The Shadow of the Seal
A spy has crept in among the people of the court, and the realm's secrets have begun flowing toward foreign ears. What has leaked so far is hard to weigh; what might yet leak, impossible. The testimonies keep returning to the same names: Margica the Innkeeper, Brother Anselm, Chancellor Veniamin, Mother Evghenia and Father Nicodim. Motives abound — a debt of honour, revenge, fear of exposure, the inheritance and blackmail — 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.
Suspects
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
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
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
She runs the abbey with an iron hand and a golden pen. The register of donations has pages she shows no one.
1.60 m
right-handed
dark eyes
black 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
Locations
the abbey library
Thousands of leather-bound tomes. Some of the chains on the shelves were cut recently.
the old dungeon
Cells abandoned since the new dungeon was built. "Abandoned" is one way of putting it.
the castle cellar
Barrels as big as carts and corners the lantern never reaches.
the queen's garden
Roses trimmed to a line and paths you may walk only by invitation. At night, the hedge has ears.
the tourney field
Empty stands outside festival days. An excellent place for meetings that never happened.
Objects
the hunting crossbow
Light, accurate, with a walnut stock. Exactly one bolt is missing from the quiver.
the customs scales
Copper pans, sealed weights. One of the weights rings hollow.
the purse of gold coins
New coins, unworn, from a minting not yet in circulation. Interesting.
the broken lantern
The glass cracked, the wick burned to the end. Someone needed a lot of light, fast.
the amber necklace
Beads of golden resin strung on a silk thread. The thread is broken and hastily reknotted.
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.
the inheritance
O avere așteptată, pe care numai o moarte o desparte de mână.
blackmail
Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.
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.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the hunting crossbow and the inheritance go together.
- Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit was at the castle cellar.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the queen's garden and fear of exposure go together.
- Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit was there at dawn.
- The chancellor deduced it coldly: if Father Nicodim was at the tourney field, then the suspect with chestnut hair was driven by revenge.
- The chronicler notes drily: the tourney field and a debt of honour go together, whatever the court may say.
- The gate guard swears: Father Nicodim handled the amber necklace.
- By the order of the hours, first comes Margica the Innkeeper, then Brother Anselm.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the amber necklace and a debt of honour go together.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the inheritance matches that hour: at noon.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the abbey library and revenge go together.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: Chancellor Veniamin was driven by fear of exposure.
- Whatever the market gossips: the abbey library and the broken lantern do not go together.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the purse of gold coins matches that hour: at vespers.