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Case 39: who took the Egyptian Urn?
Amid the chaos of a school visit at the museum, someone took advantage of the confusion to make off with the Egyptian Urn, on display in the Inner Courtyard. For once, the suspect list doesn't include any nine-year-olds. Help the police unmask the thief.
The board
- 1Reception Area
- 2Main Hall
- 3Office
- 4Cloakroom
- 5Inner Courtyard
- 6Lobby
- 7Workshop
- 8Restrooms
- 9Exhibition Hall
- 10Café
- 11Restoration Room
- 12Storage Room
- Plant: no character can stand on its cell, but the stolen item can be there.
- Seat: anyone can be on it.
- Shelf: no character can stand on its cell, but the stolen item can be there.
- Screen: nothing can be on its cell.
- Window: the blue line on a wall.
Suspects and clues
- AAisha
She's 9 rows away from the Restrooms. - IInes
She's right next to the Storage Room. - MMatthew
He's right next to the Restoration Room. - TTariq
He's in row 6. - OOmar
He's in column F. - DDiego
He's right next to the Office. - LLucy
She's 2 columns away from the Café. - EEgyptian Urn (stolen item)
It's 4 columns away from the Office.
Remember the rules: no two suspects (nor the item) ever share a row or a column, each character is in a different room, and the thief is the only one sharing a room with the stolen item. Unsure? Read how to play and the clue types.
Solution
Try it yourself first: pen and paper are enough. When you want to check, open the reasoned solution.
Show the step-by-step solution
- Aisha's clue: She's 9 rows away from the Restrooms. It leaves a single cell: G10.
- Ines's clue: She's right next to the Storage Room. 11 cells remain possible.
- Matthew's clue: He's right next to the Restoration Room. 19 cells remain possible.
- Tariq's clue: He's in row 6. 7 cells remain possible.
- Omar's clue: He's in column F. 8 cells remain possible.
- Diego's clue: He's right next to the Office. 22 cells remain possible.
- Lucy's clue: She's 2 columns away from the Café. It leaves a single cell: E5.
- The stolen item's clue: It's 4 columns away from the Office. 2 cells remain possible: B8 and J8.
- Aisha can only be on G10. No one else can be in row 10 or column G, and no other character can be in the Office.
- Lucy can only be on E5. No one else can be in row 5 or column E, and no other character can be in the Reception Area.
- Every cell still open to Omar is in column F, so no one else can be in that column.
- Every cell still open to the Egyptian Urn is in row 8, so no one else can be in that row.
- Every other cell the clue allowed has already been ruled out, so Diego can only be on H9. No one else can be in row 9 or column H, and no other character can be in the Inner Courtyard.
- Ines, Matthew and Tariq can only be in columns D, I and J. Each takes a different column, so those columns are theirs and no one else can use them.
- J8 has already been ruled out, so the Egyptian Urn can only be on B8.
- The Egyptian Urn can only be in the Lobby, and Tariq is the only character who can still get in there. Since the thief shares a room with the item, Tariq must be in the Lobby.
- E6, F6, G6, H6, I6 and J6 have already been ruled out, so Tariq can only be on D6. No one else can be in row 6 or column D, and no other character can be in the Lobby.
- Every cell still open to Matthew is in column I, so no one else can be in that column.
- Every cell still open to Matthew is in the Storage Room, so no other character can be there.
- Every other cell the clue allowed has already been ruled out, so Ines can only be on J4. No one else can be in row 4 or column J, and no other character can be in the Exhibition Hall.
- Every other cell the clue allowed has already been ruled out, so Matthew can only be on I3. No one else can be in row 3 or column I, and no other character can be in the Storage Room.
- F3, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9 and F10 have already been ruled out, so Omar can only be on F1.
Conclusion: Tariq is the only person sharing the Lobby with the Egyptian Urn, which is on B8. He is the thief.