The Silence of the Envoy
A plot hatched in the shadows threatens the crown, and whoever hatched it still sits at the court's table. The scheme has many threads but a single knot — and that knot bears a name. Suspicion has fallen on Ban Radu the Silent, Toma the Cellarer, Mother Evghenia and Brother Anselm — and until the proof is plain, none of these names leaves the room. On the inquiry's table, like pieces in a game, lie the signet ring, the herald's horn, the ciphered letter and the silver-clad icon. The threads were tangled on purpose: investigate, weigh every word, and pronounce your verdict only when the grid leaves no room for doubt.
From the Chancellery archive
From the third tier onward, the Chancellery's dossiers no longer yield to findings alone. Testimonies enter here, and with them the Supreme Law: among those who speak, the culprit lies and the rest tell the truth. A testimony does not go into the grid as it stands — it goes in only once you have decided what to make of the mouth that spoke it.
The method has an old name: the hypothesis. You suppose in turn that each suspect is the culprit, negate what that one declared, and carry the consequences to the end. Reach a contradiction and the hypothesis is dead. At the finish, one alone is left standing.
This dossier turns on an envoy and the silence that followed him. The suspects: Ban Radu the Silent, Toma the Cellarer, Mother Evghenia and Brother Anselm — two of the church, one of the cellar and one of silence itself. The objects run from a signet ring to a silver-clad icon.
Do not hurry. At tier III, patience achieves more than intuition.
Suspects
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
He holds the keys to every cellar in the castle. He claims the wine vanishes on its own, by "angelic evaporation."
1.73 m
left-handed
brown eyes
red hair
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 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
Locations
the hunting lodge
The royal cabin in the heart of the forest. Far from the eyes of the court - which is exactly what suits some.
the guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
the throne room
Gold, purple, and the most closely watched place in the kingdom. In theory.
the mill by the river
The wheel turns day and night. Its noise drowns out any conversation - which is why some are held here.
Objects
the signet ring
The crest has been filed away almost completely. Almost.
the herald's horn
It sounds the muster, the alarm, or the retreat. Whoever holds it can start a whole panic with a single breath.
the ciphered letter
Orderly rows of meaningless signs. The ink is costly, the paper costlier, the sender - unknown.
the silver-clad icon
The silver casing is old craftsmanship; the nails that hold it were driven this week.
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.
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.
| SUSPECTS | LOCATIONS | OBJECTS | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| MOMENTS | |
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| OBJECTS | |
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| LOCATIONS | |
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Verdict
The culprit always lies; everyone else tells the truth.
- The customs register is clear: the mill by the river does not match that hour: after matins.
- The gate guard swears: the signet ring matches that hour: at noon.
- The gate guard swears: the hunting lodge matches that hour: at dusk.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the throne room matches that hour: at dawn.
- The chancellor deduced it coldly: if Brother Anselm was there at dawn, then the shortest suspect handled the ciphered letter.
- The hounds caught no scent at all: Toma the Cellarer never set foot in the place far from the eyes of the court.
- Brother Anselm raises their right hand and says: "I was at the guild forge".
- The night watch saw the suspect with dark eyes first, and only then Toma the Cellarer.
- Whatever the market gossips: Ban Radu the Silent never touched the herald's horn.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the suspect with greying hair was there at dawn.