The Torch of the Feast
A bitter morning has settled over Realm of the Crown: something precious has vanished without a trace. The culprit worked cleanly, but not without witnesses — and the witnesses, at last, have begun to talk. Before you, one by one, will stand Pantelimon the Gardener, Tintar the Jester, Luca the Squire and Damaschin the Healer. The places named in the testimonies — the merchant's house, the wharf, the watchtower and the north wall — each await their turn under scrutiny. Study the testimonies at your leisure, fit them into the grid, and pronounce your verdict without haste.
Suspects
He tends the queen's roses and no one's beds of belladonna. The second garden is the more sought-after.
1.73 m
right-handed
green eyes
greying hair
The only man in the kingdom who may tell the king the truth - provided he makes it sound like a joke.
1.56 m
right-handed
green eyes
red hair
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
right-handed
green eyes
brown hair
He knows the cure for any illness and the dose at which the cure becomes something else. He swears he has never mistaken the dosage.
1.71 m
left-handed
green eyes
grey hair
Locations
the merchant's house
Carpets brought from overseas and a desk with more secret drawers than drawers.
the wharf
Moored boats, wet ropes, and goods that prefer to arrive in the fog.
the watchtower
The highest point of the fortress. From here you see everything - and from below, everyone sees who climbs up.
the north wall
The stretch of wall the patrol skirts when the wind blows. Everyone knows that.
Objects
the signet ring
The crest has been filed away almost completely. Almost.
the amber necklace
Beads of golden resin strung on a silk thread. The thread is broken and hastily reknotted.
the guild seal
The stamp that turns any goods into goods "of certified quality." Worth a mine of gold.
the ledger of accounts
Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.
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.
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Verdict
The culprit always lies; everyone else tells the truth.
- About the culprit, the Chancellery knows one thing for certain: the culprit was there at dusk.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the watchtower and the signet ring go together.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the north wall and the guild seal go together.
- The gate guard swears: Pantelimon the Gardener was at the merchant's house.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the suspect with red hair was in the place the patrol skirts when the wind blows.
- The chronicler notes drily: the shortest suspect was there at noon, whatever the court may say.
- A note in the margin of the ledger: if Luca the Squire was there at dawn, then Pantelimon the Gardener handled the amber necklace.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: Pantelimon the Gardener was there after matins.
- The night watch saw Luca the Squire first, and only then Damaschin the Healer.
- A note in the margin of the ledger: if the tallest suspect handled the amber necklace, then Luca the Squire was at the watchtower.