“The Fatal Inspection” is a Murdoku case from the Auto shop category: a board of 7×7, 6 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: 7×7, rated Easy, with 5 rooms. Every person — 7 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
R1
W
O
R
W
R2
C
C
O
R3
O
C
C
Sh
W
R4
O
C
C
O
R5
Ch
Ch
Ca
O
S
C
R6
T
T
Ch
Ca
C
S
C
R7
P
Ch
Ca
C
S
Floor plan of “The Fatal Inspection”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. A dashed edge marks a door.
Rooms
Workshop (outdoors) — 16 tiles: Wooden crate, Oil slick, Car
Yard (outdoors) — 12 tiles: Car, Oil slick, Street
Reception — 6 tiles: Carpet, Chair
Objects on the board
C Car (can be stood on)
O Oil slick (can be stood on)
Ch Chair (can be stood on)
Ca Carpet (can be stood on)
W Wooden crate (blocks the tile)
S Street (can be stood on)
T Table (blocks the tile)
P Plant (blocks the tile)
R Rubble (blocks the tile)
Sh Shelf (blocks the tile)
The Suspects and Their Clues
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 red hair
She was on an oil slick
Bella — a woman with white hair
She was on a car
Cyrus — a man with white hair and a beard
He was beside a table and he was beside a door
Dylan — a man with white hair
He was the only person on a carpet
Elsa — a woman with brown hair
She was beside a carpet and she was in a corner
Floyd — a man with red hair, a beard and glasses
He was beside rubble
The victim, Vito, is a man. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.
Clues About the Whole Scene
No room was empty.
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: 6 possible tiles
Bella: 10 possible tiles
Cyrus: a single tile — their own clue settles it
Dylan: 3 possible tiles
Elsa: 2 possible tiles
Floyd: 2 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.