Chronicle of the solution: The Feud of the Crown
Poisoning Tier III
The poisoning file is closed. What remains is the part worth learning: how one got from an upturned cup to a name.
What the file said when it was opened
An overturned goblet, a face gone pale, whispers dying down — thus began, in Realm of the Crown, the case before you. The dose was measured with care — enough not to look like chance, too little to go unpunished. Before you, one by one, will stand Luca the Squire, Ilinca the Baker, Zaharia the Spice Merchant and Gavril the Farrier. Among the things spoken of in whispers are the royal seal, the ledger of accounts, the locked chest and the hunting crossbow. Few files have tested so many investigators; untangle the threads, catch the lie, and pronounce your verdict.
Under suspicion stood Luca the Squire, Ilinca the Baker, Zaharia the Spice Merchant and Gavril the Farrier. One of them alone lied; the rest, without knowing it, spoke the truth that gave that one away.
The suspects
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Luca the Squire
He polishes the knight's armour and dreams of a sword of his own. For a coat of arms he would do almost anything.
1.72 m tall · green eyes · brown hair · right-handed
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Ilinca the Baker
She weighs flour to the gram and people at a glance. No one stays in her debt twice.
1.62 m tall · brown eyes · chestnut hair · right-handed
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Zaharia the Spice Merchant
His ships bring pepper, saffron, and news no one asked for. All of it at the same price: steep.
1.74 m tall · dark eyes · black hair · right-handed
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Gavril the Farrier
Arms like tree trunks and a forge where all noise dies. Some things are better beaten while hot.
1.88 m tall · dark eyes · black hair · right-handed
Locations
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The wharf
Moored boats, wet ropes, and goods that prefer to arrive in the fog.
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The cathedral crypt
The old kings sleep beneath crested slabs. Now and then, someone disturbs their rest.
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The abbey library
Thousands of leather-bound tomes. Some of the chains on the shelves were cut recently.
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The watchtower
The highest point of the fortress. From here you see everything - and from below, everyone sees who climbs up.
Objects
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The royal seal
Whoever holds it can seal any decree. Which is why it should not be wandering the kingdom.
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The ledger of accounts
Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.
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The locked chest
Three padlocks, two rows of straps. Fresh scratches around the hinges, not the locks.
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The hunting crossbow
Light, accurate, with a walnut stock. Exactly one bolt is missing from the quiver.
Moments
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At dawn
When the citadel is barely waking and the guards still doze.
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After matins
The hour after the morning service, when the abbey empties.
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At noon
Midday, with bustle in the markets and silence in the alcoves.
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At dusk
When the shadows lengthen and the lanterns are not yet lit.
The evidence gathered on file
This much was worked with, no more and no less. Minimality is not a figure of speech: each row was taken out in turn, at trial, and without it the solution ceased to be unique.
- At the Chancellery, Gavril the Farrier maintains: "I was in the place where the old kings sleep".
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: Gavril the Farrier was there at dawn.
- A note in the margin of the ledger: if the suspect with brown hair was in the place where goods arrive in the fog, then the shortest suspect handled the hunting crossbow.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit handled the royal seal.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the abbey library and the hunting crossbow go together.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the wharf matches that hour: after matins.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: Luca the Squire handled the ledger of accounts.
- The traces left at the scene show it plainly: the culprit was there at dusk.
Open the full reasoning — open only if you have already tried the dossier
The road to the verdict
No suspicion weighed here. Only the grid weighed: every certain match sweeps a whole row and a whole column, and at the end one arrangement alone remains possible.
The clerk read the next line aloud: “At the Chancellery, Gavril the Farrier maintains: "I was in the place where the old kings sleep"”. The Supreme Law asks you to try each suspect as the culprit and watch which hypothesis shatters. Here one shattered.
Then this finding entered the file: “The tracks in the dust do not lie: Gavril the Farrier was there at dawn”. The tick goes down without hesitation, and with it fall all the other cells on that row and that column.
This page was stitched into the file too: “A note in the margin of the ledger: if the suspect with brown hair was in the place where goods arrive in the fog, then the shortest suspect handled the hunting crossbow”. While the first half stayed uncertain, the second had nothing to say. Afterwards it said everything.
The file thickened quickly, and every fresh page cut something away: “About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit handled the royal seal”; “An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the abbey library and the hunting crossbow go together”; “A maid whispered it at confession: the wharf matches that hour: after matins”. Not one of them named a culprit. Together, though, they left room for one alone.
The scouts brought their share as well: “The tracks in the dust do not lie: Luca the Squire handled the ledger of accounts”. The match was nailed down, and the rest of the row was left clean, like a page wiped with a sponge.
A report from the watch brought clarity: “The traces left at the scene show it plainly: the culprit was there at dusk”. The fact stuck to the guilty party like a seal, and whoever did not bear the seal was left in peace.
The lie
Not a single lie was heard in this dossier. The single testimony on file withstood checking. Since a lie is, under the Supreme Law, the culprit's signature, its absence among those who spoke cleared them one by one, leaving the guilt with the one who chose to stay silent.
The verdict
The Chancellery pronounced its verdict without hesitation: the culprit is Zaharia the Spice Merchant. When the deed took place, Zaharia the Spice Merchant was at the watchtower, handled the royal seal and was there at dusk. Plain elimination was not enough here: every suspect had to be tried as the culprit until all hypotheses but one shattered. Hence the dossier stands at tier III.
The remaining suspects
The Chancellery recorded the others' movements as well, because it was precisely they that closed the grid: Luca the Squire was at the wharf, handled the ledger of accounts and was there after matins; Ilinca the Baker was at the abbey library, handled the hunting crossbow and was there at noon; Gavril the Farrier was at the cathedral crypt, handled the locked chest and was there at dawn. Every one of these rows was necessary: take out a single one and the verdict can no longer be demonstrated.
The Chancellery asked nobody to take its word. It showed the road step by step, so that anyone might walk it again.
Play this dossier All mysteries
Everything you read above rests on the dossier itself. The Chancellery's solver checked, at publication, that the given clues yield exactly one solution — no more, and not none. behind the scenes at the Chancellery.