The Mystery of the Treasury
The whispers began in Realm of the Crown like thin smoke; now the smoke smells of conspiracy. The crown demands not only the name but the proof: suspicion without grounds is itself a tool of the scheme. The testimonies keep returning to the same names: Duchess Amara de Corvin, Father Nicodim, Ilinca the Baker, Ban Radu the Silent and Manole the Jeweller. Motives abound — a debt of honour, ambition, fear of exposure, blackmail and greed — yet only one moved the guilty hand. The threads were tangled on purpose: investigate, weigh every word, and pronounce your verdict only when the grid leaves no room for doubt.
Suspects
Widowed three times, heir on each occasion. Her smile has buried more nobles than the plague.
1.68 m
right-handed
dark eyes
black hair
He hears the confessions of the whole court. Forgetting, he says, is a gift from the Lord - one he sells dearly.
1.72 m
right-handed
blue eyes
greying hair
She weighs flour to the gram and people at a glance. No one stays in her debt twice.
1.62 m
right-handed
brown eyes
chestnut hair
He has never uttered a needless word in his life. Sadly, nor a useful one for investigators.
1.81 m
right-handed
grey eyes
grey 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
Locations
the great stable
It smells of hay and hurried departures. Horses give no testimony.
the wharf
Moored boats, wet ropes, and goods that prefer to arrive in the fog.
the north wall
The stretch of wall the patrol skirts when the wind blows. Everyone knows that.
the scriptorium
Slanted desks, ink, and working silence. Here a quill creaks louder than a conscience.
the castle cellar
Barrels as big as carts and corners the lantern never reaches.
Objects
the ciphered letter
Orderly rows of meaningless signs. The ink is costly, the paper costlier, the sender - unknown.
the guild seal
The stamp that turns any goods into goods "of certified quality." Worth a mine of gold.
the purse of gold coins
New coins, unworn, from a minting not yet in circulation. Interesting.
the ledger of accounts
Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.
the signet ring
The crest has been filed away almost completely. Almost.
Motives
a debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
ambition
Setea de a urca, chiar peste trupuri, spre o treaptă mai înaltă.
fear of exposure
Groaza de a fi dat în vileag, care împinge la orice.
blackmail
Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.
greed
Dorința nesățioasă de avere, care nu se oprește la nimic.
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.
- The chronicler notes drily: Duchess Amara de Corvin handled the guild seal, whatever the court may say.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Ban Radu the Silent was in the place where the lantern never reaches.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the suspect with brown hair was in the place where a quill creaks louder than a conscience.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the great stable and greed go together.
- The Chancellery checked twice: the scriptorium and fear of exposure do not go together.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was at the north wall.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the suspect with grey hair was driven by ambition.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: Ilinca the Baker was driven by blackmail.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Ilinca the Baker handled the ciphered letter.
- Ban Radu the Silent raises their right hand and says: "I handled the ledger of accounts".
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit handled the signet ring.