HINT 01

    Focus on the business names mentioned in the text chain. Where else have you seen these names mentioned?

    It appears that the person this device belongs to was at the races on the day of the murder. It’s also clear that they were at Betshed placing a bet, so that betting slip might be useful.

    You’ll need to compare this text chain and the betting slip, with another text chain to work out who this phone belongs to.

    Focus on the numbers of the horses on the betslip. What could those numbers relate to?

    The texter (in Text Chain +44 7555 39103) said “I’ll just play my birthday”, and the Cheltenham betting slip shows the horses picked were #3 and #15. The text chain from another phone states that 15/3 is Nathaniel’s birthday and that he’s spending it with friends on an annual trip. The following texts show that Nathaniel and his friend were more concerned with getting drunk in Cheltenham than anything else.

    To further strengthen Nathaniel’s alibi, the bet slip shows that Cheltenham is located in Gloucester, and the front of the “train times” leaflet shows that Gloucester is quite a long distance from Redmond. The taxi receipt (from a Gloucester-based taxi firm) shows that only a short distance was travelled just before the time of the murder (meaning Nathaniel was still in Gloucester at the time of the murder.