Operation Shearwater
The answer
- Culprit
- Lee Tamblyn
- Who they are
- Site manager (subcontractor) on the Vantage Wharf development; aged 38
- Charge
- Murder, contrary to common law
- Motive
- To stop Marcus Reeve reporting his Pelican Facades kickbacks and the non-compliant Class-B cladding to Building Control
- Method
- A single blow to the head with a galvanised scaffold clamp, after which the body was rolled to the foot of the internal scaffold and a guard-rail displaced to stage an accidental fall from the open mezzanine
- Weapon
- A galvanised scaffold clamp (double coupler), Exhibit PB/4, recovered at the scene
- Time and place of death
- Between 21:00 and 22:30 on Thursday 4 June 2026, on the mezzanine at Vantage Wharf, Sutton Harbour, Plymouth
- Decisive exhibits
- PB/4 — Lee Tamblyn’s fingerprint impressed in the victim’s wet blood on the scaffold clamp
- JE/16 — site door-access log placing his fob at the wharf 21:07 to 21:34
- JE/15 — ANPR placing his van at Sutton Harbour across the death window
The sealed answer document
This is the host-only answer key that ships sealed inside the dossier. The walkthrough below is the same solution in readable form.
Sealed solution · A4 PDF.
What happened
At 16:42 on Thursday 4 June 2026, Marcus Reeve emailed Lee Tamblyn about the Pelican Facades invoices and the non-compliant Class-B cladding board, saying he would take it to Building Control on Monday (Exhibit JE/6). That email is the trigger. If Marcus reported it, Tamblyn faced a Building Safety Act prosecution and the loss of his kickback arrangement with the supplier.
Tamblyn went to the Dolphin on the Barbican from 18:55 to build an ordinary evening. His last pub card payment is timed at 20:36, after which he slipped out and drove his white Ford Transit (WR65 NXJ) back to the wharf. ANPR captured the van inbound near Sutton Harbour at 20:58 (Exhibit JE/15).
He let himself into Vantage Wharf with his own site fob at 21:07 (door-access log, Exhibit JE/16). On the mezzanine, at about 21:10, he struck Marcus Reeve once on the head with a galvanised scaffold clamp (double coupler), Exhibit PB/4: a single heavy blow. He then rolled the body to the foot of the internal scaffold, below the open mezzanine, and displaced a guard-rail so the death would read as an accidental fall.
His fob recorded him exiting at 21:34 and his van cleared the Sutton Harbour ANPR at 21:39 (JE/16, JE/15). Across that whole period his handset (07700 900 471) was served by the Sutton Harbour cell from 21:05 to 21:36, placing him at the locus through the assault. Derek Coombe, an early security contractor, found the body at about 06:35 the next morning and dialled 999 at 06:38.
The staging fails on the pathology. Dr Imogen R. Carlyon found one focused impact to the head and none of the spread injuries a genuine fall down the scaffold would leave, and that the body had been moved after death (post-mortem report, Exhibit RH/14). The fall was arranged, not suffered.
The proof chain
Every link is provable from a document the players hold. Follow them in order to reach the only safe verdict.
| # | What it proves | How a player gets there | Exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not a fall — unlawful killing, not an accident | The post-mortem records one focused blow to the head, not the spread injuries of a fall, and finds the body was moved after death. The staged fall is broken. | RH/14 |
| 2 | The weapon — the scaffold clamp | The galvanised scaffold clamp (double coupler) recovered at the scene carries Marcus Reeve’s blood and matches the head wound described in the post-mortem. | PB/4, RH/14 |
| 3 | Motive — Lee Tamblyn had to silence the victim | Marcus’s 16:42 email of 4 June threatens to report the Pelican Facades kickbacks and the non-compliant Class-B cladding to Building Control on Monday; the inflated Pelican invoice (about £42,000) confirms the fraud. | JE/6, JE/11 |
| 4 | Gareth Pollard cleared | Pollard was at the Chamber of Commerce dinner, Duke of Cornwall Hotel, 21:30 to 22:45: CCTV at 21:30, named guests, and his card paid the bill at 22:41. He could not have been at the wharf. | Duke of Cornwall CCTV & card, JE/9, RP/2 |
| 5 | Helena Reeve cleared | She was at her sister’s in Saltash from 19:40 (her sister’s statement) and her car shows on ANPR crossing the Tamar away from the Barbican. | JE/15, MG11 |
| 6 | Priya Anand cleared | She was in London all evening: train from Plymouth 16:05, hotel, and a restaurant card at 20:35; she had already filed a fraud complaint rather than acting violently. | Rail ticket & London card, JE/9 |
| 7 | Opportunity — Lee Tamblyn’s alibi is false | His last pub card is 20:36, but his van ANPRs near Sutton Harbour inbound 20:58 and leaving 21:39, his site fob enters 21:07 and exits 21:34, and his handset is on the Sutton Harbour cell 21:05 to 21:36: through the time of death. | JE/15, JE/16, RP/1 |
| 8 | The clincher — his hand was on the weapon as the victim bled | A fingerprint attributed to Lee Tamblyn is impressed in Marcus Reeve’s wet blood on the scaffold clamp, so it was left at the moment of the assault, not by innocent prior handling. With the broken alibi, only Tamblyn fits. | PB/4 |
Why the other leads fall away
Gareth Pollard and the £750,000 key-man insurance
Why it looks suspicious. The co-founder and finance director stood to collect £750,000 of key-man insurance for the firm on a partner’s death, gained sole control, and had argued with Marcus.
How it is cleared. He was at the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce dinner, Duke of Cornwall Hotel, from 21:30 to 22:45: CCTV at 21:30, named guests, and his card paid the bill at 22:41 (JE/9). He had means and motive but no opportunity.
Helena Reeve, the affair and the £500,000 life policy
Why it looks suspicious. The wife had found Marcus’s affair and holds a £500,000 Mercia Life policy she keeps if he dies now but loses in a divorce.
How it is cleared. She was at her sister’s in Saltash from 19:40 (her sister’s MG11 statement) and her car shows on ANPR crossing the Tamar away from the Barbican (JE/15). She is not at the locus.
Priya Anand, the investor’s £250,000 loss
Why it looks suspicious. The investor had put £250,000 in, discovered the firm insolvent and that she had been misled, and sent angry emails to Marcus.
How it is cleared. She was in London all evening: train from Plymouth 16:05, hotel, and a restaurant card at 20:35 (JE/9), and had already filed a fraud complaint rather than acting violently.
The “accidental fall” from the mezzanine
Why it looks suspicious. The displaced guard-rail and the body at the foot of the scaffold suggest Marcus simply slipped and fell while on site after hours.
How it is cleared. The post-mortem records a single focused blow to the head, not the spread injuries of a fall, and finds the body was moved after death (RH/14). The scene was staged.
The decisive point
The fingerprint impressed in the victim’s wet blood on the clamp (PB/4) places Lee Tamblyn’s hand on the weapon at the instant Marcus Reeve was bleeding, and the door log (JE/16), ANPR (JE/15) and cell-site put him alone at the wharf from 21:07 to 21:34. A fair-play note: Tamblyn’s plain DNA is all over the site because he works there daily, so DNA on the clamp is not probative on its own; only the fingerprint-in-blood plus the broken timeline convict.