Chronicle of the solution: The Mystery of the Chancellery
Poisoning Tier III
The cup was drained and the culprit named, and this chronicle preserves the reasoning that stood against them.
The deed, as it was recorded
An overturned goblet, a face gone pale, whispers dying down — thus began, in Realm of the Crown, the case before you. Between remedy and venom runs a thin line, and someone at court crossed it knowingly. Before you, one by one, will stand Toma the Cellarer, Sir Bogdan de Fag, Teofil the Chronicler, Tintar the Jester and Petru the Herald. Among the things spoken of in whispers are the bishop's chalice, the ceremonial crown, the vial of belladonna, the silver candelabrum and the royal seal. Few files have tested so many investigators; untangle the threads, catch the lie, and pronounce your verdict.
The clerk entered Toma the Cellarer, Sir Bogdan de Fag, Teofil the Chronicler, Tintar the Jester and Petru the Herald in the register — that, and not one name more, until the verdict.
The suspects
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Toma the Cellarer
He holds the keys to every cellar in the castle. He claims the wine vanishes on its own, by "angelic evaporation."
1.73 m tall · brown eyes · red hair · left-handed
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Sir Bogdan de Fag
He pawned his armour to pay his tavern debts. Honour, he says, does not rust.
1.85 m tall · blue eyes · brown hair · right-handed
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Teofil the Chronicler
He writes the kingdom's history as he is ordered. The unwelcome drafts, however, he keeps every one.
1.69 m tall · brown eyes · greying hair · left-handed
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Tintar the Jester
The only man in the kingdom who may tell the king the truth - provided he makes it sound like a joke.
1.56 m tall · green eyes · red hair · right-handed
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Petru the Herald
He proclaims the crown's will to every corner of the kingdom. Sometimes he proclaims it before the crown itself knows.
1.82 m tall · blue eyes · blond hair · right-handed
Locations
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The scriptorium
Slanted desks, ink, and working silence. Here a quill creaks louder than a conscience.
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The merchant's house
Carpets brought from overseas and a desk with more secret drawers than drawers.
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The tourney field
Empty stands outside festival days. An excellent place for meetings that never happened.
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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.
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The throne room
Gold, purple, and the most closely watched place in the kingdom. In theory.
Objects
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The bishop's chalice
Gold set with blue stones. Blessed three times, stolen twice.
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The ceremonial crown
The "wearable" copy of the true crown. At least, that was the idea.
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The vial of belladonna
A small flask, a wax stopper, a label written with care. Three-quarters empty.
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The silver candelabrum
Heavy as a small anvil. It can light a room or end a conversation.
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The royal seal
Whoever holds it can seal any decree. Which is why it should not be wandering the kingdom.
Motives
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A debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
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Ambition
Setea de a urca, chiar peste trupuri, spre o treaptă mai înaltă.
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Greed
Dorința nesățioasă de avere, care nu se oprește la nimic.
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Jealousy
Otrava care mistuie pe cel ce râvnește ce nu-i al lui.
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Revenge
O datorie de sânge pe care numai fapta o mai șterge.
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.
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At vespers
At the evening service, when the bells drown out any footstep.
The pages of the file
The list below is complete and pared to the bone. The Chancellery keeps no useless rows on file: each cuts something no other cuts.
- Even the jester says it in earnest: the tourney field and greed do not go together.
- The healer says it with a raised finger: if the suspect with greying hair handled the ceremonial crown, then Petru the Herald was driven by a debt of honour.
- In the gate ledger, the suspect with brown hair stands higher, Teofil the Chronicler lower.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the suspect with greying hair handled the ceremonial crown.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the vial of belladonna matches that hour: at noon.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the scriptorium and the ceremonial crown go together.
- The gate guard swears: the silver candelabrum and ambition go together.
- Tintar the Jester declares under oath: "I was there at vespers".
- The gate guard swears: the watchtower and jealousy go together.
- Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit handled the silver candelabrum.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the suspect with brown hair was driven by ambition.
- The chronicler notes drily: the throne room matches that hour: at noon, whatever the court may say.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the bishop's chalice matches that hour: at dawn.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: Toma the Cellarer was at the tourney field.
See how the verdict was reached — the culprit's name is spoken from here on
The unravelling of the thread
The Chancellery's method does not change from one dossier to the next: findings go into the grid as certainties, testimonies are weighed under the Supreme Law, and what survives every cut is the truth, however unwelcome.
The scouts brought their share as well: “Even the jester says it in earnest: the tourney field and greed do not go together”. The row lost one more cell, and whoever gathers losses enough arrives at a gain.
A note in the margin of the page read: “The healer says it with a raised finger: if the suspect with greying hair handled the ceremonial crown, then Petru the Herald was driven by a debt of honour”. A condition cuts nothing until it is fulfilled; when it was fulfilled, it cut a great deal at once.
There followed a detail that narrowed the circle: “In the gate ledger, the suspect with brown hair stands higher, Teofil the Chronicler lower”. The grid lost freedom the way a river loses its banks as it nears the sea.
Then came, one after another, the findings that drew the noose tight: “An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the suspect with greying hair handled the ceremonial crown”; “In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the vial of belladonna matches that hour: at noon”; “The tracks in the dust do not lie: the scriptorium and the ceremonial crown go together”; “The gate guard swears: the silver candelabrum and ambition go together”; “Tintar the Jester declares under oath: "I was there at vespers"”; “The gate guard swears: the watchtower and jealousy go together”; “Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit handled the silver candelabrum”; “The tracks in the dust do not lie: the suspect with brown hair was driven by ambition”; “The chronicler notes drily: the throne room matches that hour: at noon, whatever the court may say”. Taken one at a time they seemed slight; laid together in the grid, they left one arrangement alone possible.
A piece of information dearly bought showed its worth: “A maid whispered it at confession: the bishop's chalice matches that hour: at dawn”. A certain match thus enters the grid, and its row and column empty at once of every other possibility.
This too was added to the file: “The tracks in the dust do not lie: Toma the Cellarer was at the tourney field”. One more certainty means, in a deduction grid, a whole fistful of impossibilities — and so it proved here.
The mismatch
This dossier had no lie to catch, and it was precisely that absence which was the key. The single testimony on file withstood checking. Since under the Supreme Law only the culprit lies, every mouth that spoke the truth removed itself from the circle, and the guilt was left where nothing had been said. Silence was not the proof, only the last space left in the grid.
The culprit's name
The Chancellery's verdict: the culprit is Sir Bogdan de Fag. At the hour in question, Sir Bogdan de Fag was at the merchant's house, handled the silver candelabrum, was driven by ambition and was there after matins. 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 grid took them out of the circle one by one, place in the story and all: Toma the Cellarer was at the tourney field, handled the bishop's chalice, was driven by revenge and was there at dawn; Teofil the Chronicler was at the scriptorium, handled the ceremonial crown, was driven by greed and was there at dusk; Tintar the Jester was at the watchtower, handled the royal seal, was driven by jealousy and was there at vespers; Petru the Herald was at the throne room, handled the vial of belladonna, was driven by a debt of honour and was there at noon. Every one of these rows was necessary: take out a single one and the verdict can no longer be demonstrated.
It was not cleverness that unravelled the thread, but order. Order can be learned, and that is exactly why the chronicle is written.
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.