The case
Difficulty1 of 45×5 · 4 suspectsBetween Two Lanterns
Case file
The lanterns go out at three and the gates are chained by half past. was found in the Lantern Market when the sweepers came through. The gate ledger lists everyone still inside, one to a stall — and one of them was standing right there.
Why this one is tricky
Four stallholders on a 5×5 market floor. No shrine tiles, no weighmaster to name — only who was beside a vat or a counter when the lanterns went out.
Two rules close every case. One person per row, and one per column. The victim takes the last remaining legal square, and whoever shares that room did it.
A square with furniture drawn on it is taken. Bare floor is somewhere a suspect can stand. Rooms are patches of matching floor.
Start from the strongest clues. Stack two clues about the same person before you place anyone. Switch on Pencil when two or three seats remain — that is not a guess.
Underlined words in the clue list — alone, beside, north of — explain themselves if you tap them.
Suspects
Tap a portrait for details. Tap below to select, then tap a square.
was a palanquin
was a rattan chair
was with
No clue names them.
was in the Silk Alley
was a rattan chair
Found in the room with the murderer.
Deduction board
0 of 5 placed.
Tools
What you are looking at
A square with furniture on it is taken. A square showing bare floor is somewhere a suspect can stand.
Rooms are the areas of matching floor, with a black line with a gold stroke tracing where one ends and the next begins.
Gaps in the room border with a soft glow are doors; both squares either side of one count as in front of it.
Small letters along the bottom of a square are your own pencil marks — a note, never a placement.
Clues
Every clue is load-bearing — drop one and the case stops being solvable.
- was a rattan chair
- was in the Silk Alley
- was a rattan chair
- was a palanquin
- was with
Everyone stands in a different row and a different column. The victim was with the murderer, so whoever shares 's room did it.