The Dawn Plot
A spy has crept in among the people of the court, and the realm's secrets have begun flowing toward foreign ears. The Chancellery has caught only the end of the thread; the whole skein is still in someone's hands. Before you, one by one, will stand Lady Ruxandra, Abbot Corvus, Sava the Bell-Ringer and Duchess Amara de Corvin. Among the things spoken of in whispers are the locked chest, the royal seal, the rusted sword and the herald's horn. Open the grid, weigh every clue, and pronounce your verdict: the Chancellery awaits only your signature.
From the Chancellery archive
A spy steals not things but meanings. That is why espionage dossiers are the hardest to open: nothing is missing from its place, only somebody knows something they should not. Here the loss showed itself weeks later, when a decision of the court had already been sidestepped by the very people it was meant to surprise.
The four suspects are all people with access. Abbot Corvus governs an abbey, which is to say a house where things are written, copied and kept. Lady Ruxandra and Duchess Amara de Corvin stand high enough to hear things first-hand. Sava the Bell-Ringer, lowest of them in rank, sees from his tower everything that moves.
The objects — a locked chest, the royal seal, a rusted sword, the herald's horn — and the places, from the castle cellar to the hunting lodge, span the whole realm, cellar to forest.
Tier II. Begin with what is certain, however little that seems: two well-placed certainties are worth more than ten suspicions.
Suspects
The queen's shadow at every hour. She hears everything, sees everything, and embroiders all she learns into patterns known only to her.
1.65 m
right-handed
blue eyes
blond hair
He raises ravens in the abbey tower. His birds arrive faster than any messenger - and cannot be held to account.
1.78 m
right-handed
dark eyes
bald
He has rung the cathedral bells on the hour for thirty years. He sees the whole city from above and forgives nothing he sees.
1.83 m
right-handed
brown eyes
greying hair
Widowed three times, heir on each occasion. Her smile has buried more nobles than the plague.
1.68 m
right-handed
dark eyes
black hair
Locations
the castle cellar
Barrels as big as carts and corners the lantern never reaches.
the guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
the Golden Boar inn
Wine watered down and rumours diluted with nothing. The rooms upstairs ask no questions.
the hunting lodge
The royal cabin in the heart of the forest. Far from the eyes of the court - which is exactly what suits some.
Objects
the locked chest
Three padlocks, two rows of straps. Fresh scratches around the hinges, not the locks.
the royal seal
Whoever holds it can seal any decree. Which is why it should not be wandering the kingdom.
the rusted sword
An old weapon, forgotten on the rack. The rust on the blade is newer than it looks.
the herald's horn
It sounds the muster, the alarm, or the retreat. Whoever holds it can start a whole panic with a single breath.
Moments
at dawn
When the citadel is barely waking and the guards still doze.
after matins
The hour after the morning service, when the abbey empties.
at noon
Midday, with bustle in the markets and silence in the alcoves.
at dusk
When the shadows lengthen and the lanterns are not yet lit.
Open the Grid (below) to solve the case, with the testimonies at hand.
Touch a cell: blank → ✗ (excluded) → ✓ (certain) → blank. Each pair of categories meets exactly once.
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Verdict
The culprit always lies; everyone else tells the truth.
- The scouts confirm it: at suspects, the paths of the guild forge and the herald's horn diverge.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Sava the Bell-Ringer was there at noon.
- Whatever the market gossips: the rusted sword does not match that hour: at dusk.
- The gate guard swears: the suspect with black hair was at the castle cellar.
- Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit was there at dawn.
- A note in the margin of the ledger: if Sava the Bell-Ringer was there at noon, then the suspect with black hair was there at dusk.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the herald's horn matches that hour: at dawn.
- The chronicler notes drily: the hunting lodge and the locked chest go together, whatever the court may say.
- One thing is certain: the hour "after matins" and the guild forge do not share the same match for suspects.
- The hounds caught no scent at all: Lady Ruxandra was not present at dawn.