Cold Chain

The case

Sunday, 8 March 2015. Northwind Creamery, a family cheese plant outside Mount Horeb, ships forty tons a week to grocery chains in six states. Renee Lindqvist, 44, its quality assurance manager, has spent the weekend alone in the lab confirming what three weeks of swabs have told her: Listeria in the aging cave, and a recall she has drafted for Monday at eight.

At 05:10 Monday the cheesemaker finds her at the foot of the twenty-two steel steps to the cave. The Sheriff's first thought is a fall. The medical examiner finds a square-edged blow to the back of the head and no injuries from any stairs, and her fitness band records her heart stopping at 23:22.

The plant's keycard system, its camera recorder's own audit log, the GPS on its trucks and three cell phones kept records that night. Six people had a card, a grudge or a bonus riding on the answer. Read the machines and decide.

What is in the file

• Police Reports (5): incident report, scene report and sketch, evidence log, 2016 case summary, 2025 cold case memo
• Forensics (2): medical examiner's report, digital forensics report
• Witness Statements (7): the six suspects and two further witnesses
• Photographs (2): five scene frames, persons-of-interest sheet
• Records (5): access-control log, fleet GPS and camera stills, cell records and texts, swab results and state notice, alibi verification sheet
• Personal Documents (2): the recall drafts, the bonus letter
• Press (1): a 2025 newspaper feature

What you must do

Read all 24 documents and name the person who killed Renee Lindqvist. One accusation. Right or wrong, the solution file opens and shows every document that convicts. There are no hints and nothing is marked.

Play it with friends

Press play and choose Create a room. Up to eight of you read the file on your own phones, see what the others have opened, vote in secret and let the host reveal. Only the host needs to own the case; guests play free.

▶ Play this case