“Was It an Animal?” is a Murdoku case from the Farm category: a board of 9×9, 8 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: 9×9, rated Hard, with 7 rooms. Every person — 9 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
C9
R1
P
P
S
R2
P
P
S
R3
C
P
B
R4
C
Pc
Ta
B
R5
C
M
Ci
Ch
Ch
R6
C
R7
T
M
L
R8
H
M
T
Sh
R9
H
H
T
To
Floor plan of “Was It an Animal?”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below. A thick blue edge marks a window. A dashed edge marks a door.
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 a bald head, a beard and glasses
He was in row 3
Bernd — a man with blond hair
He was west of a horse (R8/C2)
Carol — a woman with brown hair
She was beside a lamp
Dalia — a woman with blond hair and glasses
She was in the same column as a chicken
Elsa — a woman with white hair
She was alone in a room with a cow
Floyd — a man with brown hair and glasses
He was beside a chicken and he was alone in the room
Greta — a woman with white hair
She was in the same row as a toilet
Hana — a woman with black hair
She was in row 1
The victim, Valentin, is a man. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.
Clues About the Whole Scene
Exactly 1 person was on a mud puddle.
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: 7 possible tiles
Bernd: 6 possible tiles
Carol: 3 possible tiles
Dalia: 7 possible tiles
Elsa: 7 possible tiles
Floyd: 3 possible tiles
Greta: 8 possible tiles
Hana: 6 possible tiles
The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:
Alex: only row 3 possible – blocked for others.
Greta: only row 9 possible – blocked for others.
Hana: 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.