Clues & Culprits › Archive › Oct 15, 2026 Medium walkthrough
Oct 15, 2026 Full Proof Walkthrough
Every verdict in the Medium case “The Postman's Screenplay”, in an order where each step is proven by the statements already on file.
Play it first Just a hint, please
This Medium case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 17 of them carry a clue; the other 3 only have something to say about themselves. 3 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together. The order below is one valid route; any order where each verdict is proven when you enter it reaches the same answer.
Spoiler: show the full walkthrough
Start: Basil (B1) begins the case proven innocent.
The person between me and Joan is a criminal.— Basil, director (B1)
Step 1: Freya (B2, grip) is a criminal. This follows from Basil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 2: Rufus (B5, grip) is innocent. This follows from Freya’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Rufus and me is a criminal.— Freya, grip (B2)
Step 3: Amir (A1, paparazzo) is innocent. This follows from Rufus’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Amir and I are either both criminals or both innocent.— Rufus, grip (B5)
Step 4: Emil (A2, director) is a criminal. This follows from Amir’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly two of my three neighbors are criminals.— Amir, paparazzo (A1)
Step 5: Greta (C2, director) is innocent. This follows from Emil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There are exactly two innocents to my right.— Emil, director (A2)
Step 6: Cora (C1, actor) is innocent. This follows from Greta’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The person above me is innocent.— Greta, director (C2)
Step 7: Hattie (D2, set medic) is innocent. This follows from Emil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 8: Lena (D3, writer) is a criminal. This follows from Hattie’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Everyone between me and Theo is a criminal.— Hattie, set medic (D2)
Step 9: Pia (D4, paparazzo) is a criminal. This follows from Hattie’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 10: Suki (C5, director) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Cora’s and Lena’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
There is an odd number of innocents below me.— Cora, actor (C1)
Exactly three of my five neighbors are innocent.— Lena, writer (D3)
Step 11: Theo (D5, writer) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Cora’s and Pia’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Exactly three of my five neighbors are innocent.— Pia, paparazzo (D4)
Step 12: Mila (A4, actor) is innocent. This follows from Theo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Mila and I are either both criminals or both innocent.— Theo, writer (D5)
Step 13: Kurt (C3, paparazzo) is a criminal. This follows from Mila’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Kurt and me is a criminal.— Mila, actor (A4)
Step 14: Otto (C4, grip) is innocent. This follows from Cora’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 15: Nico (B4, actor) is a criminal. This follows from Suki’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly three of my five neighbors are innocent.— Suki, director (C5)
Step 16: Joan (B3, writer) is innocent. This follows from Kurt’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly four of my eight neighbors are criminals.— Kurt, paparazzo (C3)
Step 17: Dina (D1, set medic) is a criminal. This needs 2 statements together — Nico’s and Joan’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Exactly six of my eight neighbors are innocent.— Nico, actor (B4)
Exactly five of the fourteen people on the edges are criminals.— Joan, writer (B3)
Step 18: Quinn (A5, writer) is innocent. This follows from Otto’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of the four people in the corners is a criminal.— Otto, grip (C4)
Step 19: Iris (A3, actor) is a criminal. This follows from Nico’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The final lineup
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amir innocent | Basil innocent | Cora innocent | Dina criminal |
| 2 | Emil criminal | Freya criminal | Greta innocent | Hattie innocent |
| 3 | Iris criminal | Joan innocent | Kurt criminal | Lena criminal |
| 4 | Mila innocent | Nico criminal | Otto innocent | Pia criminal |
| 5 | Quinn innocent | Rufus innocent | Suki innocent | Theo innocent |
What happened
The postman had posted his only manuscript to a film competition in 1991, and Lena, one of its judges, kept it in a drawer for thirty years. When Emil, the director, needed a script in a hurry, she 'wrote' one in a fortnight. Iris and Nico, the leads, improvised around any line that sounded too old-fashioned; Kurt and Pia, paparazzi turned publicists, buried a local newspaper's story about the postman's claim under a flood of set photographs. Freya, a grip, burned the manuscript in a prop brazier at dawn, and Dina, the set medic, logged the smoke as a special-effects test. The postman had kept a carbon copy.