“A Cracking Case” is a Murdoku case from the Farm category: a board of 9×9, 8 suspects and one victim. Read the clues, work out where everybody was standing, and name the suspect who was left alone with the body.
The Board
The floor plan as the case hands it to you: 9×9, rated Medium, with 5 rooms. Every person — 9 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
C9
R1
T
B
T
Sh
P
P
R2
B
Ca
Ca
M
R3
Ca
Ca
Ca
M
R4
Ch
Sh
R5
T
Tv
Tr
M
R6
C
C
W
M
R7
C
S
R8
C
S
M
R9
W
C
C
S
Floor plan of “A Cracking Case”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. A thick blue edge marks a window. A dashed edge marks a door.
Each suspect comes with what the witnesses remember. Read them all before placing anyone — a clue about one person is very often what pins down another.
Anna — a woman with brown hair
She was beside a plant
Bella — a woman with blond hair
She was beside a table
Carol — a woman with black hair and glasses
She was in the same column as a chair
Dylan — a man with a bald head
He was north of a bed (R2/C2)
Elsa — a woman with brown hair and glasses
She was beside a shelf
Floyd — a man with white hair and glasses
He was beside a shelf and he was in the same column as a shelf
Grant — a man with a bald head and a beard
He was the only person on a mud puddle
Hugh — a man with black hair and glasses
He was in the Field
The victim, Valerie, is a woman. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.
How Hard It Really Is
Deduction steps from the first clue to the verdict
Before anything else, count where each suspect could be if you only read their own clues:
Anna: 4 possible tiles
Bella: 6 possible tiles
Carol: 6 possible tiles
Dylan: 4 possible tiles
Elsa: 4 possible tiles
Floyd: 2 possible tiles
Grant: 5 possible tiles
Hugh: 10 possible tiles
That is as far as this page goes. From here on it is yours — the in-game hint giver explains each next step if you get stuck, without giving the answer away.
This case has exactly one solution, and it can be reached by forward deduction alone — no guessing.