Chronicle of the solution: The Mystery of Winter

Theft Tier III

How the file came to the Chancellery

A bold theft has shaken the calm of the court, and calm will not return until the truth comes out. The Chancellery has set every other file aside: until what was taken returns, no one sleeps easy. Suspicion has fallen on Safta the Herbwife, Ilinca the Baker, Gavril the Farrier and Filip the Steward — and until the proof is plain, none of these names leaves the room. The hours in question: "at dawn", "after matins", "at noon" and "at dusk". Few files have tested so many investigators; untangle the threads, catch the lie, and pronounce your verdict.

In winter, a theft from the court larder is not merely a loss but a danger: what has been taken cannot be bought again before spring. Which is why the dossier titled “The Mystery of Winter” was pursued with a haste the archivist remarks upon twice.

The four suspects are people of the household, not strangers — which makes everything harder. Safta the Herbwife goes wherever someone is ill, which is to say everywhere. Ilinca the Baker bakes for the whole court. Gavril the Farrier mends what breaks, and in winter a great deal breaks. Filip the Steward counts the silver every evening and, on some evenings, the count comes out differently.

The places are the Golden Boar inn, the castle cellar, the tourney field and the throne room. The objects: the bishop's chalice, a bronze key, a silver candelabrum and the ledger of accounts.

Tier III. In theft dossiers the ledger is the object that most often binds two categories at once. It is worth a careful look.

The Chancellery had to weigh Safta the Herbwife, Ilinca the Baker, Gavril the Farrier and Filip the Steward. All of them had opportunity, and for that very reason opportunity was worth nothing.

The suspects

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  Safta the Herbwife

  She gathers herbs at hours when honest folk sleep. The herbs, she says, speak then.

  1.58 m tall · green eyes · greying hair · right-handed

• 

  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

• 

  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

• 

  Filip the Steward

  He counts the crown's silver every evening. On some evenings the count comes out different - and he says nothing.

  1.79 m tall · grey eyes · chestnut hair · right-handed

Locations

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  The Golden Boar inn

  Wine watered down and rumours diluted with nothing. The rooms upstairs ask no questions.

• 

  The castle cellar

  Barrels as big as carts and corners the lantern never reaches.

• 

  The tourney field

  Empty stands outside festival days. An excellent place for meetings that never happened.

• 

  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.

• 

  The bronze key

  Heavy, old, its teeth worn smooth. No one knows what door it opens anymore - or so they say.

• 

  The silver candelabrum

  Heavy as a small anvil. It can light a room or end a conversation.

• 

  The ledger of accounts

  Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.

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.

The pages of the file

Here is the whole file, as the investigator received it. Not one row is spare — it was checked by removing each in turn and watching the unique solution disappear.

1. The chronicler notes drily: the tourney field and the bishop's chalice go together, whatever the court may say.
2. The healer says it with a raised finger: if the suspect with grey eyes was at the tourney field, then Filip the Steward was there at dawn.
3. The night watch saw Ilinca the Baker first, and only then the suspect with black hair.
4. Before the investigator, Filip the Steward firmly repeats: "I was there at noon".
5. The gate guard swears: Ilinca the Baker handled the bronze key.
6. A maid whispered it at confession: the throne room and the bronze key go together.
7. In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: Filip the Steward was at the tourney field.
8. The healer says it with a raised finger: if the suspect with grey eyes was there at dawn, then the suspect with dark eyes was at the Golden Boar inn.
9. The chronicler notes drily: the silver candelabrum matches that hour: at noon, whatever the court may say.
10. The hounds caught no scent at all: the Golden Boar inn and the silver candelabrum do not go together.

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.