.

Difficulty

Advanced. One of the most complex cases. Requires careful analysis to distinguish between two overlapping investigations and connect seemingly unrelated facts into a coherent solution.