“Vengeance by Candlelight” is a Murdoku case from the Castle 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 Hard, 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
F
St
B
H
R2
Th
C
C
Cn
Sk
R3
F
C
Bo
R4
S
C
S
S
W
R5
Ca
Ca
M
T
S
R6
P
P
P
P
Sh
Ch
Sh
R7
Ca
Ca
T
P
Cn
Floor plan of “Vengeance by Candlelight”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below.
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 red hair and glasses
He was north of Carol
Bella — a woman with grey hair
She was south-west of every suit of armor, in a different room
Carol — a woman with blond hair
She was beside a barrel. Another suspect was beside the same barrel.
Dalia — a woman with white hair and glasses
No one else in her room was a man
Elsa — a woman with black hair
A suspect with red hair was in her room
Freya — a woman with red hair
In her room there was another suspect on a carpet
The victim, Verena, 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:
Alex: 31 possible tiles
Bella: 2 possible tiles
Carol: 2 possible tiles
Dalia: 31 possible tiles
Elsa: 31 possible tiles
Freya: 10 possible tiles
The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:
Alex is north of Carol – impossible cells removed.
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.