Scenedoku

Crime-scene logic cases

Shadows on the Sand

Nicoya peninsula, Costa Rica · sunset · long shadows to the east · Difficulty: Inspector 8 · 10×10

Sunset at a small beach lodge on the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica. The sun hangs low over the Pacific, and every palm, rock and hut throws a long shadow across the sand. When the bell calls everyone to the evening barbecue, Vinicio, the owner of the lodge, is found dead on a hammock. Nine people were on the grounds, and each of them remembers whether they stood in the sun or in the shade.

Rules

  1. The sun stood in the west: every tall thing cast a shadow two squares long toward the east.
  2. Tall things: palm, rock, hut. Low things – casting no shadow: counter, stool, lounger, beached dinghy, log, campfire, hammock, flower bed, telescope, lantern. A shadow stops at another tall thing or at the edge of the grounds; the shaded squares are darker.
  3. The murderer was in the shade, so nobody saw the murderer’s face.
  4. Every row and every column holds exactly one person. As soon as you place someone, cross out their whole row and column.
  5. “Beside” = directly left, right, above or below, and in the same area. The lodge grounds are open air: the dashed lines are the borders of the areas. Squares with an object cannot be occupied, except the stools, the loungers, the logs and the hammocks.
  6. “A hut was somewhere in his row” = a hut stands on one of the squares of his row, in any area; “a flower bed was somewhere in his area” = on a square of the area he was in.
  7. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

  • Alonso (birdwatcher): A hut was somewhere in his row. He was in the shade.
  • Brisa (yoga teacher on holiday): The counter was somewhere in her row. There was no man in her area.
  • Carolina (photographer): She was on a hammock, a log, a lounger or a stool. Of the people in her area, exactly one was a man.
  • Dayana (surf instructor): She was beside a rock.
  • Eduardo (surf instructor): He was on the Beach.
  • Flor (runs the surf school): She was the only woman beside a hut.
  • Greivin (bartender): He was in the sun.
  • Heidy (cook): A log was somewhere in her column.
  • Ignacio (gardener): A flower bed was somewhere in his area.
  • Vinicio (owner of the lodge): The victim. He was found on a hammock – alone with the murderer.

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