Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 2, 2026 Hard
Oct 2, 2026 — Hard case
At 6:40 p.m. a flash mob of dancing travellers brought Terminal 2 to a joyful standstill for nine minutes. At 6:49, a crate of Byzantine icons in transit to a museum in Oslo was found missing from the secure cargo hall — two floors below the dancing.
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. Every verdict you enter is checked against all the scenarios that still fit the statements on file, so a move only sticks when it is proven.
The opening statement
Lena the air-traffic controller starts the case already proven innocent:
None of us air-traffic controllers is a criminal.— Lena, air-traffic controller (D3)
The lineup
Suspects stand in alphabetical order, left to right and top to bottom. Each belongs to one of Clues & Culprits’ twelve character classes — the badge on their nameplate. This case uses 6 of them, each cast as a role in the setting: air-traffic controllers, flight attendants, duty-free clerks, travel vloggers, baggage handlers, airline caterers. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the air-traffic controllers”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Ada | air-traffic controller | Scholar |
| B1 | Bea | flight attendant | Servant |
| C1 | Cal | duty-free clerk | Merchant |
| D1 | Dev | duty-free clerk | Merchant |
| A2 | Ezra | travel vlogger | Artist |
| B2 | Freya | baggage handler | Laborer |
| C2 | Gus | airline caterer | Cook |
| D2 | Hana | airline caterer | Cook |
| A3 | Ivan | baggage handler | Laborer |
| B3 | Jasper | baggage handler | Laborer |
| C3 | Kira | travel vlogger | Artist |
| D3 | Lena | air-traffic controller | Scholar |
| A4 | Mila | travel vlogger | Artist |
| B4 | Nico | travel vlogger | Artist |
| C4 | Otto | baggage handler | Laborer |
| D4 | Percy | duty-free clerk | Merchant |
| A5 | Queenie | airline caterer | Cook |
| B5 | Raj | air-traffic controller | Scholar |
| C5 | Sadie | flight attendant | Servant |
| D5 | Tariq | duty-free clerk | Merchant |
Stuck?
The in-game hint first points at the statement to re-read, then at the suspect you can prove, then shows the proof. For a gentler nudge, open the spoiler-free hints for Oct 2, 2026, or press Share to send a friend your exact board. New to the format? The deduction-puzzle guide covers the habits that unlock every step.
More cases
- Same day: Easy case · Medium case
- Previous Hard: Oct 1, 2026 — The Patient Who Never Was
- Next Hard: Oct 3, 2026 — Six Blue Eggs
- Clue types in this case: Common-neighbor clues · Between clues · Neighbor clues · If–then clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in airports · Meet the cast