The Secret of the Tourney
A ciphered letter, found where it had no business being, put the Chancellery on alert: someone is prying for another crown. The Chancellery has caught only the end of the thread; the whole skein is still in someone's hands. Before you, one by one, will stand Abbot Corvus, Captain Vlaicu and Sword-Bearer Dragos. Rumor walks the deed through every corner: the castle cellar, the customs cellar and the scriptorium. Open the grid, weigh every clue, and pronounce your verdict: the Chancellery awaits only your signature.
Suspects
He raises ravens in the abbey tower. His birds arrive faster than any messenger - and cannot be held to account.
1.78 m
right-handed
dark eyes
bald
He has guarded the fortress gates for twenty years. Who enters and who leaves - he decides what the ledger records.
1.84 m
right-handed
brown eyes
brown hair
He bears the king's ceremonial sword. At the tourney he has never lost; at dice, always.
1.86 m
right-handed
brown eyes
chestnut hair
Locations
the castle cellar
Barrels as big as carts and corners the lantern never reaches.
the customs cellar
Sealed crates, thick ledgers, and air that smells of undeclared goods.
the scriptorium
Slanted desks, ink, and working silence. Here a quill creaks louder than a conscience.
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 Chancellery checked twice: Abbot Corvus never set foot in the customs cellar.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was in the place that smells of undeclared goods.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the suspect with brown hair was in the place where a quill creaks louder than a conscience.