The Seal of Vespers
In the shadow of the council halls, something has been woven against the crown, and its threads lead far. The scheme has many threads but a single knot — and that knot bears a name. Before you, one by one, will stand Castellan Ursu, Ban Radu the Silent, Countess Velica de Arin, Brother Anselm and Anica the Miller. Motives abound — blackmail, fear of exposure, a debt of honour, jealousy and the inheritance — yet only one moved the guilty hand. Few files have tested so many investigators; untangle the threads, catch the lie, and pronounce your verdict.
From the Chancellery archive
The fourth tier is a different thing from the third, and that is worth saying plainly at the outset. At tier III the testimonies are sifted through hypotheses and, given patience, the grid closes by itself. At tier IV it does not close. You reach a point where every finding is placed and every testimony weighed — and two cells remain that could still, both of them, be true.
At that point nothing is left but to assume one and carry the assumption to the end. If you arrive at a mismatch, you have learned that the other was right. The Chancellery calls this “driving the hypothesis to absurdity”, and the solver does exactly the same before the dossier is ever published.
Here there are five suspects — Castellan Ursu, Ban Radu the Silent, Countess Velica de Arin, Brother Anselm and Anica the Miller — and five motives: blackmail, fear of exposure, a debt of honour, jealousy and the inheritance.
A tier IV dossier solved without error is worth ten times one of tier I. That is no accident.
Suspects
He keeps the fortress dungeon and the tally of those who leave other than they entered.
1.90 m
right-handed
dark eyes
black 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
She collects fans, debts of honour, and bedchamber secrets. She wields all three as weapons.
1.70 m
left-handed
green eyes
red hair
He has copied manuscripts for forty years. He knows what every one of them says - including the forbidden ones.
1.75 m
right-handed
brown eyes
greying hair
Her mill grinds grain by day and rumours by night. The flour comes out white; the rumours, always black.
1.63 m
right-handed
brown eyes
blond hair
Locations
the north wall
The stretch of wall the patrol skirts when the wind blows. Everyone knows that.
the guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
the salt market
Here anything is bargained for, from salt to silences. The price of silence keeps rising.
the throne room
Gold, purple, and the most closely watched place in the kingdom. In theory.
the wharf
Moored boats, wet ropes, and goods that prefer to arrive in the fog.
Objects
the rusted sword
An old weapon, forgotten on the rack. The rust on the blade is newer than it looks.
the hunting crossbow
Light, accurate, with a walnut stock. Exactly one bolt is missing from the quiver.
the bishop's chalice
Gold set with blue stones. Blessed three times, stolen twice.
the ceremonial crown
The "wearable" copy of the true crown. At least, that was the idea.
the bronze key
Heavy, old, its teeth worn smooth. No one knows what door it opens anymore - or so they say.
Motives
blackmail
Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.
fear of exposure
Groaza de a fi dat în vileag, care împinge la orice.
a debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
jealousy
Otrava care mistuie pe cel ce râvnește ce nu-i al lui.
the inheritance
O avere așteptată, pe care numai o moarte o desparte de mână.
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 tracks in the dust do not lie: the north wall and jealousy go together.
- Castellan Ursu declares under oath: "I was driven by the inheritance".
- Two witnesses, upon their crest: the throne room and fear of exposure do not go together.
- The healer says it with a raised finger: if the suspect with black hair was driven by the inheritance, then Countess Velica de Arin handled the bishop's chalice.
- Two witnesses, upon their crest: Ban Radu the Silent never set foot in the throne room.
- However it may seem, at suspects, the ceremonial crown and the throne room take different roads.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the ceremonial crown and the inheritance go together.
- The gate guard swears: the guild forge and the rusted sword go together.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: Ban Radu the Silent handled the bronze key.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Brother Anselm was driven by jealousy.
- At the Chancellery, Countess Velica de Arin maintains: "I was at the guild forge".
- Two witnesses, upon their crest: the wharf and the ceremonial crown do not go together.
- At the Chancellery, Anica the Miller maintains: "I was driven by a debt of honour".