The Feud of the Citadel
An absence has fallen upon the court heavier than any presence: the disappearance can no longer be denied. Open searches have brought nothing; the time has come for questions asked aslant. Suspicion has fallen on Costache the Toll-Keeper, Filip the Steward, Manole the Jeweller and Mother Evghenia — and until the proof is plain, none of these names leaves the room. Rumor walks the deed through every corner: the customs cellar, the queen's garden, the guild forge and the Golden Boar inn. Study the testimonies at your leisure, fit them into the grid, and pronounce your verdict without haste.
Suspects
His scales weigh the goods; his eye, the merchant. Both can be "greased" at need.
1.80 m
right-handed
dark eyes
grey hair
He counts the crown's silver every evening. On some evenings the count comes out different - and he says nothing.
1.79 m
right-handed
grey eyes
chestnut hair
He tells gold from gilt at a glance. With people, he admits, it takes him two.
1.69 m
right-handed
brown eyes
brown hair
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
Locations
the customs cellar
Sealed crates, thick ledgers, and air that smells of undeclared goods.
the queen's garden
Roses trimmed to a line and paths you may walk only by invitation. At night, the hedge has ears.
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.
Objects
the abbess's bell
It calls the nuns to prayer. On the night in question, they all say, it rang once too many.
the small wine cask
Arin wine, the good year. The bung was pulled and put back by an unskilled hand.
the purse of gold coins
New coins, unworn, from a minting not yet in circulation. Interesting.
the hunting crossbow
Light, accurate, with a walnut stock. Exactly one bolt is missing from the quiver.
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.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the Golden Boar inn matches that hour: at noon.
- The healer says it with a raised finger: if the suspect with black hair handled the small wine cask, then the suspect with brown eyes was there at dusk.
- The gate guard swears: the queen's garden and the purse of gold coins go together.
- Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit was there after matins.
- The gate guard swears: Costache the Toll-Keeper was there at noon.
- In the gate ledger, Filip the Steward stands higher, the suspect with black hair lower.
- Two witnesses, upon their crest: the suspect with black hair never set foot in the queen's garden.
- One thing is certain: the customs cellar and the hour "at dusk" do not share the same match for suspects.
- Two witnesses, upon their crest: the suspect with black hair never touched the hunting crossbow.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the Golden Boar inn and the abbess's bell go together.
- Even the jester says it in earnest: the customs cellar does not match that hour: after matins.