Chronicle of the solution: The Torch of Winter
Disappearance Tier IV
The gap left in the citadel has found its cause, and the cause a name. The whole reasoning follows below.
The dossier, on a first reading
A disappearance troubles the citadel, and rumor grows faster than truth. Every passing hour erases another trace, and the traces were few to begin with. On the Chancellery's list stand Iustin the Mariner, Manole the Jeweller, Margica the Innkeeper, Sword-Bearer Dragos and Sir Bogdan de Fag; one of these names covers a lie. The places named in the testimonies — the old dungeon, the wharf, the mill by the river, the queen's garden and the guild forge — each await their turn under scrutiny. Few files have tested so many investigators; untangle the threads, catch the lie, and pronounce your verdict.
The Chancellery's list held Iustin the Mariner, Manole the Jeweller, Margica the Innkeeper, Sword-Bearer Dragos and Sir Bogdan de Fag, none of them further above suspicion than the next.
The suspects
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Iustin the Mariner
He brings goods from ports with unpronounceable names. Half the cargo never appears in the customs records.
1.78 m tall · blue eyes · black hair · left-handed
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Manole the Jeweller
He tells gold from gilt at a glance. With people, he admits, it takes him two.
1.69 m tall · brown eyes · brown hair · right-handed
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Margica the Innkeeper
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 tall · dark eyes · chestnut hair · right-handed
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Sword-Bearer Dragos
He bears the king's ceremonial sword. At the tourney he has never lost; at dice, always.
1.86 m tall · brown eyes · chestnut hair · right-handed
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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
Locations
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The old dungeon
Cells abandoned since the new dungeon was built. "Abandoned" is one way of putting it.
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The wharf
Moored boats, wet ropes, and goods that prefer to arrive in the fog.
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The mill by the river
The wheel turns day and night. Its noise drowns out any conversation - which is why some are held here.
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The queen's garden
Roses trimmed to a line and paths you may walk only by invitation. At night, the hedge has ears.
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The guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
Objects
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The bishop's chalice
Gold set with blue stones. Blessed three times, stolen twice.
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The rusted sword
An old weapon, forgotten on the rack. The rust on the blade is newer than it looks.
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The hunting crossbow
Light, accurate, with a walnut stock. Exactly one bolt is missing from the quiver.
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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 vial of belladonna
A small flask, a wax stopper, a label written with care. Three-quarters empty.
Motives
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A debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
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The inheritance
O avere așteptată, pe care numai o moarte o desparte de mână.
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Ambition
Setea de a urca, chiar peste trupuri, spre o treaptă mai înaltă.
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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.
Everything that could be learned
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.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the left-handed suspect handled the bishop's chalice.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: Sir Bogdan de Fag was there at noon.
- The customs register is clear: the tallest suspect was not driven by a debt of honour.
- A maid whispered it at confession: a debt of honour matches that hour: at dusk.
- An unsigned note, slipped under the door: "the culprit was driven by fear of exposure".
- The customs register is clear: jealousy does not match that hour: at noon.
- The tracks in the dust do not lie: the hunting crossbow and ambition go together.
- A maid whispered it at confession: Margica the Innkeeper handled the hunting crossbow.
- However it may seem, at suspects, the queen's garden and the hour "at dawn" take different roads.
- By the order of the hours, first comes the left-handed suspect, then Sword-Bearer Dragos.
- A maid whispered it at confession: Manole the Jeweller was at the old dungeon.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the guild forge and the ceremonial crown go together.
- Even the jester says it in earnest: the suspect with black hair never set foot in the place where the wheel turns day and night.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the vial of belladonna matches that hour: after matins.
- Margica the Innkeeper raises their right hand and says: "I was in the place where the hedge has ears".
- The chronicler notes drily: the mill by the river and fear of exposure go together, whatever the court may say.
Read the unravelling, step by step — warning, the culprit is named beyond this point
The reasoning, step by step
The start was not a culprit hunted by candlelight but whatever could be proved. The rest followed of itself, by cutting.
This too was added to the file: “A maid whispered it at confession: the left-handed suspect handled the bishop's chalice”. From then on that cell could no longer be disputed, and the dispute moved one row down.
The examination of the place yielded this as well: “In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: Sir Bogdan de Fag was there at noon”. A certain match thus enters the grid, and its row and column empty at once of every other possibility.
The gate register had kept a trace of its own: “The customs register is clear: the tallest suspect was not driven by a debt of honour”. The row lost one more cell, and whoever gathers losses enough arrives at a gain.
There followed that run of small findings which, together, decide everything: “A maid whispered it at confession: a debt of honour matches that hour: at dusk”; “An unsigned note, slipped under the door: "the culprit was driven by fear of exposure"”; “The customs register is clear: jealousy does not match that hour: at noon”; “The tracks in the dust do not lie: the hunting crossbow and ambition go together”; “A maid whispered it at confession: Margica the Innkeeper handled the hunting crossbow”; “However it may seem, at suspects, the queen's garden and the hour "at dawn" take different roads”; “By the order of the hours, first comes the left-handed suspect, then Sword-Bearer Dragos”; “A maid whispered it at confession: Manole the Jeweller was at the old dungeon”; “An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the guild forge and the ceremonial crown go together”; “Even the jester says it in earnest: the suspect with black hair never set foot in the place where the wheel turns day and night”; “In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the vial of belladonna matches that hour: after matins”. The grid emptied before one's eyes, and what stayed in it could no longer be doubted.
The Chancellery asked for one more check, and received it: “Margica the Innkeeper raises their right hand and says: "I was in the place where the hedge has ears"”. A suspect's word carries weight only after it is known whether the mouth that spoke it is clean.
The Chancellery began with what could be verified: “The chronicler notes drily: the mill by the river and fear of exposure go together, whatever the court may say”. The cell filled, and around it a space opened: that is what a certain match does to a grid.
Where the thread broke
Here the Supreme Law cut through silence. The single testimony on file withstood checking. Not a word contradicted the grid, so no speaker could be the culprit, and the circle closed of itself around the one who chose to stay silent. It was not the silence that condemned them, but the fact that nobody else was left.
The verdict
The seal fell on a single name: Sword-Bearer Dragos. The arrangement in the grid is this: Sword-Bearer Dragos was at the mill by the river, handled the vial of belladonna, was driven by fear of exposure and was there after matins. Tier IV is no empty word: without the method of hypotheses, this grid would not have closed.
Those taken out of the circle
The Chancellery recorded the others' movements as well, because it was precisely they that closed the grid: Iustin the Mariner was at the wharf, handled the bishop's chalice, was driven by jealousy and was there at dawn; Manole the Jeweller was at the old dungeon, handled the rusted sword, was driven by a debt of honour and was there at dusk; Margica the Innkeeper was at the queen's garden, handled the hunting crossbow, was driven by ambition and was there at vespers; Sir Bogdan de Fag was at the guild forge, handled the ceremonial crown, was driven by the inheritance and was there at noon. It is these acquittals that made the verdict possible: without them, room for doubt would have remained.
The Chancellery asked nobody to take its word. It showed the road step by step, so that anyone might walk it again.
Play this dossier All mysteries
The chronicle is written from the logic of the file, not from memory. The uniqueness of the solution was demonstrated by the solver before the dossier ever became public. behind the scenes at the Chancellery.