Chronicle of the solution: The Spy of the Tourney
Forged decree Tier IV
The forgery has found its maker. This chronicle shows how one got from a doubtful parchment to a certain name.
The dossier as it reached the desk
A parchment full of orders no one ever gave is circulating through Realm of the Crown, and the harm has only begun. The forgery is skilled: only an eye trained on the archives found its flaw. Before you, one by one, will stand Lady Ruxandra, Captain Vlaicu, Father Nicodim, Filip the Steward and Ban Radu the Silent. As for the impulse behind it, the court whispers of everything: the inheritance, blackmail, revenge, fear of exposure and jealousy. A sharp eye is not enough here — it takes an archivist's patience: fit everything together, then pronounce your verdict.
Brought before the Chancellery were Lady Ruxandra, Captain Vlaicu, Father Nicodim, Filip the Steward and Ban Radu the Silent — names that, until the grid's last row, weighed exactly the same.
The suspects
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Lady Ruxandra
The queen's shadow at every hour. She hears everything, sees everything, and embroiders all she learns into patterns known only to her.
1.65 m tall · blue eyes · blond hair · right-handed
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Captain Vlaicu
He has guarded the fortress gates for twenty years. Who enters and who leaves - he decides what the ledger records.
1.84 m tall · brown eyes · brown hair · right-handed
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Father Nicodim
He hears the confessions of the whole court. Forgetting, he says, is a gift from the Lord - one he sells dearly.
1.72 m tall · blue eyes · greying hair · right-handed
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Filip the Steward
He counts the crown's silver every evening. On some evenings the count comes out different - and he says nothing.
1.79 m tall · grey eyes · chestnut hair · right-handed
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Ban Radu the Silent
He has never uttered a needless word in his life. Sadly, nor a useful one for investigators.
1.81 m tall · grey eyes · grey hair · right-handed
Locations
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The abbey library
Thousands of leather-bound tomes. Some of the chains on the shelves were cut recently.
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The customs cellar
Sealed crates, thick ledgers, and air that smells of undeclared goods.
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The tourney field
Empty stands outside festival days. An excellent place for meetings that never happened.
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The cathedral crypt
The old kings sleep beneath crested slabs. Now and then, someone disturbs their rest.
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The old dungeon
Cells abandoned since the new dungeon was built. "Abandoned" is one way of putting it.
Objects
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The small wine cask
Arin wine, the good year. The bung was pulled and put back by an unskilled hand.
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The ledger of accounts
Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.
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The ruby dagger
A short blade, its hilt set with a stone red as a frozen drop. It was sharpened recently.
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The ceremonial crown
The "wearable" copy of the true crown. At least, that was the idea.
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The map of the realm
The kingdom's borders, drawn with a fresh correction where there should be none.
Motives
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The inheritance
O avere așteptată, pe care numai o moarte o desparte de mână.
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Blackmail
Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.
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Revenge
O datorie de sânge pe care numai fapta o mai șterge.
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Fear of exposure
Groaza de a fi dat în vileag, care împinge la orice.
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Jealousy
Otrava care mistuie pe cel ce râvnește ce nu-i al lui.
Moments
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At dawn
When the citadel is barely waking and the guards still doze.
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After matins
The hour after the morning service, when the abbey empties.
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At noon
Midday, with bustle in the markets and silence in the alcoves.
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At dusk
When the shadows lengthen and the lanterns are not yet lit.
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At vespers
At the evening service, when the bells drown out any footstep.
The findings and the testimonies
This much the investigation had at its disposal, not a line more. The set is minimal by construction — remove any of the rows below and the dossier becomes unsolvable again.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the cathedral crypt matches that hour: at dawn.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the ledger of accounts matches that hour: after matins.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the abbey library matches that hour: at noon.
- The gate guard swears: the suspect with chestnut hair was driven by jealousy.
- The hounds caught no scent at all: the tourney field and the map of the realm do not go together.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the suspect with chestnut hair was there at vespers.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the ruby dagger and the inheritance go together.
- The chancellor deduced it coldly: if the suspect with grey hair was in the place with thousands of leather-bound tomes, then Captain Vlaicu was there after matins.
- The chronicler notes drily: blackmail matches that hour: after matins, whatever the court may say.
- The hounds caught no scent at all: the tallest suspect never set foot in the abbey library.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit handled the ceremonial crown.
- Before the investigator, Father Nicodim firmly repeats: "I was in the place that smells of undeclared goods".
- Even the jester says it in earnest: the suspect with blond hair was not driven by the inheritance.
- Before the investigator, Filip the Steward firmly repeats: "I handled the small wine cask".
- The gate guard swears: the tourney field matches that hour: at dusk.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the inheritance matches that hour: at noon.
- The Chancellery checked twice: the map of the realm and fear of exposure do not go together.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the customs cellar matches that hour: after matins.
Open the full reasoning — warning, the culprit is named beyond this point
The road to the verdict
It began with certainties, however small. A small certainty closes an entire row, and closed rows add up quickly.
A witness of good faith cleared up one more corner: “In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the cathedral crypt matches that hour: at dawn”. The cell filled, and around it a space opened: that is what a certain match does to a grid.
A piece of information dearly bought showed its worth: “In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the ledger of accounts matches that hour: after matins”. The tick goes down without hesitation, and with it fall all the other cells on that row and that column.
A report from the watch brought clarity: “An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the abbey library matches that hour: at noon”. A pair was tied, and the knot dragged a whole handful of impossibilities after it.
The file thickened quickly, and every fresh page cut something away: “The gate guard swears: the suspect with chestnut hair was driven by jealousy”; “The hounds caught no scent at all: the tourney field and the map of the realm do not go together”; “An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the suspect with chestnut hair was there at vespers”; “In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the ruby dagger and the inheritance go together”; “The chancellor deduced it coldly: if the suspect with grey hair was in the place with thousands of leather-bound tomes, then Captain Vlaicu was there after matins”; “The chronicler notes drily: blackmail matches that hour: after matins, whatever the court may say”; “The hounds caught no scent at all: the tallest suspect never set foot in the abbey library”; “About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit handled the ceremonial crown”; “Before the investigator, Father Nicodim firmly repeats: "I was in the place that smells of undeclared goods"”; “Even the jester says it in earnest: the suspect with blond hair was not driven by the inheritance”; “Before the investigator, Filip the Steward firmly repeats: "I handled the small wine cask"”; “The gate guard swears: the tourney field matches that hour: at dusk”; “An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the inheritance matches that hour: at noon”. Each cut a strip out of the grid, and at the end of them the space remaining was the size of a name.
The clerk read the next line aloud: “The Chancellery checked twice: the map of the realm and fear of exposure do not go together”. The cut named nobody, but it shortened the list of those who could still be named.
There followed a detail that narrowed the circle: “In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the customs cellar matches that hour: after matins”. From then on that cell could no longer be disputed, and the dispute moved one row down.
The mismatch
The lie came to light by its plain failure to fit. Father Nicodim swore before the Chancellery that I was at the customs cellar, yet everything that could be proved shows the opposite: Father Nicodim never set foot in the customs cellar. Under the Supreme Law that failure to fit is the culprit's own signature.
The culprit's name
The Chancellery pronounced its verdict without hesitation: the culprit is Father Nicodim. At the hour in question, Father Nicodim was at the tourney field, handled the ceremonial crown, was driven by fear of exposure and was there at dusk. Plain elimination was not enough here: every suspect had to be tried as the culprit until all hypotheses but one shattered. Hence the dossier stands at tier IV.
The remaining suspects
And here is what had become of the others, in that same hour: Lady Ruxandra was at the cathedral crypt, handled the map of the realm, was driven by revenge and was there at dawn; Captain Vlaicu was at the customs cellar, handled the ledger of accounts, was driven by blackmail and was there after matins; Filip the Steward was at the old dungeon, handled the small wine cask, was driven by jealousy and was there at vespers; Ban Radu the Silent was at the abbey library, handled the ruby dagger, was driven by the inheritance and was there at noon. Every one of these rows was necessary: take out a single one and the verdict can no longer be demonstrated.
The page closes. What is left of the whole affair is a truth that can be demonstrated, and that is worth more than a confession.
Play this dossier All mysteries
Everything you read above rests on the dossier itself. The Chancellery's solver checked, at publication, that the given clues yield exactly one solution — no more, and not none. behind the scenes at the Chancellery.