“Death in the Hay” is a Murdoku case from the Farm 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 4 rooms. Every person — 7 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
R1
L
Sh
H
S
R2
T
Ch+Ca
M
H
R3
T
Ca
H
S
M
R4
P
Ca
P
C
R5
M
C
M
C
R6
M
Tr
C
M
W
R7
C
Floor plan of “Death in the Hay”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. 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 black hair and a beard
He was on a horse
Bella — a woman with black hair
She was beside a chair
Cyrus — a man with brown hair, a beard and glasses
He was in row 6
Dalia — a woman with blond hair
She was in the Cowshed and she was not beside a cow
Elsa — a woman with brown hair
She was beside a tree
Floyd — a man with blond hair
He was in row 4
The victim, Vincent, is a man. 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: 3 possible tiles
Bella: 3 possible tiles
Cyrus: 4 possible tiles
Dalia: a single tile — their own clue settles it
Elsa: 4 possible tiles
Floyd: 4 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.