Clues & Culprits › Archive › Oct 22, 2026 Hard walkthrough
Oct 22, 2026 Full Proof Walkthrough
Every verdict in the Hard case “Green Ink on Lilac Paper”, in an order where each step is proven by the statements already on file.
Play it first Just a hint, please
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. 4 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: Silas (C5) begins the case proven a criminal.
If Cora is a criminal, then I'm innocent.— Silas, postie (C5)
Step 1: Cora (C1, bandleader) is innocent. This follows from Silas’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 2: Petra (D4, postie) is a criminal. This follows from Cora’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Petra and me is innocent.— Cora, bandleader (C1)
Step 3: Kira (C3, bandleader) is innocent. This follows from Petra’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Greta and I have no criminal neighbors in common.— Petra, postie (D4)
Step 4: Lena (D3, teacher) is innocent. This follows from Petra’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 5: Jasper (B3, farmer) is innocent. This follows from Lena’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Jasper and I are either both criminals or both innocent.— Lena, teacher (D3)
Step 6: Hattie (D2, nurse) is a criminal. This follows from Jasper’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Hattie and me is innocent.— Jasper, farmer (B3)
Step 7: Greta (C2, judge) is a criminal. This follows from Hattie’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Kira and I have exactly one criminal neighbor in common.— Hattie, nurse (D2)
Step 8: Otto (C4, farmer) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Kira’s and Greta’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Exactly four of my eight neighbors are criminals.— Kira, bandleader (C3)
Kira has more criminal neighbors than anyone else.— Greta, judge (C2)
Step 9: Theo (D5, teacher) is innocent. This needs 3 statements together — Kira’s, Greta’s and Otto’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Quinn and I have exactly one criminal neighbor in common.— Otto, farmer (C4)
Step 10: Basil (B1, judge) is innocent. This needs 3 statements together — Kira’s, Greta’s and Theo’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Exactly three of Basil's five neighbors are criminals.— Theo, teacher (D5)
Step 11: Arlo (A1, postie) is a criminal. This needs 4 statements together — Kira’s, Greta’s, Theo’s and Basil’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
There are exactly three innocents in my row.— Basil, judge (B1)
Step 12: Dina (D1, nurse) is innocent. This follows from Basil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 13: Ivan (A3, farmer) is innocent. This follows from Dina’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Nobody in Row 3 is a criminal.— Dina, nurse (D1)
Step 14: Mila (A4, bandleader) is innocent. This follows from Arlo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
An even number of the bandleaders are criminals.— Arlo, postie (A1)
Step 15: Ned (B4, postie) is innocent. This follows from Mila’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There is exactly one criminal in my row.— Mila, bandleader (A4)
Step 16: Emil (A2, judge) is innocent. This follows from Greta’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 17: Freya (B2, farmer) is a criminal. This follows from Kira’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 18: Quinn (A5, teacher) is innocent. This follows from Ivan’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There is an even number of criminals below me.— Ivan, farmer (A3)
Step 19: Raj (B5, teacher) is a criminal. This follows from Otto’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The final lineup
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arlo criminal | Basil innocent | Cora innocent | Dina innocent |
| 2 | Emil innocent | Freya criminal | Greta criminal | Hattie criminal |
| 3 | Ivan innocent | Jasper innocent | Kira innocent | Lena innocent |
| 4 | Mila innocent | Ned innocent | Otto innocent | Petra criminal |
| 5 | Quinn innocent | Raj criminal | Silas criminal | Theo innocent |
What happened
The postbox was the ring's office. Silas, Arlo and Petra, the three village posties, read every postcard and every badly sealed envelope that passed through the sorting room, and Hattie, the district nurse, knew every ailment in the parish. Raj, a teacher with a memory like a filing cabinet, wrote the letters in a disguised hand; Greta, a judge at the fête, knew whose marrow had been bought and whose jam came from a shop. Freya collected the fees from under the church doormat on her five o'clock run. The lilac paper came from the church bazaar — Raj had bought the last pack in 2019, and the vicar remembered.