Scenedoku

Crime-scene logic cases

The Flamingo Count

Andalusia, an April dawn · the spring migration · the reserve's monthly flamingo count · Difficulty: Inspector 8 · 12×12

Las Marismas del Alba is a small bird reserve on the edge of the Andalusian marshes. On the first Saturday of April the flamingos are counted at first light; the count is led by Valeria, the ornithologist. Twelve people were in the reserve at dawn: three from the staff, three members of the ringing team, five birdwatchers – and Valeria. Valeria was found dead. The count was left unfinished.

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 water, the reeds, the rock, the telescopes, the lamps, the staircase, the weeping willows, the wheelbarrow, the net rack, the scales, the counter, the shelf, the cabinet, the tables, the parasol, the signpost, the bicycle and the car) cannot be occupied; the boat, the benches, the bridge and the chairs can.
  3. 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 was a woman, in any column; “the northernmost person in her area” = nobody else in her area was in a row further up.
  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

  • Aurora (warden of the reserve): She was beside the boat.
  • Benito (nature guide): He was alone in his area. Exactly one row north of him was a woman.
  • Candela (runs the café): She was on the Café Terrace.
  • Dámaso (licensed bird ringer): The bridge was somewhere in his row. The net rack was somewhere in his area.
  • Estrella (student volunteer): She was beside a bench. She was not in a corner of her area.
  • Fidel (retired teacher, volunteer): He was in the Willow Grove.
  • Gema (bird painter): She was not sitting on a bench. A lamp was somewhere in her area.
  • Hilario (retired engineer, keeps a bird list): He was the only man beside a bench.
  • Inés (schoolteacher on a birding weekend): She was the only woman beside the staircase.
  • Jacinto (wildlife photographer): Exactly one row south of him was a man. There was no other man in his area.
  • Koldo (biology student): He was in the Car Park.
  • Valeria (the reserve's ornithologist): The victim. She was alone with the murderer.

← Cases