Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 24, 2026 Medium
Oct 24, 2026 — Medium case
All summer, very wealthy guests paid £10,000 each for a secret midnight 'keeper experience' at Larchmont Zoo — breakfast with the gorillas, a swim with the sea lions. The zoo found out when its silverback was spotted wearing a diamond bracelet.
This Medium case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 16 of them carry a clue; the other 4 only have something to say about themselves. 2 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together. Every verdict you enter is checked against all the scenarios that still fit the statements on file, so a move only sticks when it is proven.
The opening statement
Otto the keeper's assistant starts the case already proven innocent:
The only keeper's assistant in Row 2 is a criminal.— Otto, keeper's assistant (C4)
The lineup
Suspects stand in alphabetical order, left to right and top to bottom. Each belongs to one of Clues & Culprits’ twelve character classes — the badge on their nameplate. This case uses 6 of them, each cast as a role in the setting: volunteers, zookeepers, patrons, face painters, keeper's assistants, café cooks. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the keeper's assistants”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Arlo | volunteer | Courier |
| B1 | Bruno | zookeeper | Enforcer |
| C1 | Celia | patron | Noble |
| D1 | Dexter | patron | Noble |
| A2 | Ezra | face painter | Artist |
| B2 | Freya | keeper's assistant | Laborer |
| C2 | Gus | café cook | Cook |
| D2 | Hana | café cook | Cook |
| A3 | Iris | face painter | Artist |
| B3 | Jasper | keeper's assistant | Laborer |
| C3 | Kira | face painter | Artist |
| D3 | Lionel | patron | Noble |
| A4 | Mila | face painter | Artist |
| B4 | Nora | zookeeper | Enforcer |
| C4 | Otto | keeper's assistant | Laborer |
| D4 | Petra | volunteer | Courier |
| A5 | Queenie | café cook | Cook |
| B5 | Rufus | keeper's assistant | Laborer |
| C5 | Silas | volunteer | Courier |
| D5 | Tess | volunteer | Courier |
Stuck?
The in-game hint first points at the statement to re-read, then at the suspect you can prove, then shows the proof. For a gentler nudge, open the spoiler-free hints for Oct 24, 2026, or press Share to send a friend your exact board. New to the format? The deduction-puzzle guide covers the habits that unlock every step.
More cases
- Same day: Easy case · Hard case
- Previous Medium: Oct 23, 2026 — 912 Flights Without Leaving Home
- Next Medium: Oct 25, 2026 — The Loaf That Ticked
- Clue types in this case: Same-verdict and exactly-one clues · Above, below, left and right · Odd and even clues · If–then clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in zoos · Meet the cast