“Evil Under the Parasol” is a Murdoku case from the Pool & Spa 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 Hard, 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
To
To
S
R2
R3
Ta
S
R4
D
M
P
R5
Di
Di
D
T
P
R6
Di
M
D
M
R7
D
P
Sl
R8
T
P
Floor plan of “Evil Under the Parasol”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below.
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 red hair
She was east of Grant
Bernd — a man with grey hair, a beard and glasses
He was beside a tent
Cyrus — a man with black hair and glasses
He was under a parasol
Dalia — a woman with red hair and glasses
She was north of a slide, in the same room
Elsa — a woman with brown hair
She was in column 7
Freya — a woman with white hair and glasses
She was in the same row as a toilet, in a different room and she was exactly 4 columns west of Anna
Grant — a man with grey hair
He was alone with a suspect who had red hair
The victim, Vanessa, is a woman. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.
Clues About the Whole Scene
No room held exactly 1 person.
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: 63 possible tiles
Bernd: 6 possible tiles
Cyrus: 4 possible tiles
Dalia: 2 possible tiles
Elsa: 8 possible tiles
Freya: 6 possible tiles
Grant: 63 possible tiles
The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:
Anna is east of Grant – impossible cells removed.
Freya was exactly 4 columns west of Anna
Dalia: only row 6 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.