Scenedoku

Crime-scene logic cases

Dead Heat

Olympic stadium · the night of the men’s 100 m final · two golds or none · Difficulty: Inspector 7 · 10×10

The men's 100 m final lasted 9.87 seconds; the argument ran past midnight. Two men hit the line together, and Vladan, the photo-finish judge, declared a dead heat. Twenty minutes later Vladan was found dead in the Judges’ Lounge, beside a cooler box, the disputed photo in his hand. Nine people were backstage: four sprinters, three coaches and two officials. The argument was never settled.

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 locker, the cooler boxes, the scoreboards, the camera, the cones, the counter, the energy-drink fridge, the suitcases, the computer, the pillars, the coat racks, the safe, the server rack, the tables and the big screen) cannot be occupied; the armchair, the benches, the chairs, the crash mat, the sofa and the stool can. An armchair is not a chair.
  3. Directions refer to rows and columns, not to the same line: “exactly one row north of her was somebody beside the safe” = the person in the row directly above was beside the safe, in any column; “the northernmost person in his area” = nobody else in his area was in a row further up.
  4. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

  • Anita (sprinter, 200 m finalist): Exactly one row north of her was somebody beside the safe. She was alone with a sprinter.
  • Benny (sprinter, one of the two dead-heat men): He was the only one beside a chair.
  • Carol (sprinter, the relay anchor): She was the only woman beside the stool.
  • Denzel (sprinter, the other dead-heat man): A bench was somewhere in his area.
  • Erna (Anita’s coach): She was the only one beside the camera.
  • Fedor (Benny’s coach): He was alone with an official.
  • Gwyneth (Denzel’s coach): A suitcase was somewhere in her column. She was beside a bench.
  • Helmut (the starter): He was the northernmost person in his area.
  • Inge (the chief timekeeper): The server rack was somewhere in her column.
  • Vladan (the photo-finish judge): The victim. He was found in the Judges’ Lounge, beside a cooler box – alone with the murderer.

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