The Hour of the Fair
The bells had barely finished ringing when word reached the Chancellery: a theft, within the very walls. The loss is not only in gold: it is in the trust that shattered along with the lock. On the Chancellery's list stand Manole the Jeweller, Toma the Cellarer and Mihu the Archer; one of these names covers a lie. Rumor walks the deed through every corner: the cathedral crypt, the guild forge and the tourney field. Study the testimonies at your leisure, fit them into the grid, and pronounce your verdict without haste.
Suspects
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
He holds the keys to every cellar in the castle. He claims the wine vanishes on its own, by "angelic evaporation."
1.73 m
left-handed
brown eyes
red hair
He hits a coin tossed on the wind from a hundred paces. At questions, though, he always misses.
1.76 m
left-handed
brown eyes
brown hair
Locations
the cathedral crypt
The old kings sleep beneath crested slabs. Now and then, someone disturbs their rest.
the guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
the tourney field
Empty stands outside festival days. An excellent place for meetings that never happened.
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.
- An unsigned note, slipped under the door: "the culprit was in the place where the fire never goes out".
- The customs register is clear: Toma the Cellarer never set foot in the guild forge.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Mihu the Archer was in the place where the old kings sleep.