“Murder at Ford's” is a Murdoku case from the Manor & Museum 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 Easy, with 5 rooms. Every person — 8 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
R1
S
T
T
T
S
P
P
R2
Ca
Ch+Ca
Ca
Ch+Ca
Ch
R3
Ca
R4
W
W
S
R5
C
O
R6
L
C
C
R7
L
O
C
R8
S
L
C
C
R
Floor plan of “Murder at Ford's”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. A thick blue edge marks a window. A dashed edge marks a door.
Rooms
Vault — 6 tiles: Locker
Security — 11 tiles: PC, Chair, Carpet, Shelf
Workshop — 23 tiles: Car, Oil slick, Rubble
Foyer — 15 tiles: Shelf, Table, Carpet, Chair
Storage — 9 tiles: Wooden crate, Shelf
Objects on the board
C Car (can be stood on)
Ca Carpet (can be stood on)
S Shelf (blocks the tile)
Ch Chair (can be stood on)
L Locker (blocks the tile)
T Table (blocks the tile)
W Wooden crate (blocks the tile)
O Oil slick (can be stood on)
P PC (blocks the tile)
R Rubble (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.
Anna — a woman with black hair and glasses
She was in the same column as rubble
Bella — a woman with brown hair and glasses
She was beside a shelf
Carol — a woman with blond hair
She was beside a table
Dalia — a woman with white hair
She was beside an oil slick
Edison — a man with blond hair
He was beside a locker
Floyd — a man with white hair
He was beside a chair
Grant — a man with brown hair
He was beside a shelf and he was beside a window
The victim, Vanessa, 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: 5 possible tiles
Bella: 5 possible tiles
Carol: 3 possible tiles
Dalia: 7 possible tiles
Edison: 3 possible tiles
Floyd: 8 possible tiles
Grant: 3 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.