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5 MINUTE DETECTIVEQUICK MYSTERY

The Wrong Delivery

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Reading puzzle · Match each parcel to a person

Three people pack three parcels for different shops. Who sent a bicycle light to the bookshop? Match the people, stickers and addresses.

The story

A local repair club sends three parcels before lunch. One goes to a bakery, one to a bookshop and one to a bicycle workshop. The bookshop opens its parcel and finds a repaired bicycle light. The card inside says the light belongs at the bicycle workshop.

The club has lost the sheet showing who packed each parcel. Four packing facts remain. Your job is to work out who made the mistake so the light can reach its owner. Nothing here shows that the wrong delivery was deliberate.

The three people

Nadia
The repair organiser. She packed one parcel before answering the phone.
Felix
A volunteer who sealed one parcel after finishing his repairs.
Tess
The dispatch assistant. She packed the last parcel before the courier arrived.

The rules

  • Each person packed one parcel, put in its contents, added its address label and sealed it. Each of the three addresses was used once.
  • Each parcel was closed with a sticker called a seal. There was one round seal, one square seal and one triangular seal. Every parcel used a different one. The shapes have no special meaning.
  • The courier took each parcel to the address on its label. All the seals stayed unbroken. Nobody changed the contents, seals or labels after packing. Only one parcel went to each address.
  • All four packing facts are true. Find who packed the parcel with the wrong address. You do not need to work out whether the mistake was deliberate.

The clues

  1. Felix packed the parcel with the triangular seal.

  2. Nadia did not use the round seal.

  3. The parcel with the square seal was addressed to the bakery.

  4. The parcel with the triangular seal was not addressed to the bookshop.

The question

Who packed the parcel sent to the bookshop, and which seal did it have? Explain how the clues link the address to the person.

Optional hints

Open one hint at a time if you need help. You can return to the clues before checking the answer.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start by matching the seals to the shops. The square seal is already linked to one address. Where could the triangular seal go?

Hint 2 — a stronger nudge

The square seal went to the bakery. The triangular seal did not go to the bookshop, so it went to the bicycle workshop. Felix used that seal. Which of the two seals left can Nadia use?

Ready to check your answer?

Show the answer and explanation

The answer

Tess packed the parcel sent to the bookshop. It had the round seal. This tells us who made the packing mistake, not whether they meant to do it.

How the clues fit

  1. The square seal went to the bakery. That leaves the bookshop and bicycle workshop for the other two seals. Clue 4 says the triangular seal did not go to the bookshop. It must have gone to the bicycle workshop.
  2. Felix used the triangular seal. He therefore packed the parcel addressed to the bicycle workshop. Nadia and Tess must have used the round and square seals.
  3. Nadia did not use the round seal. She must have used the square one, on the bakery parcel. Tess is left with the round seal and the bookshop address.
  4. The bookshop received a parcel labelled for the bookshop, but it held the workshop's light. The packer put in the contents and attached that label. Nothing changed later. Tess therefore packed the wrong parcel. We are not told what was inside the other two parcels.

Why the other two do not fit

Felix
Felix used the triangular seal. That parcel was addressed to the bicycle workshop, so it was not the parcel sent to the bookshop.
Nadia
Felix used the triangular seal, and Nadia could not use the round one. She must have used the square seal, which went to the bakery.

What to remember

Make three columns: person, seal and address. Use each clue to fill a gap or cross out a choice. Several small facts can link a person to a parcel. They may still leave other questions, such as why the mistake happened.

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