Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 21, 2026 Hard
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 21, 2026
Stuck on the Hard case, “Everything Left Wearing a Coat”? Open one nudge at a time. Nothing below reveals a verdict unless you click a box marked spoiler.
Back to the case Rules refresher
About this case
Over eighteen months, two hundred small objects — rings, coins, Roman hairpins — vanished from the Ashcombe Museum's storerooms without a single alarm. Not one of them left through the loading bay. All of them, it turns out, left wearing a coat.
This Hard case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 15 of them carry a clue; the other 5 only have something to say about themselves. 7 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together.
Nudge 1 — where to start
The case opens with Lena the chemist (D3) already proven. Their statement is enough on its own to prove one more suspect straight away — read it word by word, especially the counting words (exactly, neighbors, between).
The person between Kofi and Sadie is a criminal.— Lena, chemist (D3)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Otto (C4) is a criminal, proven by Lena’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 2, 3 and 4, most of them in row 2. The statements doing the work are “between” clues, neighbor counts and “most” clues. 2 steps here need 2 statements read together. Tip: with “between” clues, two suspects side by side have nobody between them, so watch for empty stretches.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Gemma’s and Kofi’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Felix (B2) — innocent.
Nudge 3 — after about 5 proven suspects
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 2, 4 and 5, most of them in row 4. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, shared-neighbor counts and “most” clues. 3 steps here need 2 statements read together. Tip: with neighbor counts, treat the number as a budget — once enough of the ring is proven, the rest is forced.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Gemma’s and Felix’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Hattie (D2) — innocent.
Nudge 4 — after about 10 proven suspects
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, in rows 2 and 5. The statements doing the work are shared-neighbor counts, “most” clues and corner and edge counts. One step here needs 3 statements read together. Tip: with shared-neighbor counts, shared neighbors never include the two speakers themselves.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Kofi’s, Hattie’s and Pia’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Sadie (C5) — innocent.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, in columns A and B. The statements doing the work are odd/even clues, “between” clues and neighbor counts. One step here needs 2 statements read together. Tip: with odd/even clues, zero is even, and with one unknown left the parity settles it.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Gemma’s and Esme’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Amir (A1) — innocent.
The hardest step
The toughest moment needs 3 statements at once. If you’re stuck in the middle of the case, this is probably it.
Spoiler: the statements for the hardest step
Read Kofi’s, Hattie’s and Pia’s statements together. They settle Sadie.
Clue types in this case
row and column counts ×1, neighbor counts ×2, shared-neighbor counts ×3, corner and edge counts ×1, “most” clues ×1, “between” clues ×4, direction clues ×1 and odd/even clues ×2.
Questions
How many clues does this case have?
15 of the 20 suspects carry a clue. The rest only talk about themselves — you can hide those asides in Settings.
Where is the full solution?
The step-by-step walkthrough proves every verdict in order.