“A Fatal Tan” 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 “A Fatal Tan”. 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.
Alex — a man with blond hair
He was south-west of Dalia
Bella — a woman with red hair
She was north-east of a table, in the same room
Cyrus — a man with white hair
He was in a tent
Dalia — a woman with grey hair
She was in the same row as a tent, in a different room
Elsa — a woman with blond hair
She was in the same row as a toilet, in a different room
Floyd — a man with grey hair
He was north-east of every mud puddle, in a different room
Greta — a woman with grey hair and glasses
No one else in her room was a man
The victim, Vera, 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:
Alex: 63 possible tiles
Bella: 2 possible tiles
Cyrus: 2 possible tiles
Dalia: 6 possible tiles
Elsa: 6 possible tiles
Floyd: 3 possible tiles
Greta: 63 possible tiles
The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:
Alex is south-west of Dalia – impossible cells removed.
Dalia: 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.