The Missing Cup
Cases unlock in order, like levels. This is case 75 of 100.
Castellana Stadium, Madrid, 10:40 pm, the night before the cup final. On his night round, the security guard found the display case in the exhibition room empty.
The 1957 Cup is gone, the club's first European title, placed there yesterday for the official photo. The lock was opened with a key, no forced entry, and the museum corridor camera was turned to face the wall.
No package has gone through the turnstiles since 9:00 pm. The cup is still in the stadium.
Three people had badges to move around here tonight. All three are in this room.
The stadium press room, empty chairs facing the backdrop with the club crest, the floodlit pitch behind the glass.
Suspects
Anselmo BarriosClub kit man, 61
Pilar ArrietaSports journalist, 38
Tobías MerinoFootball agent, 45
The real case
The thefts of the Jules Rimet Trophy
London, 1966, and Rio de Janeiro, 1983
This case is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places and events in the game do not portray real people. The account below is a factual summary, based on public sources, of the case that served as inspiration.
In March 1966, four months before the World Cup in England, the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from a stamp exhibition at Methodist Central Hall in London, during visiting hours and without a violent break-in. A ransom demand arrived; the trophy was found a week later by a dog named Pickles, wrapped in newspaper under a hedge.
In 1983, the trophy, which had belonged permanently to Brazil since 1970, was stolen from the headquarters of the CBF in Rio de Janeiro and never seen again; it is believed to have been melted down.
The game borrows the historic trophy stolen from an exhibition display case on the eve of a major tournament. Characters, perpetrator and outcome are fiction.
Sources
Case glossary
Words from this case you might not know.
- kit man
- The club employee who looks after the team's uniforms, boots and equipment.