Crushing Evidence

“Crushing Evidence” is a Murdoku case from the Auto shop 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 6 rooms. Every person — 8 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.

C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8
R1LCrLCC
R2CrCrOCrCsT
R3PPPL
R4OCrCrPCrCaCaCa
R5OCrPlCaC
R6WSCaSCCaC
R7LoCaTCCaC
R8WPcCCCaC
Floor plan of “Crushing Evidence”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. A thick blue edge marks a window. A dashed edge marks a door.

Rooms

  • Workshop (outdoors) — 25 tiles: Lamp, Car, Oil slick, Path
  • Storage — 6 tiles: Wooden crate, Locker
  • Office — 9 tiles: Shelf, Carpet, Table, PC, Chair
  • Waiting Area — 9 tiles: Chair, Carpet
  • Reception — 6 tiles: Carpet, Plant, Chair
  • Checkout — 9 tiles: Chair, Cash register, Table, Lamp

Objects on the board

  • C Chair (can be stood on)
  • Ca Carpet (can be stood on)
  • Cr Car (can be stood on)
  • P Path (can be stood on)
  • L Lamp (blocks the tile)
  • O Oil slick (can be stood on)
  • W Wooden crate (blocks the tile)
  • S Shelf (blocks the tile)
  • T Table (blocks the tile)
  • Cs Cash register (blocks the tile)
  • Lo Locker (blocks the tile)
  • Pc PC (blocks the tile)
  • Pl Plant (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.

Anna — a woman with red hair

  • In her room there was another suspect who had white hair on a path

Bernd — a man with a bald head and a beard

  • He was beside a cash register

Cyrus — a man with a bald head

  • He was beside a plant

Dalia — a woman with grey hair

  • She was south-west of Freya

Elsa — a woman with white hair

  • She was beside a car. Anna was beside the same car.

Freya — a woman with blond hair

  • She was in the same column as a PC, in a different room

Grant — a man with brown hair, a beard and glasses

  • No one else in his room was a man

The victim, Vidal, is a man. 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
31
Steps before anyone can be placed for certain
10
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:

  • Anna: 23 possible tiles
  • Bernd: 2 possible tiles
  • Cyrus: 2 possible tiles
  • Dalia: 51 possible tiles
  • Elsa: 14 possible tiles
  • Freya: 5 possible tiles
  • Grant: 51 possible tiles

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

  1. Dalia is south-west of Freya – impossible cells removed.
  2. Anna must stand beside the same object (a car) as another person – impossible cells removed.
  3. Bernd: only column 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.

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