Poisoning ♛♛♛♛ 3 attempts

The Enigma of the Banquet

Something more bitter than gall found its way to the court's table today: poison. Whoever poured it knew the habits of the table; that narrows the circle more than we would like. The testimonies keep returning to the same names: Mother Evghenia, Countess Velica de Arin, Castellan Ursu, Onufrie the Executioner and Sava the Bell-Ringer. The testimonies cling to certain hours: "at dawn", "after matins", "at noon", "at dusk" and "at vespers". A sharp eye is not enough here — it takes an archivist's patience: fit everything together, then pronounce your verdict.

From the Chancellery archive

A poisoned banquet is any Chancellery's nightmare: dozens of people in one room, a single cup that matters, and no way of knowing the next morning who passed where. Here, mercifully, the investigation could narrow the list to five names and the hour to five spans.

The suspects: Mother Evghenia, Countess Velica de Arin, Castellan Ursu, Onufrie the Executioner and Sava the Bell-Ringer. The proven motives: blackmail, greed, a debt of honour, fear of exposure and ambition.

This is a six-category dossier, among the widest in the archive, and in poisonings the object is always the piece that binds the most: the customs scales, a ruby dagger, an amber necklace, the herald's horn and a silver-clad icon.

Tier IV. One last piece of advice, good for every hard dossier: when you are stuck, do not reread the clues from the beginning. Reread the grid. Usually there is already a row there that you never carried to its end.

Suspects

Mother Evghenia

She runs the abbey with an iron hand and a golden pen. The register of donations has pages she shows no one.

1.60 m right-handed dark eyes black hair

Countess Velica de Arin

She collects fans, debts of honour, and bedchamber secrets. She wields all three as weapons.

1.70 m left-handed green eyes red hair

Castellan Ursu

He keeps the fortress dungeon and the tally of those who leave other than they entered.

1.90 m right-handed dark eyes black hair

Onufrie the Executioner

A quiet man with a loud trade. He keeps a notebook of the last words of every condemned soul.

1.92 m right-handed dark eyes bald

Sava the Bell-Ringer

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

Locations

the castle cellar

Barrels as big as carts and corners the lantern never reaches.

the salt market

Here anything is bargained for, from salt to silences. The price of silence keeps rising.

the scriptorium

Slanted desks, ink, and working silence. Here a quill creaks louder than a conscience.

the watchtower

The highest point of the fortress. From here you see everything - and from below, everyone sees who climbs up.

the old chapel

Candles, incense, and a silence in which every footstep echoes like a confession.

Objects

the customs scales

Copper pans, sealed weights. One of the weights rings hollow.

the ruby dagger

A short blade, its hilt set with a stone red as a frozen drop. It was sharpened recently.

the amber necklace

Beads of golden resin strung on a silk thread. The thread is broken and hastily reknotted.

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.

the silver-clad icon

The silver casing is old craftsmanship; the nails that hold it were driven this week.

Motives

blackmail

Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.

greed

Dorința nesățioasă de avere, care nu se oprește la nimic.

a debt of honour

O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.

fear of exposure

Groaza de a fi dat în vileag, care împinge la orice.

ambition

Setea de a urca, chiar peste trupuri, spre o treaptă mai înaltă.

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.

at vespers

At the evening service, when the bells drown out any footstep.

Open the Grid (below) to solve the case, with the testimonies at hand.

The deduction grid

Touch a cell: blank → ✗ (excluded) → ✓ (certain) → blank. Each pair of categories meets exactly once.

×
×	SUSPECTS	LOCATIONS	OBJECTS	MOTIVES
MOMENTS




MOTIVES




OBJECTS




LOCATIONS

Verdict

The culprit always lies; everyone else tells the truth.

Who is the culprit? Where? With what object? For what reason? When?

Clues & testimonies

The tracks in the dust do not lie: the salt market and the customs scales go together.
In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the suspect with brown eyes was there at dusk.
Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit was at the salt market.
The customs register is clear: Onufrie the Executioner was not driven by fear of exposure.
The gate guard swears: the shortest suspect was there at vespers.
The chronicler notes drily: the suspect with green eyes was there after matins, whatever the court may say.
A maid whispered it at confession: the salt market matches that hour: at dawn.
The hounds caught no scent at all: the castle cellar does not match that hour: at vespers.
A maid whispered it at confession: Castellan Ursu handled the ruby dagger.
An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the watchtower matches that hour: at noon.
The Chancellery checked twice: Mother Evghenia was not driven by ambition.
A maid whispered it at confession: the amber necklace and blackmail go together.
An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the scriptorium and ambition go together.
The customs register is clear: Sava the Bell-Ringer never set foot in the scriptorium.
An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the silver-clad icon and a debt of honour go together.
Even the jester says it in earnest: blackmail does not match that hour: at vespers.