The Veil of the Court
The scribes swear they never wrote it, the seal looks true, and yet the decree is false from its first line. The forgery is skilled: only an eye trained on the archives found its flaw. The testimonies keep returning to the same names: Sava the Bell-Ringer, Countess Velica de Arin, Toma the Cellarer, Sword-Bearer Dragos and Costache the Toll-Keeper. As for the impulse behind it, the court whispers of everything: revenge, greed, ambition, a debt of honour and blackmail. 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 has rung the cathedral bells on the hour for thirty years. He sees the whole city from above and forgives nothing he sees.
1.83 m
right-handed
brown eyes
greying hair
She collects fans, debts of honour, and bedchamber secrets. She wields all three as weapons.
1.70 m
left-handed
green eyes
red hair
He holds the keys to every cellar in the castle. He claims the wine vanishes on its own, by "angelic evaporation."
1.73 m
left-handed
brown eyes
red hair
He bears the king's ceremonial sword. At the tourney he has never lost; at dice, always.
1.86 m
right-handed
brown eyes
chestnut hair
His scales weigh the goods; his eye, the merchant. Both can be "greased" at need.
1.80 m
right-handed
dark eyes
grey hair
Locations
the customs cellar
Sealed crates, thick ledgers, and air that smells of undeclared goods.
the scriptorium
Slanted desks, ink, and working silence. Here a quill creaks louder than a conscience.
the mill by the river
The wheel turns day and night. Its noise drowns out any conversation - which is why some are held here.
the throne room
Gold, purple, and the most closely watched place in the kingdom. In theory.
the old chapel
Candles, incense, and a silence in which every footstep echoes like a confession.
Objects
the abbess's bell
It calls the nuns to prayer. On the night in question, they all say, it rang once too many.
the ledger of accounts
Neat columns of figures, with one page torn out exactly at mid-month.
the vial of belladonna
A small flask, a wax stopper, a label written with care. Three-quarters empty.
the guild seal
The stamp that turns any goods into goods "of certified quality." Worth a mine of gold.
the purse of gold coins
New coins, unworn, from a minting not yet in circulation. Interesting.
Motives
revenge
O datorie de sânge pe care numai fapta o mai șterge.
greed
Dorința nesățioasă de avere, care nu se oprește la nimic.
ambition
Setea de a urca, chiar peste trupuri, spre o treaptă mai înaltă.
a debt of honour
O făgăduială care cântărește mai greu decât viața.
blackmail
Un secret ținut ca funia la gât, strâns exact cât trebuie.
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.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Countess Velica de Arin was at the throne room.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the ledger of accounts and a debt of honour go together.
- The chronicler notes drily: Countess Velica de Arin handled the vial of belladonna, whatever the court may say.
- One thing is certain: ambition and the old chapel do not share the same match for suspects.
- A maid whispered it at confession: Toma the Cellarer was driven by blackmail.
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: Sava the Bell-Ringer handled the ledger of accounts.
- The customs register is clear: Costache the Toll-Keeper never touched the abbess's bell.
- Before the investigator, Countess Velica de Arin firmly repeats: "I was driven by greed".
- An honest-faced witness saw it plainly: the scriptorium and the purse of gold coins go together.
- The chronicler notes drily: Sword-Bearer Dragos was at the old chapel, whatever the court may say.
- A maid whispered it at confession: the suspect with grey hair was in the place where the wheel turns day and night.
- At the Chancellery, Costache the Toll-Keeper maintains: "I was driven by a debt of honour".