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Scenedoku

Crime-scene logic cases

The Midnight Waltz

New Year’s Eve · Winterhall Palace · midnight · Difficulty: Inspector 8 · 16×16

New Year’s Eve ball at Winterhall Palace. At the stroke of midnight the host, Lord Vernon, is found dead on the sofa in the Mirror Hall. Fifteen guests were in the house: seven couples were waltzing – and one guest was not dancing at all, because they were alone with the host. Read the statements, find everyone’s exact position on the plan and unmask the murderer: the killer was alone with Vernon in the Mirror Hall.

Rules

  1. Everyone except the victim and the murderer was dancing in a couple. The two partners stand on diagonally touching squares (corner to corner), in the same area. A couple is always one gentleman and one lady, and the gentleman stands north of his lady – in the row directly above her.
  2. Nobody touches anybody else corner to corner: a dancer’s only diagonal neighbour is their partner, and the victim and the murderer have no diagonal neighbour at all.
  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 furniture (planters, tables, pillars, racks…) cannot be occupied; benches, chairs, armchairs, the sofa and the doormats can.
  5. Directions refer to rows and columns, not to the same line: “he was north of her” = in a row further up, in any column; “east of him” = in a column further right, in any row.
  6. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

  • Alice (debutante): She was dancing with Ian.
  • Bridget (actress): She was dancing with Jeremy, beside a table, north of Celia.
  • Celia (pianist): She was north of Lucas.
  • Delia (widow): She was east of Eleanor.
  • Eleanor (painter): She was south of Bridget.
  • Felicity (novelist): She was beside a fireplace.
  • Grace (countess): She was beside the coat rack.
  • Harriet (heiress): She was dancing with Oswald.
  • Ian (officer): He was beside a planter.
  • Jeremy (banker): He was west of Kenneth.
  • Kenneth (colonel): He was beside a pillar.
  • Lucas (architect): He was beside a pillar.
  • Martin (doctor): He was dancing in the Dining Room.
  • Nathan (lawyer): He was north of Oswald.
  • Oswald (professor): He was east of Martin.
  • Vernon (the host): The victim. He was found on the sofa in the Mirror Hall – alone with the murderer.

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