The Casino

Golden Anchor Casino · 2 a.m. · the last hand · Difficulty: Inspector 8 · 12×12

Two in the morning at the Golden Anchor Casino. The last hand of the night has just been dealt when the lights flicker – and a minute later Valentin, the owner, is found dead in his office, beside the filing cabinet. Eleven people were still in the house: six players and five members of staff. One of them is the killer, and one of them is bluffing: every statement is true except the murderer’s. Read every statement, find everyone’s square on the floor plan and unmask the murderer – alone with Valentin in the Office.

Rules

1. The bluff: every suspect made one statement. Ten statements are true – only the murderer’s statement is false. (A statement with several parts is false if any part of it is untrue.)
2. Exactly three people were sitting on chairs (the armchair does not count as a chair).
3. Every row and every column holds exactly one person. As soon as you place someone, cross out their whole row and column.
4. “Beside” = directly left, right, above or below, and in the same area. Squares with objects (roulette tables, card tables, slot machines, counters, safes…) cannot be occupied; the chairs, the bar stools, the sofa and the armchair can. A corner of an area is a square of that area with two outer sides.
5. Directions refer to rows and columns, not to the same line: “exactly one row north of him was a woman” = the person in the row directly above is a woman, in any column; “north of Brigid” = in a row further up, in any column.
6. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

• Amadeus (high roller): He was beside a card table. Exactly one row south of him was a man.
• Brigid (tourist): She was not beside a chair.
• Cato (regular): He was sitting in the armchair.
• Dorothea (actress): She was sitting in a chair. She was not alone in her area.
• Eamon (banker): He was not in a corner of his area. Exactly two rows north of him was a woman.
• Filippa (widow): She was on the Terrace. She was north of Imre.
• Gerard (croupier): He was in the Card Room.
• Helga (bartender): She was beside a counter. Exactly one row north of her was a male player.
• Imre (cashier): He was beside a safe. He was in a corner of his area.
• Jocelyn (security): She was in the Kitchen. Exactly one row north of her was a member of staff.
• Kasper (waiter): He was on the Terrace. Exactly one row north of him was a male player.
• Valentin (owner): The victim. He was found in the Office, beside the filing cabinet – alone with the murderer.

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