“Death at the Diving Board” is a Murdoku case from the Pool & Spa 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 Medium, with 6 rooms. Every person — 7 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
R1
S
R2
Di
W
S
R3
R4
Pa
D
Te
Sh
L
R5
P
H
Tr
L
R6
D
C
C
T
R7
Ch
Ta
P
C
T
Floor plan of “Death at the Diving Board”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below.
Rooms
Main Pool (outdoors) — 10 tiles: Diving board, Water lily
Paddling Pool (outdoors) — 11 tiles: Slide
Sunbathing Lawn (outdoors) — 13 tiles: Park bench, Deck chair, Tent, Parasol, Hammock, Tree
Locker Room — 5 tiles: Shower, Locker
Restroom — 6 tiles: Carpet, Toilet
Reception — 4 tiles: Chair, Table
Objects on the board
C Carpet (can be stood on)
D Deck chair (can be stood on)
L Locker (blocks the tile)
P Parasol (can be stood on)
S Slide (can be stood on)
T Toilet (can be stood on)
Pa Park bench (can be stood on)
Ch Chair (can be stood on)
Di Diving board (can be stood on)
H Hammock (can be stood on)
Sh Shower (can be stood on)
Ta Table (blocks the tile)
Te Tent (can be stood on)
Tr Tree (blocks the tile)
W Water lily (can be stood on)
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 red hair
She was not beside a chair
Bella — a woman with black hair
She was on a deck chair
Carol — a woman with red hair and glasses
She was on a slide
Dylan — a man with grey hair and a beard
He was not on a chair
Elsa — a woman with brown hair
She was on a carpet
Freya — a woman with grey hair and glasses
She was north-east of a diving board, in the same room
The victim, Vincent, is a man. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.
Clues About the Whole Scene
No room was empty.
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: 44 possible tiles
Bella: 2 possible tiles
Carol: 2 possible tiles
Dylan: 44 possible tiles
Elsa: 3 possible tiles
Freya: 2 possible tiles
The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:
Freya: only row 1 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.