The Spice Souk

The spice souk of Marrakech · a scorching afternoon · the fountain kept running · Difficulty: Officer 4 · 8×8

Marrakech, a scorching afternoon in the medina. Between the heaps of paprika and turmeric, the carpets and the glowing brass lanterns, the narrow alleys of the souk were full of haggling voices and the smell of mint tea. Violette, a perfumer from Paris, had come to buy saffron and had arranged to meet someone in the quiet riad at the heart of the market. There, by the tiled fountain, she was found dead. Merchants and visitors describe where they were – find the one who was alone with her.

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 spice sacks, the scales, the chest, the orange trees, the lanterns, the barrel, the tea tray, the fountain and the handcart) cannot be occupied; the carpets, the poufs and the stool can.
3. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

• Amina (the spice seller): She was not beside the scales.
• Brahim (the carpet merchant): He was the only man on a carpet.
• Chafik (the lantern maker): He was beside a lantern. He was the easternmost person in his area.
• Dounia (who runs the tea stall): The barrel was somewhere in her row. She was not in the Alley.
• Emrys (a Welsh travel writer): He was in the last row.
• Fiammetta (an Italian painter): She was the only woman beside a lantern.
• Griffin (an antiques collector): He was in the Alley.
• Violette (a perfumer from Paris): The victim. She was found in the Riad, beside the fountain – alone with the murderer.

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