The Secret of the Dawn
A bitter morning has settled over Realm of the Crown: something precious has vanished without a trace. The loss is not only in gold: it is in the trust that shattered along with the lock. On the Chancellery's list stand Chancellor Veniamin, Damaschin the Healer, Grigore the Cupbearer, Teofil the Chronicler and Margica the Innkeeper; one of these names covers a lie. As for the impulse behind it, the court whispers of everything: a debt of honour, revenge, fear of exposure, jealousy and the inheritance. A sharp eye is not enough here — it takes an archivist's patience: fit everything together, then pronounce your verdict.
Suspects
Every charter of the kingdom passes through his hands. A comma he once moved started a war.
1.64 m
left-handed
grey eyes
bald
He knows the cure for any illness and the dose at which the cure becomes something else. He swears he has never mistaken the dosage.
1.71 m
left-handed
green eyes
grey hair
He tastes the king's wine before anyone else. A trade with a short future, he says, but a rich past.
1.70 m
right-handed
brown eyes
chestnut 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
At the Golden Boar inn, wine and secrets are spilled in equal measure. She never forgets a debt - or a word let slip.
1.61 m
right-handed
dark eyes
chestnut hair
Locations
the salt market
Here anything is bargained for, from salt to silences. The price of silence keeps rising.
the north wall
The stretch of wall the patrol skirts when the wind blows. Everyone knows that.
the throne room
Gold, purple, and the most closely watched place in the kingdom. In theory.
the queen's garden
Roses trimmed to a line and paths you may walk only by invitation. At night, the hedge has ears.
the watchtower
The highest point of the fortress. From here you see everything - and from below, everyone sees who climbs up.
Objects
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 map of the realm
The kingdom's borders, drawn with a fresh correction where there should be none.
the ciphered letter
Orderly rows of meaningless signs. The ink is costly, the paper costlier, the sender - unknown.
the purse of gold coins
New coins, unworn, from a minting not yet in circulation. Interesting.
Motives
a debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
revenge
O datorie de sânge pe care numai fapta o mai șterge.
fear of exposure
Groaza de a fi dat în vileag, care împinge la orice.
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.
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.
at vespers
At the evening service, when the bells drown out any footstep.
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: Teofil the Chronicler was driven by jealousy.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the suspect with grey hair was driven by revenge.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was there at dawn.
- Whatever the market gossips: the suspect with dark eyes never set foot in the north wall.
- Grigore the Cupbearer declares under oath: "I was there at noon".
- The Chancellery checked twice: the shortest suspect was not driven by fear of exposure.
- The gate guard swears: the salt market and the ciphered letter go together.
- A note in the margin of the ledger: if Grigore the Cupbearer was at the north wall, then Grigore the Cupbearer handled the bronze key.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the salt market and a debt of honour go together.
- The chronicler notes drily: the bishop's chalice matches that hour: at dusk, whatever the court may say.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit handled the purse of gold coins.
- The chronicler notes drily: the queen's garden and revenge go together, whatever the court may say.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the ciphered letter matches that hour: after matins.
- The chronicler notes drily: the suspect with greying hair handled the bishop's chalice, whatever the court may say.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the bald suspect handled the ciphered letter.
- The chronicler notes drily: the throne room and the map of the realm go together, whatever the court may say.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the watchtower and jealousy go together.