The Lighthouse

A lighthouse islet off the Scottish coast · an October evening in 1932 · the lamp had just been lit · Difficulty: Officer 3 · 6×6

A tiny islet off the west coast of Scotland, October 1932. Once a month a fishing boat ferried visitors across, and that evening the wind rose so fast that nobody could sail back: three guests stayed with the keeper and his daughter. Vere, the inspector from the mainland, had come to decide whether the lighthouse would run with a clockwork lamp from now on – and whether the keeper's family would have to leave. At dusk, just as the great lamp began to turn, he was found on the rocky shore at the foot of the tower. Everyone on the islet made a short statement – find the one who was alone with him.

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 flower bed, the lighthouse, the stove, the herb bed, the rocks and the water) cannot be occupied; the bed, the chair and the boats can.
3. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

• Ailsa (the keeper's daughter): She was not in the Garden.
• Blair (the lighthouse keeper): He was in the Keeper's Cottage.
• Catriona (a painter from Glasgow): She was in the first column.
• Dougal (the fisherman who ferried the visitors): He was the only one sitting in a boat. He was in the last row.
• Effie (a birdwatcher from Edinburgh): She was in the first row.
• Vere (the inspector from the mainland): The victim. He was found on the Rocky Shore, beside the lighthouse – alone with the murderer.

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