The Feud of the Lady
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 Captain Vlaicu, Costache the Toll-Keeper, Chamberlain Iorgu, Onufrie the Executioner and Codrin the Huntsman. The testimonies cling to certain hours: "at dawn", "after matins", "at noon", "at dusk" and "at vespers". The threads were tangled on purpose: investigate, weigh every word, and pronounce your verdict only when the grid leaves no room for doubt.
Suspects
He has guarded the fortress gates for twenty years. Who enters and who leaves - he decides what the ledger records.
1.84 m
right-handed
brown eyes
brown hair
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 arranges the king's audiences and, for a small courtesy, the order in which petitions are read.
1.77 m
right-handed
grey eyes
brown hair
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
He knows the royal forest better than the castle corridors. Tracks, he says, never lie - men do.
1.87 m
right-handed
green eyes
black hair
Locations
the queen's garden
Roses trimmed to a line and paths you may walk only by invitation. At night, the hedge has ears.
the customs cellar
Sealed crates, thick ledgers, and air that smells of undeclared goods.
the old dungeon
Cells abandoned since the new dungeon was built. "Abandoned" is one way of putting it.
the wharf
Moored boats, wet ropes, and goods that prefer to arrive in the fog.
the old chapel
Candles, incense, and a silence in which every footstep echoes like a confession.
Objects
the broken lantern
The glass cracked, the wick burned to the end. Someone needed a lot of light, fast.
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 hunting crossbow
Light, accurate, with a walnut stock. Exactly one bolt is missing from the quiver.
the stained parchment
A half-burned document with a stain that might be wine. Or not.
Motives
a debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
the inheritance
O avere așteptată, pe care numai o moarte o desparte de mână.
blackmail
Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.
greed
Dorința nesățioasă de avere, care nu se oprește la nimic.
revenge
O datorie de sânge pe care numai fapta o mai șterge.
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.
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.
- Two witnesses, upon their crest: the queen's garden and blackmail do not go together.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: greed matches that hour: at vespers.
- The scouts confirm it: at suspects, the paths of the hour "at vespers" and the small wine cask diverge.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: Costache the Toll-Keeper was there at noon.
- The chronicler notes drily: the wharf and a debt of honour go together, whatever the court may say.
- The gate guard swears: the stained parchment matches that hour: at dawn.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the bald suspect was at the wharf.
- The gate guard swears: the wharf and the broken lantern go together.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the old dungeon and the inheritance go together.
- The chronicler notes drily: the customs cellar and greed go together, whatever the court may say.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the abbess's bell and blackmail go together.
- Codrin the Huntsman raises their right hand and says: "I was driven by a debt of honour".
- The Chancellery checked twice: Codrin the Huntsman never touched the hunting crossbow.
- The chronicler notes drily: the abbess's bell matches that hour: at dusk, whatever the court may say.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the suspect with grey eyes was driven by the inheritance.