Case 0011 · October 26, 2026

The Four O'Clock Tablet

Every afternoon at four: tea in the library and one small white tablet. Today, the wrong one.

Tonight's case — free to play Difficulty: ●○○○○

The briefing

Margaret Ashworth took her heart tablet every day at four o'clock, with tea in the library of her Georgian townhouse in Bath. On Monday she opened a new bottle that the pharmacy had delivered that afternoon.

The rest of the briefing is waiting in the case file.

The victim

Margaret Ashworth, age 81Retired bookbinderMargaret bound books by hand for fifty years and filled her library with them. She was sharp, generous and stubborn, and she lived by her routines: bridge after lunch on Mondays, home by half past three, tea at four.

The suspects

Eleanor PriceHousekeeper for fifteen years
Rupert HaleAntiquarian bookseller · Old friend
Thomas AshworthEstate agent · Grandson

How to play this case

DifficultyEasy (1/5)
The suspects3
TimeAbout ten minutes

3 suspects and 13 pieces of evidence wait in the file. Sweep your flashlight across the scene, listen to every voiced statement and pin what doesn't add up. You have three accusations to name the killer, the method and the motive; after that, the morning paper tells the whole story.

About this case

Case 0011, “The Four O'Clock Tablet”, opened on October 26, 2026. Difficulty: Easy (1/5). It puts 3 suspects and 13 pieces of evidence in front of you, all connected to Margaret Ashworth. Like every Midnight Casebook file, it is a fair puzzle: there is no trick ending and no outside knowledge needed — everything that points to the answer is somewhere in the scene, the evidence or the statements.

Questions about this case

Is “The Four O'Clock Tablet” free to play?

Yes. It is tonight's case, so it is free for everyone until the next case opens at midnight. Play it in your browser or in the iPhone or Android app — no account needed to start.

How hard is this case?

Difficulty: Easy (1/5). Difficulty follows the week: Monday's case is the gentlest, Friday's and Saturday's are the toughest, and most players close a daily case in about ten minutes.

What if I get stuck?

Hints open one at a time: the first points to evidence worth a closer look, the second to a contradiction, the third explains one part of the puzzle. Free players get one hint per case, plus an extra one on hard cases during their first seven solves; Casebook Pro unlocks all three. Each hint costs 10 points and each wrong accusation 20, but time never counts against you.

Do I need to download anything?

No. The case plays in any modern browser at midnightcasebook.com/play, and there are also iPhone and Android apps. Sign in with Apple or Google when you want to keep your streak, scores and badges on every device.