Clues & Culprits › Archive › Oct 21, 2026 Easy walkthrough
Oct 21, 2026 Full Proof Walkthrough
Every verdict in the Easy case “The Okapi with the Question-Mark Scar”, 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: Dexter (D1) begins the case proven a criminal.
The person between me and Bruno is innocent.— Dexter, patron (D1)
Step 1: Celia (C1, patron) is innocent. This follows from Dexter’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 2: Emil (A2, zoo director) is innocent. This follows from Celia’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Emil and I share the same verdict: both criminal or both innocent.— Celia, patron (C1)
Step 3: Hugo (D2, animal smuggler) is a criminal. This follows from Emil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Hugo and me is innocent.— Emil, zoo director (A2)
Step 4: Omar (C4, zoo director) is a criminal. This follows from Hugo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Omar and I are either both criminals or both innocent.— Hugo, animal smuggler (D2)
Step 5: Pia (D4, animal smuggler) is innocent. This follows from Omar’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The person to my right is innocent.— Omar, zoo director (C4)
Step 6: Lionel (D3, patron) is a criminal. This follows from Pia’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Everyone between me and Dexter is a criminal.— Pia, animal smuggler (D4)
Step 7: Greta (C2, zoo director) is innocent. This follows from Lionel’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly two of my five neighbors are criminals.— Lionel, patron (D3)
Step 8: Kurt (C3, animal smuggler) is innocent. This follows from Lionel’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 9: Freya (B2, keeper's assistant) is a criminal. This follows from Kurt’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Row 2 has exactly two criminals.— Kurt, animal smuggler (C3)
Step 10: Jasper (B3, keeper's assistant) is a criminal. This follows from Freya’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Everyone below me is a criminal.— Freya, keeper's assistant (B2)
Step 11: Marco (A4, patron) is innocent. This follows from Greta’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Marco and I are either both criminals or both innocent.— Greta, zoo director (C2)
Step 12: Nora (B4, zookeeper) is a criminal. This follows from Freya’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 13: Bruno (B1, zookeeper) is innocent. This follows from Nora’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
My column has exactly three criminals.— Nora, zookeeper (B4)
Step 14: Ivan (A3, keeper's assistant) is innocent. This follows from Jasper’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly five of my eight neighbors are innocent.— Jasper, keeper's assistant (B3)
Step 15: Amir (A1, animal smuggler) is a criminal. This follows from Marco’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There is exactly one criminal above me.— Marco, patron (A4)
The final lineup
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amir criminal | Bruno innocent | Celia innocent | Dexter criminal |
| 2 | Emil innocent | Freya criminal | Greta innocent | Hugo criminal |
| 3 | Ivan innocent | Jasper criminal | Kurt innocent | Lionel criminal |
| 4 | Marco innocent | Nora criminal | Omar criminal | Pia innocent |
What happened
Kiko didn't die; he was sold. Omar, the zoo director, signed the death certificate and the cremation order on the same afternoon; Nora, the zookeeper, sedated Kiko for the journey and buried an empty crate behind the reptile house. Freya and Jasper, the keeper's assistants, loaded him into a horsebox at midnight, and Amir and Hugo, two animal dealers who knew every unregulated harbour on the Mediterranean, delivered him to Monaco. Dexter and Lionel, the zoo's most generous patrons, had brokered the sale to a friend of a friend and took a commission 'for conservation'. One holiday snapshot did the rest.