Chronicle of the solution: The Torch of the Crown
Theft Tier III
What was taken has been found, and the one who took it wears irons today; here, though, is the road that led there.
What the file said when it was opened
A bitter morning has settled over Realm of the Crown: something precious has vanished without a trace. The loss is not only in gold: it is in the trust that shattered along with the lock. The testimonies keep returning to the same names: Chamberlain Iorgu, Luca the Squire, Sir Bogdan de Fag and Costache the Toll-Keeper. The testimonies cling to certain hours: "at dawn", "after matins", "at noon" and "at dusk". Few files have tested so many investigators; untangle the threads, catch the lie, and pronounce your verdict.
The torch of the crown is not a torch. It is the name the court gives to the thing without which a coronation cannot be held — and it was precisely that which was missing when it was needed. The Chancellery opened the dossier within the hour.
The four suspects all stand on the steps of power, but at different heights. Chamberlain Iorgu orders who enters the palace. Costache the Toll-Keeper rules over what enters the realm. Sir Bogdan de Fag has a sword and a voice. Luca the Squire has neither sword of his own nor voice — he has only access, which in a theft is sometimes quite enough.
The places descend from the guild forge to the old dungeon, by way of the customs cellar and the Golden Boar inn. The objects are all precious: a stained parchment, an amber necklace, a silver-clad icon and the bishop's chalice.
Tier III. There are testimonies, so there is a lie. Test them one by one against the grid: the one that will not sit with the rest is the signature you are after.
Under suspicion stood Chamberlain Iorgu, Luca the Squire, Sir Bogdan de Fag and Costache the Toll-Keeper. One of them alone lied; the rest, without knowing it, spoke the truth that gave that one away.
The suspects
-
Chamberlain Iorgu
He arranges the king's audiences and, for a small courtesy, the order in which petitions are read.
1.77 m tall · grey eyes · brown hair · right-handed
-
Luca the Squire
He polishes the knight's armour and dreams of a sword of his own. For a coat of arms he would do almost anything.
1.72 m tall · green eyes · brown hair · right-handed
-
Sir Bogdan de Fag
He pawned his armour to pay his tavern debts. Honour, he says, does not rust.
1.85 m tall · blue eyes · brown hair · right-handed
-
Costache the Toll-Keeper
His scales weigh the goods; his eye, the merchant. Both can be "greased" at need.
1.80 m tall · dark eyes · grey hair · right-handed
Locations
-
The guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
-
The customs cellar
Sealed crates, thick ledgers, and air that smells of undeclared goods.
-
The Golden Boar inn
Wine watered down and rumours diluted with nothing. The rooms upstairs ask no questions.
-
The old dungeon
Cells abandoned since the new dungeon was built. "Abandoned" is one way of putting it.
Objects
-
The stained parchment
A half-burned document with a stain that might be wine. Or not.
-
The amber necklace
Beads of golden resin strung on a silk thread. The thread is broken and hastily reknotted.
-
The silver-clad icon
The silver casing is old craftsmanship; the nails that hold it were driven this week.
-
The bishop's chalice
Gold set with blue stones. Blessed three times, stolen twice.
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.
The testimonies on file
Nothing is missing from the list and nothing is surplus. Every row below is necessary: without it, the grid would allow several solutions at once.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was at the old dungeon.
- The chronicler notes drily: the stained parchment matches that hour: at dusk, whatever the court may say.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the guild forge and the silver-clad icon go together.
- The customs register is clear: the Golden Boar inn does not match that hour: at dawn.
- The scouts confirm it: at suspects, the paths of the bishop's chalice and the customs cellar diverge.
- Chamberlain Iorgu raises their right hand and says: "I was there at noon".
- Before the investigator, Luca the Squire firmly repeats: "I was at the guild forge".
- The gate guard swears: the silver-clad icon matches that hour: after matins.
- The bell-ringer remembers well: the suspect with green eyes came earlier than Costache the Toll-Keeper.
- At the Chancellery, Costache the Toll-Keeper maintains: "I was there at dawn".
Reveal the Chancellery's reasoning — warning, the culprit is named beyond this point
The road to the verdict
The investigator guessed at nothing. Each finding went to its place in the grid, each testimony passed through the sieve of the Supreme Law, and elimination did the rest.
The Chancellery began with what could be verified: “About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was at the old dungeon”. A fact fastened to the culprit cuts without naming: whoever cannot carry it leaves the circle at once.
From one word to the next, the investigation arrived here: “The chronicler notes drily: the stained parchment matches that hour: at dusk, whatever the court may say”. A certain match thus enters the grid, and its row and column empty at once of every other possibility.
The Chancellery asked for one more check, and received it: “A maid whispered it at confession: the guild forge and the silver-clad icon go together”. The cell filled, and around it a space opened: that is what a certain match does to a grid.
The pages gathered fast, and each cut a strip out of the grid: “The customs register is clear: the Golden Boar inn does not match that hour: at dawn”; “The scouts confirm it: at suspects, the paths of the bishop's chalice and the customs cellar diverge”; “Chamberlain Iorgu raises their right hand and says: "I was there at noon"”; “Before the investigator, Luca the Squire firmly repeats: "I was at the guild forge"”; “The gate guard swears: the silver-clad icon matches that hour: after matins”. Each cut a strip out of the grid, and at the end of them the space remaining was the size of a name.
The examination of the place yielded this as well: “The bell-ringer remembers well: the suspect with green eyes came earlier than Costache the Toll-Keeper”. Every new line in the file closes a door; by the end not one is left open.
A witness of good faith cleared up one more corner: “At the Chancellery, Costache the Toll-Keeper maintains: "I was there at dawn"”. A suspect's word does not enter the grid as it stands — it enters only once it is settled whether the mouth that spoke it is clean.
The word that would not fit
The Chancellery caught the mismatch on its first reading of the grid. Costache the Toll-Keeper swore before the Chancellery that I was there at dawn, when in fact Costache the Toll-Keeper was not present at dawn. The innocent have no cause to lie; under the Supreme Law, whoever does points at themselves.
The close of the investigation
The Chancellery pronounced its verdict without hesitation: the culprit is Costache the Toll-Keeper. The arrangement in the grid is this: Costache the Toll-Keeper was at the old dungeon, handled the stained parchment and was there at dusk. Tier III is no empty word: without the method of hypotheses, this grid would not have closed.
The acquittal of the rest
The grid took them out of the circle one by one, place in the story and all: Chamberlain Iorgu was at the Golden Boar inn, handled the bishop's chalice and was there at noon; Luca the Squire was at the guild forge, handled the silver-clad icon and was there after matins; Sir Bogdan de Fag was at the customs cellar, handled the amber necklace and was there at dawn. Not one of the rows above is spare — remove it and the grid opens again.
Whoever reads this chronicle years from now will find in it less a deed than a method.
Play this dossier All mysteries
The chronicles are written by the Enigmerra Chancellery out of the dossier's own logic: every step above is verified by the solver which proved, at publication, that the dossier has a unique solution. behind the scenes at the Chancellery.