Beside the Same Object
“She was beside a table. Another suspect was beside the same table.” Clues like this tie two people to one particular object — not just any table, but the same one. They are relational clues with an object in the middle, and they are among the most satisfying in the game to crack, because they usually place two people very close to each other in one go.
The first thing to see is that the second person needs room. They need a tile next to that very object — a different tile, and — because of the first rule — not in the suspect’s row or column. Around a small object that leaves very few options. A table two tiles long has perhaps six tiles beside it; once the suspect takes one, the partner has to be on one of the few remaining tiles that share neither line.
The Trap
The classic trap is a tile next to the object whose only partner tiles are ones nobody can use. A suspect standing at the end of a dining table, say, might have just one diagonal neighbour beside the same table, and that tile may be ruled out for every other suspect for some unrelated reason. Then the suspect cannot be there after all, even though they are beside a table, because the clue would leave them without a partner.
The solver checks this tile by tile, which is why its step reads as removing impossible cells rather than placing anyone. When you do it by hand, the question for each tile is simply: if the suspect stood here, is there a real partner tile left?
When the Suspect Is Placed
Once the suspect is placed beside a particular object, the clue flips round. The partner must be beside that very object, on one of a small set of tiles. If only one other suspect can still reach any of those tiles, that suspect is the partner, and they are confined to those tiles at once. On a crowded board this is often the step that unlocks the rest of the case.
When the partner is named — “beside the same plant as Apo” — both directions apply from the start: each of them can only be beside instances of the object that the other could also reach.
A Worked Example
From the case Gone Cold in the Woods — 7×7, Hard, Campground.
| C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Tr | T | C | T | |||
| R2 | Tr | T | |||||
| R3 | Tr | Tr | Ca | ||||
| R4 | Tr | G | |||||
| R5 | T | C | |||||
| R6 | C | T | T | Ta | Ta | ||
| R7 | T | G | C | C |
The clues in play:
- Anna — She was south-east of Carol
- Bella — She was in the same row as a campfire, in a different room
- Carol — She was beside a chair
- Dalia — She was beside a table. Another suspect was further east than Dalia, beside the same table.
- Elsa — She was alone with a suspect who had red hair
- Freya — She was beside a campfire
This step comes before anyone in the case is placed, so reading it does not give the solution away.
At step 8 of the solve, the reasoning reads:
Dalia must stand beside the same object (a table) as another person – impossible cells removed.
Cases That Need It
22 of the 142 cases in the casebook use this technique at least once. A selection, smallest board first:
- Blood, Sweat and Hay — 6×6, Hard, Farm
- Murder in a Minor Key — 6×6, Medium, House & Home
- Animal Instincts — 7×7, Medium, Farm
- Gone Cold in the Woods — 7×7, Hard, Campground
- Vengeance by Candlelight — 7×7, Hard, Castle
- A Knight to Remember — 8×8, Hard, Castle
- A Skeleton in the Classroom — 8×8, Hard, School
- Among Old Friends — 8×8, Hard, Campground
- Behind the Screen — 8×8, Hard, Hospital
- Beware of Bears — 8×8, Hard, Campground
- Crushing Evidence — 8×8, Hard, Auto shop
- Feathers, Fur and Foul Play — 8×8, Medium, Farm
Other Techniques
- The Last Tile
- Only One Fits the Line
- Locked Lines
- One Free Tile
- The Cross
- Clues That Tie People Together
- Who Else Was in the Room
- Alone With the Victim
- Counting the Whole Scene