The Music School

A music school by the lake · a May evening in 1978 · the spring concert · Difficulty: Rookie 2 · 6×6

A music school in a small lakeside town, the evening of the spring concert in May 1978. Upstairs the choir was warming up, the string room smelled of rosin, and a nervous piano pupil was waiting for her turn. Vadim, the director, had told the teachers that afternoon that next year the school could afford only one of them – and that he had already made his choice. During the interval he was found dead in the drum room, beside the kettledrum. Five people were near him, and each gave one 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 piano, the harp, the potted plant, the music stand, the double bass, the drum kit and the kettledrum) cannot be occupied; the stools, the bench and the chairs can.
3. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

• Amadeo (the piano teacher): He was beside the piano.
• Birgitta (the percussion teacher): She was not beside the drum kit.
• Cornell (a cello student): He was in the Hallway.
• Doreen (a young soprano of the choir): She was sitting in a chair.
• Evadne (a piano pupil waiting for her turn): She was the only one sitting on a stool.
• Vadim (the director of the music school): The victim. He was found in the Drum Room, beside the kettledrum – alone with the murderer.

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