Scenedoku

Crime-scene logic cases

After the Regatta

Svendborg, Saturday evening · the sailing club after the autumn regatta · a trophy nobody handed over · Difficulty: Detective 5 · 8×8

Svendborg, the old sailing town, the last Saturday of September. The club's autumn regatta ended at five, with Dorthe's boat first home; the trophy was to be handed over at eight in the clubhouse. At eight the trophy stood in its place – but Vibeke, the club's chairwoman, did not come to present it. Seven others were still at the club. Vibeke was found dead. The prize-giving never took place.

Rules

  1. Every row and every column holds exactly one person. As soon as you place someone, cross out their whole row and column.
  2. “Beside” = directly left, right, above or below, and in the same area. Squares with objects (the waters, the bollard, the lifebuoy, the flagpole, the counter, the trophy, the sewing machine, the coil of rope, the broken mast, the trolley, the locker, the shower, the desk, the anchor and the car) cannot be occupied; the boats, the bench, the bar stool and the chair can.
  3. Directions refer to rows and columns, not to the same line: “exactly one row south of her was somebody sitting in a boat” = the person in the row directly below was sitting in a boat, in any column; “the easternmost person in his area” = nobody else in his area was in a column further right.
  4. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area. The victim made no statement – her square, too, follows from the others’.

Statements

  • Asger (harbour master): He was the easternmost person in his area.
  • Birgitte (bar manager): She was alone in her area. Exactly one row south of her was somebody sitting in a boat.
  • Carsten (race officer): The chair was somewhere in his row. The broken mast was somewhere in his column.
  • Dorthe (the winning skipper): There was no man in her area. A boat was somewhere in her area.
  • Esben (her crewman): He was in the Sail Loft. He was not beside the coil of rope.
  • Freja (reporter of the local paper): She was the only one beside the bench.
  • Gorm (boatbuilder, the regatta’s sponsor): He was alone with a woman. The coil of rope was somewhere in his column.
  • Vibeke (the club’s chairwoman): The victim. She was alone with the murderer.

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