Clues & Culprits › Archive › Oct 14, 2026 Easy walkthrough
Oct 14, 2026 Full Proof Walkthrough
Every verdict in the Easy case “The Diplomatic Bags That Clinked”, in an order where each step is proven by the statements already on file.
Play it first Just a hint, please
This Easy case seats 16 suspects on a 4×4 grid. 13 of them carry a clue; the other 3 only have something to say about themselves. Every step can be proven from a single clue plus what you already know. 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: Freya (B2) begins the case proven a criminal.
The person between me and Ned is innocent.— Freya, driver (B2)
Step 1: Jasper (B3, driver) is innocent. This follows from Freya’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 2: Marco (A4, visiting royal) is a criminal. This follows from Jasper’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Marco and me is a criminal.— Jasper, driver (B3)
Step 3: Ivan (A3, driver) is innocent. This follows from Marco’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Ivan and me is a criminal.— Marco, visiting royal (A4)
Step 4: Emil (A2, ambassador) is innocent. This follows from Ivan’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly two of my five neighbors are criminals.— Ivan, driver (A3)
Step 5: Greta (C2, ambassador) is innocent. This follows from Emil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There is exactly one criminal between me and Hugo.— Emil, ambassador (A2)
Step 6: Basil (B1, ambassador) is a criminal. This follows from Greta’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The only ambassador in Row 1 is a criminal.— Greta, ambassador (C2)
Step 7: Arlo (A1, diplomatic courier) is innocent. This follows from Basil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly four of my five neighbors are innocent.— Basil, ambassador (B1)
Step 8: Celia (C1, visiting royal) is innocent. This follows from Basil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 9: Dexter (D1, visiting royal) is a criminal. This follows from Arlo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There are exactly two criminals to my right.— Arlo, diplomatic courier (A1)
Step 10: Hugo (D2, lobbyist) is a criminal. This follows from Celia’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly four of my five neighbors are criminals.— Celia, visiting royal (C1)
Step 11: Kurt (C3, lobbyist) is a criminal. This follows from Dexter’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Both of the lobbyists are criminals.— Dexter, visiting royal (D1)
Step 12: Lionel (D3, visiting royal) is a criminal. This follows from Hugo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly two of my five neighbors are innocent.— Hugo, lobbyist (D2)
Step 13: Ned (B4, diplomatic courier) is innocent. This follows from Ivan’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 14: Otto (C4, driver) is innocent. This follows from Kurt’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The person below me is innocent.— Kurt, lobbyist (C3)
Step 15: Petra (D4, diplomatic courier) is a criminal. This follows from Lionel’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly two of my five neighbors are innocent.— Lionel, visiting royal (D3)
The final lineup
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arlo innocent | Basil criminal | Celia innocent | Dexter criminal |
| 2 | Emil innocent | Freya criminal | Greta innocent | Hugo criminal |
| 3 | Ivan innocent | Jasper innocent | Kurt criminal | Lionel criminal |
| 4 | Marco criminal | Ned innocent | Otto innocent | Petra criminal |
What happened
The principality had little diplomatic business and a great deal of thirst. Basil, its ambassador, signed the bags out as 'urgent correspondence'; Petra, the diplomatic courier, carried them chained to her wrist, thrilled to be living a spy novel at last; and Freya drove her to the airport by a route that avoided every camera on the ring road. Dexter, Lionel and Marco, three visiting royals, had ordered the caviar and the 1890s cognac through Hugo and Kurt, two lobbyists who knew which border guards liked which cigars. Customs finally heard the clink when Petra dropped a bag on the tarmac.