The Scheming of the Seal
Something — or someone — has vanished in Realm of the Crown, and no one can say when the thread was cut. Every passing hour erases another trace, and the traces were few to begin with. On the Chancellery's list stand Zaharia the Spice Merchant, Pantelimon the Gardener, Codrin the Huntsman, Luca the Squire and Teofil the Chronicler; one of these names covers a lie. Motives abound — ambition, greed, a debt of honour, the inheritance and jealousy — 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.
From the Chancellery archive
Five suspects, five places, five objects and five motives. This is one of the widest dossiers in the archive and, for that very reason, one of the most instructive: on a grid this large, a single certain match achieves more than ten negations.
What was lost concerns the seal, and those who stood to gain are Zaharia the Spice Merchant, Pantelimon the Gardener, Codrin the Huntsman, Luca the Squire and Teofil the Chronicler. The motives the Chancellery could prove are ambition, greed, a debt of honour, the inheritance and jealousy — each belonging to one of them, none shared.
The places carry you from one end of the realm to the other: the salt market, the old dungeon, the wharf, the guild forge and the queen's garden.
Tier III. Do not try to solve it all at a glance. Take the categories two at a time, close what can be closed, then come back. The grid rewards patience, not haste.
Suspects
His ships bring pepper, saffron, and news no one asked for. All of it at the same price: steep.
1.74 m
right-handed
dark eyes
black hair
He tends the queen's roses and no one's beds of belladonna. The second garden is the more sought-after.
1.73 m
right-handed
green eyes
greying hair
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
He polishes the knight's armour and dreams of a sword of his own. For a coat of arms he would do almost anything.
1.72 m
right-handed
green eyes
brown hair
He writes the kingdom's history as he is ordered. The unwelcome drafts, however, he keeps every one.
1.69 m
left-handed
brown eyes
greying hair
Locations
the salt market
Here anything is bargained for, from salt to silences. The price of silence keeps rising.
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 guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
the queen's garden
Roses trimmed to a line and paths you may walk only by invitation. At night, the hedge has ears.
Objects
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 small wine cask
Arin wine, the good year. The bung was pulled and put back by an unskilled hand.
the ledger of accounts
Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.
the ciphered letter
Orderly rows of meaningless signs. The ink is costly, the paper costlier, the sender - unknown.
Motives
ambition
Setea de a urca, chiar peste trupuri, spre o treaptă mai înaltă.
greed
Dorința nesățioasă de avere, care nu se oprește la nimic.
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.
jealousy
Otrava care mistuie pe cel ce râvnește ce nu-i al lui.
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 gate guard swears: Pantelimon the Gardener handled the bronze key.
- The gate guard swears: the bronze key and jealousy go together.
- At the Chancellery, Luca the Squire maintains: "I was at the queen's garden".
- The Chancellery checked twice: the ledger of accounts and the inheritance do not go together.
- The gate guard swears: Teofil the Chronicler handled the silver candelabrum.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the old dungeon and a debt of honour go together.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Teofil the Chronicler was driven by greed.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was driven by jealousy.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the guild forge and the small wine cask go together.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the suspect with dark eyes handled the ciphered letter.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the salt market and the silver candelabrum go together.