The midnight contract
Are you able to retrive the code?
Start
It’s a Friday evening, and your firm has been preparing for a high-profile merger with a tech company. Everything was on track… until disaster struck. The client’s key contract has vanished. Without it, the merger cannot proceed, and confidential details may have been exposed. Worse — the contract is now in the hands of an unknown party, and a digital code must be retrieved to secure it. You and your team of trainee lawyers are the last line of defense. The clock is ticking: midnight is the deadline. If the code isn’t recovered, the merger collapses, reputations are ruined, and the client could pursue legal action.
you have 30 minutes to crack the code and save the merger!
start
A security email pops up! attached is a note... “Three cases have been attached, one person in each case is lying . Find out who is lying to reveal your first number. Time is critical — the merger depends on it.” Crack the code and you may just find the security log of the solitor who sent it!
continue
Case one
THE FORGED SIGNATURE
On Tuesday 14 November, a £45,000 research grant application was submitted to the Whitmore Foundation bearing the forged signature of Professor Elaine Hartley. The submission was made online at 14:17 from a terminal inside Sanderson Hall — the university's main research administration building. Professor Hartley was abroad at a conference that day and confirms she made no such submission. The application, if approved, would have paid out directly to a private bank account. Three people had both motive and proximity. Each denies it. Key question: who was physically present in Sanderson Hall at 14:17 — and who is lying about it?
continue
Records
Building Swipe Log
Weather Log
Bus Records
CCTV
Submission Log
continue
Note: The outdoor pedestrian route between the Faculty of Science building and Sanderson Hall is approximately 8 minutes on foot with no covered walkway. The Campus South car park is a 3-minute walk from Sanderson Hall's main entrance. The University shuttle bus (Route C) runs every 20 minutes between the Science faculty stop and Sanderson Hall stop, journey time ~5 minutes.
Back
Back
Back
Note: The Sanderson Hall shuttle stop is outside, uncovered. Passengers boarding at the Science stop at 13:40 would have been exposed to light rain. Sanderson Hall stop is 60 seconds from the side (east) door.
Back
Additional note from IT: Prof. Hartley's login credentials were last changed 8 months ago. There is no record of a password-reset request on this date. Her laptop is confirmed to have been physically present in Geneva (conference hotel WiFi logs provided). The submission was made from a shared university terminal, not a personal device.
Back
continue
Back
Investigator's Note: The weather log and CCTV footage together can confirm or deny details about each suspect's journey to the building. Pay close attention to what the rain conditions were like at the time each person claims to have arrived — and whether their appearance on camera matches.
Back to Logs
Back to statments
Case Two
THE DELETED FILE
On the evening of Friday 3 March, a confidential longitudinal dataset — representing four years of clinical trial data — was permanently deleted from the university's secure research server. The deletion occurred at 19:42. Server logs confirm it was performed by an authenticated user from within the university network (not via VPN). The perpetrator also deleted the automated nightly backup scheduled for that same evening, and wiped the server-side recycle bin — a three-step process requiring deliberate knowledge of the system. Only three researchers had both read/write access to the dataset and the technical knowledge to delete the backup. One of them did it.
continue
Records
Swipe Log
Weather Log
VPN & Network
Server Log
Access Matrix
continue
Campus geography note: The Whitfield Research Building (where the server room is located) is a 12-minute walk from the nearest off-campus residential street. There is no covered route from any car park to Whitfield after the West Bridge closes at 18:00 on Fridays. The campus perimeter gate (South entrance) locks at 19:30 on Fridays — anyone arriving after this time must use the intercom and will be logged by security.
Back
⚠ Holt, C. — no re-entry recorded after 17:48 exit. No swipe activity for Dr. Vasquez after 16:03.
Back
⚠ Actions performed from local terminal Rm 214 — NOT via remote/VPN access. Physical presence in building confirmed.
Back
IT Security note: The deletion at 19:42 was performed from a local terminal inside the building. A VPN session would generate a separate log entry and a different IP address — no such entry exists for this event. The user aoidowu was authenticated on-site. The server does not accept deletion commands via VPN for files above 500MB — this dataset was 4.7GB.
Back
System note: The deletion was performed using account aoidowu. If credentials had been stolen and used remotely, the system would have routed via VPN — which cannot delete files over 500MB. The three-step deletion sequence (delete → cancel backup → purge bin) requires familiarity with the server's admin panel, not standard user interface.
Back
continue
Back
Investigator's Note: The swipe log and the server log both record times. Prof. Idowu gives a precise account of when she arrived and departed. Cross-reference her stated departure time against the swipe log and the server activity. Also consider: could anyone else have physically been in the building at 19:42?
Back to Logs
Back to statments
Case Three
THE LAW BUILDING INCIDENT
On Wednesday 7 June, between 13:00 and 14:00, someone entered Room 2.14 of the Cavendish Law Building and photographed the sealed exam papers for the upcoming Land Law assessment — scheduled for the following morning. The papers were found disturbed and partially unsealed during a routine check at 14:05. Room 2.14 is normally locked; a master key is held by the faculty office. The office log shows the master key was signed out at 12:58 and returned at 14:03 — signed out under the name of a temporary admin assistant who left employment two weeks prior. Three people had both knowledge of where the papers were stored and reason to want early access. All three were seen on campus that afternoon.
The Cavendish Law Building sits at the far east of campus. The main quad is a 9-minute walk away. The library is a 4-minute walk from the Law Building.
continue
Records
Campus Timeline
Weather Log
Libary Records
Fire alarm Log
CCTV Notes
continue
Note: The route between the main quad and the Cavendish Law Building passes through an open, south-facing courtyard with no shade. On a day of 24°C with very high UV and direct sunshine, anyone making this walk between 12:00 and 14:00 would have been exposed to direct sun. The law building itself has no air conditioning — interior temperatures in Room 2.14 (south-facing) would have reached approximately 28–30°C during this window, confirmed by the building's temperature sensor log.
Back
Back
Security note: During the evacuation (13:34–13:49), all persons in the Law Building were required to assemble at the designated muster point in the north car park — approximately 3 minutes from the main entrance. Any individual already inside at 13:34 would have been swept out and would need to re-enter after 13:49 to continue. Re-entry after an evacuation requires swiping back in — the re-entry log is available separately but shows no named suspect re-entering after the all-clear.
Back
⚠ Library is a 4-minute walk from the Law Building. Hartwell Library has no CCTV inside reading areas — only at entry/exit turnstiles.
Back
Back
continue
Back
Investigator's Note: Read the weather log carefully alongside what each suspect says about that afternoon. One person's clothing and description of the day contradicts the temperature data and what witnesses observed. Also: cross-check the fire alarm evacuation against who claims to have been where at that time.
Back to Logs
Back to statments
Smashed It!
WELL DONE - You have passed task 1 your first code to get the contract is 3! You turn the page to find the security log to find a encrypted map solve the encription to locate the building the contract came from!
continue
YOUR TASK: 1. Decript cipher 1 using the code outlined above 2. decript cipher 2 using the mirrored alphabet above 3. using the map use the directions at the top of the page to find the room number! once you have it enter the name of the decoded building!
Incorrect answer
HINT: building 09...
Please try again
well done!
Incorrect answer
HINT: add all the blue and yellow...
Please try again
AMAZING!
You have passed task 2! you second code is 6 Your Laptop Pings!!! A wordsearch pops up on the screen, You must solve it to get the 3rd number! HINT: All words should be VERY familiar!
continue
HINT
Find the ODD One out!
Each Word search contains 6 words with 6 different topic to find... There are 5 words that relate to that topic, 1 word that is odd. Follow the clues in chronological order and collect the letters for each odd word to reveal a hidden office item - which will reveal the code!
HINT: D_A_E_
Correct code
WELL DONE - We may get the contract back before midnight! your Third code to get the contract is 8! WAIT, You've recieved a text!
continue
THE TEXT READS: “Your system is now locked . To unlock it, you must answer the riddle and find the name! once opened you have 2 miniutes to solve it!"
continue
I wander lands yet own no feet,
carving paths where waters meet.
Yet I am not the prize you claim —
seek the crossing in my name.
In gentle flow the road runs through,
but rising tides will bar it too.
The clock now wakes and time will flee,
choose the name that answers me.
But choose in haste and choose it wrong —
ten from your score will soon be gone.
continue
HINT: It is a man their first name contains 6 letters
I wander lands yet own no feet,
carving paths where waters meet.
Yet I am not the prize you claim —
seek the crossing in my name.
In gentle flow the road runs through,
but rising tides will bar it too.
The clock now wakes and time will flee,
choose the name that answers me.
But choose in haste and choose it wrong —
ten from your score will soon be gone.
Smashing it!
You have unlocked the system! your Forth code to get the contract is 8! You now have access to some files, you are so close! One file stands out!
continue
Follow the instructions on the Deadline file! Once you have followed the instructions and found the code enter it below to solve the case and unlock the final code!
Correct code
WELL DONE - YOU HAVE CRACKED THE CODE your fifth code to get the contract is 4! All you have to do is enter the code and retrive the contract!
“ACCESS GRANTED. CONTRACT SECURED. MERGER SAVED.”
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
The midnight contract
Emily Hannah
Created on March 2, 2026
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Transcript
The midnight contract
Are you able to retrive the code?
Start
It’s a Friday evening, and your firm has been preparing for a high-profile merger with a tech company. Everything was on track… until disaster struck. The client’s key contract has vanished. Without it, the merger cannot proceed, and confidential details may have been exposed. Worse — the contract is now in the hands of an unknown party, and a digital code must be retrieved to secure it. You and your team of trainee lawyers are the last line of defense. The clock is ticking: midnight is the deadline. If the code isn’t recovered, the merger collapses, reputations are ruined, and the client could pursue legal action. you have 30 minutes to crack the code and save the merger!
start
A security email pops up! attached is a note... “Three cases have been attached, one person in each case is lying . Find out who is lying to reveal your first number. Time is critical — the merger depends on it.” Crack the code and you may just find the security log of the solitor who sent it!
continue
Case one
THE FORGED SIGNATURE On Tuesday 14 November, a £45,000 research grant application was submitted to the Whitmore Foundation bearing the forged signature of Professor Elaine Hartley. The submission was made online at 14:17 from a terminal inside Sanderson Hall — the university's main research administration building. Professor Hartley was abroad at a conference that day and confirms she made no such submission. The application, if approved, would have paid out directly to a private bank account. Three people had both motive and proximity. Each denies it. Key question: who was physically present in Sanderson Hall at 14:17 — and who is lying about it?
continue
Records
Building Swipe Log
Weather Log
Bus Records
CCTV
Submission Log
continue
Note: The outdoor pedestrian route between the Faculty of Science building and Sanderson Hall is approximately 8 minutes on foot with no covered walkway. The Campus South car park is a 3-minute walk from Sanderson Hall's main entrance. The University shuttle bus (Route C) runs every 20 minutes between the Science faculty stop and Sanderson Hall stop, journey time ~5 minutes.
Back
Back
Back
Note: The Sanderson Hall shuttle stop is outside, uncovered. Passengers boarding at the Science stop at 13:40 would have been exposed to light rain. Sanderson Hall stop is 60 seconds from the side (east) door.
Back
Additional note from IT: Prof. Hartley's login credentials were last changed 8 months ago. There is no record of a password-reset request on this date. Her laptop is confirmed to have been physically present in Geneva (conference hotel WiFi logs provided). The submission was made from a shared university terminal, not a personal device.
Back
continue
Back
Investigator's Note: The weather log and CCTV footage together can confirm or deny details about each suspect's journey to the building. Pay close attention to what the rain conditions were like at the time each person claims to have arrived — and whether their appearance on camera matches.
Back to Logs
Back to statments
Case Two
THE DELETED FILE On the evening of Friday 3 March, a confidential longitudinal dataset — representing four years of clinical trial data — was permanently deleted from the university's secure research server. The deletion occurred at 19:42. Server logs confirm it was performed by an authenticated user from within the university network (not via VPN). The perpetrator also deleted the automated nightly backup scheduled for that same evening, and wiped the server-side recycle bin — a three-step process requiring deliberate knowledge of the system. Only three researchers had both read/write access to the dataset and the technical knowledge to delete the backup. One of them did it.
continue
Records
Swipe Log
Weather Log
VPN & Network
Server Log
Access Matrix
continue
Campus geography note: The Whitfield Research Building (where the server room is located) is a 12-minute walk from the nearest off-campus residential street. There is no covered route from any car park to Whitfield after the West Bridge closes at 18:00 on Fridays. The campus perimeter gate (South entrance) locks at 19:30 on Fridays — anyone arriving after this time must use the intercom and will be logged by security.
Back
⚠ Holt, C. — no re-entry recorded after 17:48 exit. No swipe activity for Dr. Vasquez after 16:03.
Back
⚠ Actions performed from local terminal Rm 214 — NOT via remote/VPN access. Physical presence in building confirmed.
Back
IT Security note: The deletion at 19:42 was performed from a local terminal inside the building. A VPN session would generate a separate log entry and a different IP address — no such entry exists for this event. The user aoidowu was authenticated on-site. The server does not accept deletion commands via VPN for files above 500MB — this dataset was 4.7GB.
Back
System note: The deletion was performed using account aoidowu. If credentials had been stolen and used remotely, the system would have routed via VPN — which cannot delete files over 500MB. The three-step deletion sequence (delete → cancel backup → purge bin) requires familiarity with the server's admin panel, not standard user interface.
Back
continue
Back
Investigator's Note: The swipe log and the server log both record times. Prof. Idowu gives a precise account of when she arrived and departed. Cross-reference her stated departure time against the swipe log and the server activity. Also consider: could anyone else have physically been in the building at 19:42?
Back to Logs
Back to statments
Case Three
THE LAW BUILDING INCIDENT On Wednesday 7 June, between 13:00 and 14:00, someone entered Room 2.14 of the Cavendish Law Building and photographed the sealed exam papers for the upcoming Land Law assessment — scheduled for the following morning. The papers were found disturbed and partially unsealed during a routine check at 14:05. Room 2.14 is normally locked; a master key is held by the faculty office. The office log shows the master key was signed out at 12:58 and returned at 14:03 — signed out under the name of a temporary admin assistant who left employment two weeks prior. Three people had both knowledge of where the papers were stored and reason to want early access. All three were seen on campus that afternoon. The Cavendish Law Building sits at the far east of campus. The main quad is a 9-minute walk away. The library is a 4-minute walk from the Law Building.
continue
Records
Campus Timeline
Weather Log
Libary Records
Fire alarm Log
CCTV Notes
continue
Note: The route between the main quad and the Cavendish Law Building passes through an open, south-facing courtyard with no shade. On a day of 24°C with very high UV and direct sunshine, anyone making this walk between 12:00 and 14:00 would have been exposed to direct sun. The law building itself has no air conditioning — interior temperatures in Room 2.14 (south-facing) would have reached approximately 28–30°C during this window, confirmed by the building's temperature sensor log.
Back
Back
Security note: During the evacuation (13:34–13:49), all persons in the Law Building were required to assemble at the designated muster point in the north car park — approximately 3 minutes from the main entrance. Any individual already inside at 13:34 would have been swept out and would need to re-enter after 13:49 to continue. Re-entry after an evacuation requires swiping back in — the re-entry log is available separately but shows no named suspect re-entering after the all-clear.
Back
⚠ Library is a 4-minute walk from the Law Building. Hartwell Library has no CCTV inside reading areas — only at entry/exit turnstiles.
Back
Back
continue
Back
Investigator's Note: Read the weather log carefully alongside what each suspect says about that afternoon. One person's clothing and description of the day contradicts the temperature data and what witnesses observed. Also: cross-check the fire alarm evacuation against who claims to have been where at that time.
Back to Logs
Back to statments
Smashed It!
WELL DONE - You have passed task 1 your first code to get the contract is 3! You turn the page to find the security log to find a encrypted map solve the encription to locate the building the contract came from!
continue
YOUR TASK: 1. Decript cipher 1 using the code outlined above 2. decript cipher 2 using the mirrored alphabet above 3. using the map use the directions at the top of the page to find the room number! once you have it enter the name of the decoded building!
Incorrect answer
HINT: building 09...
Please try again
well done!
Incorrect answer
HINT: add all the blue and yellow...
Please try again
AMAZING!
You have passed task 2! you second code is 6 Your Laptop Pings!!! A wordsearch pops up on the screen, You must solve it to get the 3rd number! HINT: All words should be VERY familiar!
continue
HINT
Find the ODD One out!
Each Word search contains 6 words with 6 different topic to find... There are 5 words that relate to that topic, 1 word that is odd. Follow the clues in chronological order and collect the letters for each odd word to reveal a hidden office item - which will reveal the code!
HINT: D_A_E_
Correct code
WELL DONE - We may get the contract back before midnight! your Third code to get the contract is 8! WAIT, You've recieved a text!
continue
THE TEXT READS: “Your system is now locked . To unlock it, you must answer the riddle and find the name! once opened you have 2 miniutes to solve it!"
continue
I wander lands yet own no feet, carving paths where waters meet. Yet I am not the prize you claim — seek the crossing in my name. In gentle flow the road runs through, but rising tides will bar it too. The clock now wakes and time will flee, choose the name that answers me. But choose in haste and choose it wrong — ten from your score will soon be gone.
continue
HINT: It is a man their first name contains 6 letters
I wander lands yet own no feet, carving paths where waters meet. Yet I am not the prize you claim — seek the crossing in my name. In gentle flow the road runs through, but rising tides will bar it too. The clock now wakes and time will flee, choose the name that answers me. But choose in haste and choose it wrong — ten from your score will soon be gone.
Smashing it!
You have unlocked the system! your Forth code to get the contract is 8! You now have access to some files, you are so close! One file stands out!
continue
Follow the instructions on the Deadline file! Once you have followed the instructions and found the code enter it below to solve the case and unlock the final code!
Correct code
WELL DONE - YOU HAVE CRACKED THE CODE your fifth code to get the contract is 4! All you have to do is enter the code and retrive the contract!
“ACCESS GRANTED. CONTRACT SECURED. MERGER SAVED.”
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again
Incorrect answer
Something went wrong...
Please try again