The Trap of Winter
The council's secrets have reached where they never should have — and not on their own: someone carried them. The spy knows the corridors better than the guards do — an ill sign: it is one of the household. On the Chancellery's list stand Chamberlain Iorgu, Ban Radu the Silent, Teofil the Chronicler, Duchess Amara de Corvin and Mother Evghenia; one of these names covers a lie. Among the things spoken of in whispers are the small wine cask, the signet ring, the herald's horn, the ciphered letter and the ledger of accounts. The threads were tangled on purpose: investigate, weigh every word, and pronounce your verdict only when the grid leaves no room for doubt.
Suspects
He arranges the king's audiences and, for a small courtesy, the order in which petitions are read.
1.77 m
right-handed
grey eyes
brown hair
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 writes the kingdom's history as he is ordered. The unwelcome drafts, however, he keeps every one.
1.69 m
left-handed
brown eyes
greying hair
Widowed three times, heir on each occasion. Her smile has buried more nobles than the plague.
1.68 m
right-handed
dark eyes
black 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
Locations
the abbey library
Thousands of leather-bound tomes. Some of the chains on the shelves were cut recently.
the Golden Boar inn
Wine watered down and rumours diluted with nothing. The rooms upstairs ask no questions.
the scriptorium
Slanted desks, ink, and working silence. Here a quill creaks louder than a conscience.
the guild forge
Anvils, tongs, and a fire that never goes out. Many small metal things vanish here.
the salt market
Here anything is bargained for, from salt to silences. The price of silence keeps rising.
Objects
the small wine cask
Arin wine, the good year. The bung was pulled and put back by an unskilled hand.
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 ledger of accounts
Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.
Motives
a debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
revenge
O datorie de sânge pe care numai fapta o mai șterge.
ambition
Setea de a urca, chiar peste trupuri, spre o treaptă mai înaltă.
fear of exposure
Groaza de a fi dat în vileag, care împinge la orice.
jealousy
Otrava care mistuie pe cel ce râvnește ce nu-i al lui.
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 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| MOTIVES | |
|||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| OBJECTS | |
|||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| LOCATIONS | |
|||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Verdict
The culprit always lies; everyone else tells the truth.
- Every scout reports the same about the culprit: the culprit was in the place where anything is bargained for.
- The chronicler notes drily: the Golden Boar inn and revenge go together, whatever the court may say.
- In the Chancellery's ledger it stands in black and white: the small wine cask and ambition go together.
- Ban Radu the Silent declares under oath: "I was at the Golden Boar inn".
- A maid whispered it at confession: Duchess Amara de Corvin handled the ledger of accounts.
- The hounds caught no scent at all: the shortest suspect never touched the ciphered letter.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Teofil the Chronicler handled the herald's horn.
- The chancellor deduced it coldly: if Ban Radu the Silent was at the salt market, then Duchess Amara de Corvin was at the scriptorium.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the left-handed suspect was in the place with thousands of leather-bound tomes.
- A maid whispered it at confession: Teofil the Chronicler was driven by jealousy.
- However it may seem, at suspects, the salt market and the small wine cask take different roads.
- At the Chancellery, Mother Evghenia maintains: "I was driven by revenge".
- The chronicler notes drily: the ciphered letter and a debt of honour go together, whatever the court may say.