The Secret of the Feast
In Realm of the Crown, only one thing is spoken of today: a daring theft, carried out almost before the court's eyes. The Chancellery has set every other file aside: until what was taken returns, no one sleeps easy. On the Chancellery's list stand Sava the Bell-Ringer, Father Nicodim and Princess Smaranda; one of these names covers a lie. The places named in the testimonies — the Golden Boar inn, the wharf and the great stable — each await their turn under scrutiny. Study the testimonies at your leisure, fit them into the grid, and pronounce your verdict without haste.
From the Chancellery archive
The feast ran late, and when the valuables were counted the next day the tally no longer came out right. A theft at a banquet is hard to prove precisely because everyone has an alibi: everyone was there, and everyone saw everyone.
So the Chancellery did not begin with the revelry but with the places one leaves by. The Golden Boar inn sells wine watered down and rumours watered down by nothing at all, and its upstairs rooms ask no questions. The wharf takes in goods that prefer to arrive in fog. The great stable smells of hay and of hasty departures, and horses, as the archivist notes, give no testimony.
The three suspects come from worlds that never touch: the bell-ringer who sees the whole town from above, the confessor who sells forgetfulness dear, and Princess Smaranda, who has refused seven suitors and kept every one of their gifts — practicality, she says, not greed.
Tier I. Three suspects, three places, and three testimonies of which one, by the Supreme Law, is certainly false.
Suspects
He has rung the cathedral bells on the hour for thirty years. He sees the whole city from above and forgives nothing he sees.
1.83 m
right-handed
brown eyes
greying 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 has refused seven suitors and kept the gifts of all. She calls it practicality, not greed.
1.66 m
right-handed
green eyes
chestnut hair
Locations
the Golden Boar inn
Wine watered down and rumours diluted with nothing. The rooms upstairs ask no questions.
the wharf
Moored boats, wet ropes, and goods that prefer to arrive in the fog.
the great stable
It smells of hay and hurried departures. Horses give no testimony.
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.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the suspect with blue eyes was at the great stable.
- Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit was in the place where the rooms upstairs ask no questions.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the tallest suspect was at the wharf.