The Water Lily

“The Water Lily” is a Murdoku case from the Campground category: a board of 8×8, 7 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: 8×8, rated Medium, with 4 rooms. Every person — 8 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.

	C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	C6	C7	C8
R1	W	W						T
R2					B		C
R3					B	Tr	Ta	C
R4					W		C
R5	T		G	W	W	T
R6		M	S		P		T	M
R7	T	Tr	Ca			T
R8		Tv	Ca	P		L		Cm

Floor plan of “The Water Lily”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. A dashed edge marks a door.

Rooms

Lake (outdoors) — 22 tiles: Water lily, Boat
Picnic Area (outdoors) — 21 tiles: Tent, Chair, Tree, Table, Mud puddle, Campfire
Campsite 1 (outdoors) — 10 tiles: Tent, Grill, Mud puddle, Tree
Reception — 11 tiles: Shelf, Plant, Carpet, TV, Lamp

Objects on the board

T Tent (can be stood on)
W Water lily (can be stood on)
C Chair (can be stood on)
B Boat (can be stood on)
Ca Carpet (can be stood on)
M Mud puddle (can be stood on)
P Plant (blocks the tile)
Tr Tree (blocks the tile)
Cm Campfire (blocks the tile)
G Grill (blocks the tile)
L Lamp (blocks the tile)
S Shelf (blocks the tile)
Ta Table (blocks the tile)
Tv TV (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.

Alex — a man with brown hair and glasses

He was in a corner

Bella — a woman with white hair

She was beside a chair. Greta was beside the same chair.

Cyrus — a man with blond hair

He was beside a tree

Dalia — a woman with brown hair

She was on a carpet

Edison — a man with blond hair and a beard

He was beside a water lily

Floyd — a man with blond hair, a beard and glasses

He was not north of a TV and he was alone with a male suspect

Greta — a woman with black hair

She was beside a tree

The victim, Vera, 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

Steps before anyone can be placed for certain

Reasoning the solve needs

How to Start — Without Spoilers

Before anything else, count where each suspect could be if you only read their own clues:

Alex: 14 possible tiles
Bella: 5 possible tiles
Cyrus: 3 possible tiles
Dalia: 2 possible tiles
Edison: 10 possible tiles
Floyd: 4 possible tiles
Greta: 3 possible tiles

The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:

Bella must stand beside the same object (a chair) as another person – 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.