Character mistake: The whole mystery kicks off when Creek sees a photograph of Alice Spearfish with her parents, and concludes that she is adopted because two people with brown eyes cannot have a child with blue eyes. An obsessive polymath like Creek must surely know that that is wrong. The genetics are complex and though uncommon it is possible for a couple with brown eyes to have a child with blue eyes and the other way around.
Suggested correction:Jonathan actually states it's a photo of 2 blue eyed parents and a brown eyed daughter.
Which is still possible! It isn't even uncommon. Brown eyed parents can have a blue eyed child and vice versa - that's what recessive genes are all about.
Plot hole: Ian Avery-Cooper loses his lottery ticket which is immediately picked up and appropriated by Leonard Corbyn. However, Avery-Cooper immediately reports the loss to the shopkeeper who sold him the ticket. All lottery sales staff are trained in what to do under these circumstances, because it happens a lot - they cancel the lost ticket and issue a new one. Since Avery-Cooper used the same numbers every week this would not pose a problem, but even if he didn't the ticket would be recorded on the seller's computers and could be precisely reconstructed. This would be even easier since Avery-Cooper reports the loss within a minute of it happening and we see that he has the receipt for the sale in his hand. Corbyn's stolen ticket would be worthless and Avery-Cooper would be able to claim his rightful winnings. If nothing else Ian could have simply bought another ticket with the same numbers.
Suggested correction: Jonathan actually states it's a photo of 2 blue eyed parents and a brown eyed daughter.
Which is still possible! It isn't even uncommon. Brown eyed parents can have a blue eyed child and vice versa - that's what recessive genes are all about.