“The Elephant Never Forgets” is a Murdoku case from the Zoo 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 Easy, with 5 rooms. Every person — 7 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
R1
Mo
Mo
L
P
R2
M
P
P
P
L
R3
Mo
L
M
R4
B
P
M
E
R5
P
B
Pe
P
P
R6
P
P
W
Pe
M
P
R7
P
B
Pe
E
Floor plan of “The Elephant Never Forgets”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below.
Penguin Pool (outdoors) — 9 tiles: Penguin, Water lily
Objects on the board
P Path (can be stood on)
M Mud puddle (can be stood on)
B Bear (blocks the tile)
L Lion (blocks the tile)
Mo Monkey (blocks the tile)
Pe Penguin (blocks the tile)
E Elephant (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 beside a water lily
Bella — a woman with blond hair
She was beside a lion and she was beside a mud puddle
Carol — a woman with black hair and glasses
She was beside a path
Dylan — a man with white hair and glasses
He was on a path and he was in column 5
Elsa — a woman with black hair
She was beside an elephant and she was not on a path
Freya — a woman with blond hair
She was beside a monkey
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
14
Steps before anyone can be placed for certain
6
How to Start — Without Spoilers
Before anything else, count where each suspect could be if you only read their own clues:
Anna: 2 possible tiles
Bella: 2 possible tiles
Carol: 8 possible tiles
Dylan: a single tile — their own clue settles it
Elsa: 3 possible tiles
Freya: 6 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.