Clues Begin to Surface

On the floor, Jack’s sharp eyes landed on a half-eaten custard cream, lying like a guilty golden breadcrumb suspiciously close to the bare patch of wall where the painting once hung in pride. Its creamy insides oozed ever so slightly, as though the biscuit itself were sweating under the pressure of being caught at the scene.

Nearby, a glitter trail shimmered like a disco carpet leading straight to the Year 6 classroom. It clung to shoes, stuck in corners, and refused to be brushed away, as though determined to make its presence known. The whole scene had all the subtlety of an army of fairies sneezing glitter bombs until even the floor finally gave up.

Amira began pacing, muttering, piecing together a crime scene under her breath:
“The painting was last seen at 3:15 pm. By 3:20 the hall was empty. Mr Tippet signed out at 15:25, Mrs Crumb locked up at half past three, and a student nipped back at twenty to four for a forgotten lunchbox. By 3:45 – poof – the painting was gone.”

❌ Mr Tippet left before 3:30, so he wasn’t around when the painting disappeared.

❌ Mrs Crumb was there, but not alone – the student came back at 3:40.

❌ Mr Tippet had already gone by then, so all three weren’t together.

✅ That’s right!

Biscuit Fractions

On a chair in the hall, Lucy found an open biscuit packet. Out of 20 biscuits, exactly 3/5 had been eaten.

❌ 10 is half, not 3/5 eaten.

❌ 12 would mean only 8 were eaten, not 12.

❌ 6 suggests just 14 eaten, which doesn’t match 3/5.

✅ Perfect, 8 biscuits left — the crumbs don’t lie, but the culprit might!

.

The Glitter Trail

The glitter trail measured 4 metres in total. The detectives noticed that for every 30 centimetres of silver glitter, there was 0.1 metre of gold glitter.

❌ 2 metres would mean a 1:1 ratio, not 3:1.

❌ 3 metres would mean almost all silver glitter missing, which isn’t right.

❌ 4 metres means only gold, no silver at all.

✅ You are on the right track!

The Locker Combination

The detectives suspected someone had hidden the painting in a cloakroom locker. The lock opened with a 3-digit code, and the clues scribbled on the wall read:

• The digits add up to 15.

• The middle digit is double the first.

• The last digit is 3 more than the first.

❌ Hmmm, that doesn’t work.

✅ You’re amazing!

The Assembly Graph

The assembly chart looked like a mystery all on its own. Of 180 pupils, just 135 had arrived, leaving a crowd of invisible students lurking somewhere in the shadows. If these absentees were scattered evenly across the five classes, how many class-sized escape artists would be in each class?

❌ 7 × 5 = 35, too few.

❌ 8 × 5 = 40, too few.

❌ 10 × 5 = 50, too many.

✅ Your maths skills are improving!

The Final Twist

The detectives gathered in the Year 6 cloakroom, eyes darting from the empty wall hook to the glitter-sprinkled floor. Jack leaned down and picked up a few stray custard cream crumbs.

Jack: “These match the ones near the hall. Someone dropped their snack while this chaos started.”

Lucy: “Right… so that rules out Mrs Crumb. She doesn’t eat custard creams while working.”

Emma: “And Mr Tippet? He passed out when a Year 3 spilt paint earlier — in all that chaos, he probably forgot the glitter in the hall. Besides, I’ve never once seen him touch a biscuit without looking horrified!”

Oliver: “And the headteacher? He’s been hiding behind his desk, muttering about cursed turnips. No glitter, no biscuits, and definitely no sneaky lockers.”

The detectives exchanged knowing glances.

Lucy: “So all the adults are out. That leaves… someone who had both opportunity and motive.”

Jack pointed to the glitter trail: “It leads straight to a locker — someone carried the painting through the corridor, and that is how this trail – magically – appeared.”

Emma: “And inside the locker, look! Custard cream crumbs, a piece of wrapper, and a scribbled three-digit code. Someone returned for a lunchbox and couldn’t resist a prank.”

Oliver: “The attendance chart fits too — Danny and a few others skipped assembly. They had time to admire the painting while everyone else was stuck in the hall.”

Lucy: “So the glitter, the biscuits, the locker, the code, and the absentees… it all points to one person.”

Now, the most important question is …

❌ Mr Tippet (art teacher): He couldn’t have stolen the painting—he faints if anyone so much as sneezes near a carpet, let alone pulls off a heist.

❌ Mrs Crumb (caretaker): She wasn’t guilty — her biggest crime that day was waging war against a particularly stubborn mop bucket.

❌ Mr Pike (headteacher): He wasn’t the thief — he was too busy muttering about “cursed paintings” and hiding behind his office blinds.

❌

❌

They turned to face the culprit — Danny, nervously trying to hide a faint grin.

Jack: “Danny, it’s you! You saw the turnip, decided a prank would be hilarious, and didn’t realise you were dragging a glitter comet across the school.”

Danny: “Okay, okay, I admit it! I thought it would be funny… I didn’t mean for the whole school to panic.”

The detectives laughed in relief. “Only Danny,” sighed Lucy. “Who else would steal a turnip painting, drop half a biscuit packet in the hall, and leave a glitter trail across the whole school just to make everyone gasp?”

The painting was returned, the mystery solved, and the detectives had enjoyed every absurd, sparkly, custard-stained step of the chase. And we hope you enjoyed it too. 🙂

Case Closed

Clue by clue, you cracked it through!

Unlock more adventures FREE for one week with the discount code:

UNLOCK10

*The discount code is valid for Detective Stories – Student Account.