A Vintage Murder

“A Vintage Murder” 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.

C1C2C3C4C5C6C7
R1CaTWeFCF
R2TCCCaC
R3CBCCh
R4SBBCCh
R5BH
R6WBo
R7WH
Floor plan of “A Vintage Murder”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below.

Rooms

  • Throne Room — 12 tiles: Candelabra, Throne, Weapon rack, Carpet, Suit of armor
  • Chapel — 10 tiles: Fireplace, Carpet, Chair
  • Dungeon — 8 tiles: Haystack, Boulder
  • Wine Cellar — 9 tiles: Barrel
  • Moat (outdoors) — 10 tiles: Water lily

Objects on the board

  • C Carpet (can be stood on)
  • B Barrel (blocks the tile)
  • Ca Candelabra (blocks the tile)
  • Ch Chair (can be stood on)
  • F Fireplace (blocks the tile)
  • H Haystack (blocks the tile)
  • T Throne (can be stood on)
  • W Water lily (can be stood on)
  • S Suit of armor (blocks the tile)
  • Bo Boulder (blocks the tile)
  • We Weapon rack (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 white hair and glasses

  • He was south-west of every carpet, in a different room

Bernd — a man with grey hair and a beard

  • He was south-east of Cyrus

Cyrus — a man with a bald head, a beard and glasses

  • He was in the same column as a barrel, in the same room

Dalia — a woman with grey hair and glasses

  • She was not beside a weapon rack

Elsa — a woman with blond hair and glasses

  • In her room there was another suspect who had glasses in a corner

Freya — a woman with grey hair

  • She was north of every water lily, in the same room

The victim, Vicky, 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
29
Steps before anyone can be placed for certain
8
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: 3 possible tiles
  • Bernd: 36 possible tiles
  • Cyrus: 2 possible tiles
  • Dalia: 35 possible tiles
  • Elsa: 36 possible tiles
  • Freya: 2 possible tiles

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

  1. Bernd is south-east of Cyrus – impossible cells removed.
  2. Freya: only row 5 possible – blocked for others.

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.

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