The case
Difficulty1 of 45×5 · 4 suspectsThe Locked Library
Case file
The storm took the bridge out at nine, so nobody left Ashcombe Manor that night. was found before the fire had gone grey. Everyone else was somewhere in the house — and exactly one of them was in the same room.
Why this one is tricky
A 5×5 manor floor and four guests: this one is pure placement — one person per row and column — until Constance is no longer alone in the locked library.
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 longcase clock
was a club chair
was
was an armchair
was in the Billiard Room
was in an armchair
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.
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
- was in the Billiard Room
- was in an armchair
- was an armchair
- was a club chair
- was a longcase clock
Everyone stands in a different row and a different column. The victim was with the murderer, so whoever shares 's room did it.