Thinking Skills: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

156 Unit 4 Applied critical thinking

4.5 Two case studies

Case One: Who’s telling the truth?

The diagram is a plan of the Management

Suite on the first floor of a firm’s premises.

Some money, in a brown envelope, has gone

missing from the safe, and an investigation is

underway.

General facts

Three people are employed in the

Management Suite:

•   the manager (Mrs Mann)

•   the deputy manager (Mr Depp)

•   the secretary (Rita).

Only the manager knows the safe

combination.

Secretary’s evidence

‘I took the manager her morning coffee at

9.30. I noticed the safe was open and the

brown package was visible inside it. I took her

the mail at 10.00 and it was still open.

Immediately after that the manager left her

office and went straight along the corridor.

She was away about 20 minutes. Mr Depp,

the deputy manager, came out of his own

office and visited the manager’s office twice

that morning: once at about 9.45 and again

while the manager was away – I couldn’t say

the exact time.’

Manager’s evidence

‘I was away from the office for about 20

minutes. I didn’t lock the safe. I quite often

don’t lock it in the daytime, and nothing has

ever gone missing before. I am fairly certain

the deputy manager’s door was open and his

office was empty when I left, and it was still

empty when I returned. It was when I got back

that I realised the money was missing.’

Deputy manager’s evidence

‘I went into the manager’s office only once,

and she was there at her desk. At around

10.00 I went to the canteen because there

was a driver who had a problem to discuss –

an argument he had had with another worker.

It took over half an hour to sort out.’

Driver’s evidence

‘I was with Mr Depp in the canteen from

around 10.00. We talked for quite a long

time. I didn’t notice how long. We were sorting

out a personal problem.’

Following on from the discussions in the

previous chapter, assess the evidence given

above. Use it to ask yourself who, if anyone,

is not telling the truth.

Activity

safe

manager

secretary

wall clock

to canteen

deputy manager