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Crime Solving Instructions Adult supervision and assistance required for children under 12. Contents Materials required and preparation...............................2 Clue 1 – Magnetic swipe card .........................................3 Clue 2 – Powders (shoe scrapings)................................8 Clue 3 – Ink samples ...........................................................9 Clue 4 – Fibres ................................................................... 11 Approximate time required Clue 1 – 30 to 45 minutes Clue 2 – 10 to 15minutes Clue 3 – 30 to 40 minutes Clue 4 – 15 to 20 minutes You need to enter correct results all the test results for all the suspects to be eligible for the prize draw. That’s twenty correct results in total to win the prize so you’d better get crackin’! When you’ve done the tests, go to: www.abc.net.au/forensic to enter your results GOOD LUCK! MATERIALS REQUIRED AND PREPARATION No special science equipment is required to solve the case. All you’ll need is your forensic evidence kit and the following materials. You should read all the instructions carefully before you begin. Remember, you only have a small amount of evidence. Making a mistake could be costly! Clue Equipment Required Preparation / Notes . 1. Swipe y Evidence: the swipe card This is the most labour intensive clue. Card y Black magnetic powder You’ll be amazed at the result from the (provided in kit in plastic vial with swipe card … then you have to do some clear lid) maths (that’s right, maths!) y Scale map of Gold Coast City (provided in kit) You should work over a sheet of white A3 y Clear sticky tape or A4 paper when using the magnetic y White paper (A4 + A3 if available) powder! Excess powder should be y Scissors returned to the container - not discarded! y Dividers or compass (if available) The small amount provided should be y Rulers sufficient to repeat the test at least five y Calculator . times as long as you keep the excess powder after each test. 2. Powders y Evidence: Powder samples in This is a quick and simple test. Just plastic vials squeeze in some acetic acid (vinegar) y Acetic acid (white vinegar) and look for the bubbles of guilt. y Narrow test tube If you don’t have an eyedropper, learn alternatively, transfer evidence into a small zip-lock bag and use the plastic how to pipette the vinegar using a vial as your test tube drinking straw and your thumb y Eyedropper or pipette alternatively, you can use a drinking straw as a pipette by holding your thumb over the top . 3. Inks y Evidence: Ink samples There’s a bit of work to do here, but y Clear sticky tape you’ll be amazed by the results. You can y Beaker(s) or clear plastic cup(s) try it on other inks from your own y 10-20 ml Methylated Spirits pens/printer too. y 2 Paddlepop sticks You can test all the ink samples y eyedropper / pipette simultaneously if you have sufficient y Sticky tape . beakers/cups . 4. Fibres y Evidence: Fabric samples and The quickest test of all . but don’t be fibre (in zip lock bag) fooled by its simplicity. y White paper (A4 or A3) Be careful not to confuse suspect’s y 1 pair of tweezers samples when unpacking the fabric y 1 pair of scissors bundle. Attach each sample to a separate, y 1 magnifying glass (optional) labelled sheet of paper to avoid confusion y sticky tape . or loss. “Who stole the Minister’s Malibu?” instructions 2 Clue 1: The Stolen Swipe Card track 1 – PIN info track 2 – time code track 3 – spare (blank) Crime scene notes: The stolen swipe card used by the culprit to steal the Minister’s Malibu was found inside the crime scene and can be used to determine the time that the crime was committed. Once you know this time, you’ll be able to determine which suspects had sufficient time to commit the crime and reach their alibis. The card belongs to the Prof. Max Standage who is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus. It has access to all rooms and storerooms and the fact it was missing was discovered when Prof. Standage and the Minister returned to the store room to collect the Malibu. Normally a central computer records all the details of every transaction made with these swipe cards. But as luck would have it, being a new building, the cabling to the store room had not yet been connected (one should expect these kinds of uncanny circumstances in such a high profile case). Fortunately however, the magnetic stripe on the card is encoded with the time whenever it is used, and this code remains unchanged until the card is used again. Since the card was found inside the secure storeroom by police, the code on the card will reveal the exact time the culprit entered the room to steal the Malibu. By measuring distances on the map of the Gold Coast and using some basic maths, you’ll determine the minimum travel times to each suspect’s alibi from the crime scene. Suspects who reached their alibi later than the earliest time of arrival after the time encoded on the card remain under strong suspicion. Procedure: Step 1 – Determine the time encoded on the card NOTE! Only a small amount of magnetic powder is supplied. You may need to use all of the powder to do conduct the test but only a small amount of powder is actually consumed – the rest of the powder can be re-used so make sure you work over a sheet of white paper to catch the excess. CLEAN THE CARD FIRST! Ensure the magnetic stripe on the swipe card is clean and free of smudges and fingerprints. You can clean the card with a bit of methylated spirits and a tissue or soapy water but make sure the card is dry before you proceed. 1 Sprinkle the analytical magnetic powder evenly across the entire length of the magnetic stripe. “Who stole the Minister’s Malibu?” instructions 3 2 Holding the card by the edges, carefully spread the powder across the stripe by gently tapping the card while holding it at different angles. You should notice that the powder sticks to the encoded tracks on the card (tracks 1 and 2). You need to have powder along the entire length of track 2 3 Next, tap the card on the table to get rid of excess powder. Do this on a sheet of paper to catch excess powder. Examine the stripe – you should see a bar code pattern on track two. If this code is not visible, keep gently tapping the card on the table until it is. Don’t be concerned if it doesn’t work the first time – you can try again by returning the powder to its container and simply starting again. 4 Once you can see the bars clearly, you can either read the code directly from the card and/or lift the powder pattern using sticky tape to make a permanent record of it. To do this, lay a piece of sticky tape on the magnetic strip (adhesive side down) and rub the powder onto the tape. Then adhere the tape to a sheet of white paper to provide a better contrast. Record the time 5 Use the information below to decode the encoded on card here: information stored on the card. The number of bars (thick, medium, and thin), and the order in which they appear reveals the time. The space between the bars is not important information. Record your result in the box provided. TIME FORMAT AND SAMPLE CODES: AM / PM HOUR TENS OF MINUTES MINUTES TENS OF SECONDS SECONDS thick bars thin bars medium bars thin medium thin (max: 2) (max:12) (max: 5) (max: 9) (max: 5) (max: 9) PM 2: 4 7: 2 4 PM 2:47:24 > > PM / THIN THIN THIN THICK AM hours MEDIUM MEDIUM BLANK minutes seconds < LAST MEDIUM MEDIUM LAST < < end of code > tens of minutes tens of seconds AM 8:34:13 AM 8: 3 4: 1 3 “Who stole the Minister’s Malibu?” instructions 4 Step 2 – Determine the earliest time of arrival 1 For each suspect, use the map to measure and record the length of each individual street travelled (see table below for this information). Use a compass or dividers and/or a ruler to carefully step out small, equal distances for each street. NOTE: Use the CENTRE of location markers (round dots), or intersections between streets as start and end points. 2 Use the scale on the map to convert each measurement from millimetres to kilometres and record your result in the table below. 3 For each street, road or motorway travelled, calculate the minimum time required to travel the distances Distance you measured on the map. To do this, use the Time = average speeds provided below for each street and Average speed the simple equation for speed (To make this easier, convert speeds given as km/hr to km/minute first. Your results will now be in minutes.) 4 Add the times you calculated for all the streets travelled to calculate the MINIMUM TRAVEL TIME to ++= the alibi location. street 1 street 2 street 3 total travel time 5 You can now check this time against the time the crime was committed to determine which suspect had enough time to commit the crime and reach the alibi location. Summary Results: If the departure time is the time encoded on the card, which suspect could have reached their alibi before the confirmed times given by witnesses? Did they have Route to alibi Confirmed enough time to Suspect Alibi Location see worksheets for time at alibi reach the alibi? average speeds (YES/NO) Warner Bros.

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