“Checkout for Valerie” is a Murdoku case from the Hotel & Restaurant 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 Easy, with 6 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
S
C
C
C
C
C
R2
C
T
C
T
C
C
T
T
T
R3
C
C
Ca
R4
P
Ca
R5
S
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
Ca
R6
C
C
Ca
Ca
R7
T
T
R8
C
C
Tr
Tr
R9
Ta
P
Floor plan of “Checkout for Valerie”. 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 blond hair and glasses
She was in the Front Desk and she was on a carpet
Bernd — a man with blond hair
He was in the Conference Room
Cyrus — a man with blond hair
He was in the Bar and he was in column 8
Dylan — a man with brown hair and a beard
He was in a corner and he was in row 9
Elsa — a woman with white hair and glasses
She was on a chair and she was in row 8
Freya — a woman with black hair
She was in the Restaurant and she was in column 2
Grant — a man with blond hair, a beard and glasses
He was in a corner and he was in column 6
Hana — a woman with black hair and glasses
She was in the Roof Terrace and she was not beside a tree
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
Bernd: 15 possible tiles
Cyrus: a single tile — their own clue settles it
Dylan: 2 possible tiles
Elsa: 2 possible tiles
Freya: 3 possible tiles
Grant: 2 possible tiles
Hana: 6 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.