“Blood in the Barn” 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 7 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
P
P
S
R2
P
P
S
R3
C
P
B
R4
C
Pc
Ta
B
R5
C
M
Ci
Ch
Ch
R6
C
R7
T
M
L
R8
H
M
T
Sh
R9
H
H
T
To
Floor plan of “Blood in the Barn”. 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.
Alex — a man with white hair and glasses
He was on a bed
Bella — a woman with black hair
She was in the same column as a shelf and she was alone with a female suspect
Carol — a woman with blond hair
She was on a mud puddle
Dylan — a man with blond hair and a beard
He was west of a horse (R8/C2)
Elsa — a woman with brown hair and glasses
She was on a horse
Freya — a woman with white hair and glasses
She was alone with a suspect who had black hair and she was in the same column as a mud puddle
Grant — a man with brown hair, a beard and glasses
He was in the same column as a chicken and he was alone in the room
Hugh — a man with blond hair
He was north of a shrub (R2/C9) and he was alone in the room
The victim, Vincent, is a man. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.
Clues About the Whole Scene
No room was empty.
Exactly 1 person was on a mud puddle.
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:
Alex: 2 possible tiles
Bella: 6 possible tiles
Carol: 3 possible tiles
Dylan: 6 possible tiles
Elsa: 3 possible tiles
Freya: 21 possible tiles
Grant: 7 possible tiles
Hugh: 6 possible tiles
The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:
Hugh: only row 1 possible – blocked for others.
Alex: only column 9 possible – blocked for others.
Bella: only column 7 possible – blocked for others.
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.