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The Fortune Teller's Last Night

The Fortune Teller's Last Night is a medium murder mystery puzzle: a Halloween fair at the Grand Hotel, six people on a 6 × 6 floor plan, and a killer hidden among five suspects. Every clue is true, and pure deduction is enough to name the guilty party.

The case

On Halloween night, 1928, the Grand Hotel threw its doors open for a charity fair. The tea room became a maze of stalls: toffee apples, a ring toss, a band in skeleton masks. In a curtained corner, Rosa the Widow read palms and tarot cards for a dime a reading, and the queue never got shorter.

To keep the crowd in one place, the manager had the lobby roped off for the evening. Nobody was allowed through. Shortly before midnight, Rosa left her table, saying she needed some air. A maid found her an hour later, motionless in the hotel baths, her cards scattered across the tiles.

Five members of the family had been in the hotel's back rooms: Aldo, the godfather, who had his fortune told twice; Carmela, the godmother; Nico, the nephew; Tony, the son, who dozed off in an armchair; and Sal, the right-hand man, who was "checking on the kitchens". One of them was alone with Rosa in her last hour.

The crime scene (play the grid)

The Fortune Teller's Last Night

The Grand Hotel · Inspector · 6 × 6

0:00

Place: put down the chosen person's pawn.

Rosa · the Widow

Victim

The victim. She was alone with the killer. Her row was higher than Aldo's. Her column was further left than Aldo's.

Nobody was in the lobby.

Pick a person, then tap a square on the floor plan.

“Next to”: a square that touches by a side, in the same room. Corners don't count, and a wall always breaks contact.

Inspector rank. Here, clues start to link two people: who is higher, who is further left. For more grids at this level, see the medium-level murder mysteries.

The suspects

  • Rosathe WidowVictim
  • Aldothe Godfather
  • Nicothe Nephew
  • Carmelathe Godmother
  • Tonythe Son
  • Salthe Right-Hand Man

The clues

  1. Rosa's row is higher than Aldo's.
  2. Rosa's column is further left than Aldo's.
  3. Aldo's row is higher than Tony's.
  4. Nico's row is higher than Carmela's.
  5. Carmela is in the leftmost column.
  6. Tony is in an armchair.
  7. Sal is in the rightmost column.
  8. Nobody is in the lobby.

Hint 1

Show hint 1

One clue empties a whole room. Cross it out first, then look at the two armchairs Tony could be sitting in.

Hint 2

Show hint 2

Rosa is above Aldo, and Aldo is above Tony: Tony cannot be in the top row. Once he is placed, look for a row that has only one square left where anybody could stand.

Hint 3

Show hint 3

With the lobby empty and Tony placed, rows 4 and 3 each keep a single usable square, and row 6 only suits one person. Ask yourself who can stand in each.

Solution, step by step (spoiler)

Show the solution
  1. The lobby. "Nobody is in the lobby": rows 3 and 4 of columns 4 to 6 are empty for everyone.
  2. Tony. He sits in an armchair: row 1, column 2 or row 5, column 3. Rosa is higher than Aldo, who is higher than Tony, so Tony needs at least two people above him. He is in row 5, column 3, in the tea room.
  3. Carmela. Row 4 must hold someone, but its only usable square is row 4, column 1: column 2 is a plant, column 3 is Tony's and the rest is the empty lobby. Carmela must be in the leftmost column, so nobody else can take that square. Carmela is in row 4, column 1.
  4. Sal. Who can use row 6? Not Rosa or Aldo, who are both above Tony, and not Nico, who is above Carmela. Only Sal is left: he is in the rightmost column, so row 6, column 6, in the kitchens.
  5. Nico. Row 3 also has a single usable square: row 3, column 2. Rosa cannot be there, because Aldo would have to be lower and rows 4 to 6 are full. Aldo cannot be there either, because Rosa would then need column 1, which is Carmela's. Nico is in row 3, column 2.
  6. Rosa and Aldo. They share rows 1 and 2, and columns 4 and 5. Rosa is higher and further left: Rosa in row 1, column 4, Aldo in row 2, column 5. Both are in the baths.
  7. The verdict. Rosa lies in the baths, and the only suspect in the baths is Aldo. The godfather had his fortune told twice that night; the second reading was her last. Aldo is the killer.

Culprit: Aldo. The only suspect in the baths, with Rosa.

Technique used: row and column pressure

Three placements in this case come from the same idea: a row that only one person can still reach belongs to that person. Rows 4, 6 and 3 each fell that way, one after the other. That is row and column pressure (#technique-2), the workhorse of every Inspector case: after each placement, scan the rows and columns and ask who is still able to stand there.

For a printable case with the same Halloween atmosphere, try the Halloween Murder Mystery Puzzle, with its PDF and full answer.

Planning a winter game night? The Christmas printable pack brings eight new cases, answers included.

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