Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 17, 2026 Medium
Oct 17, 2026 — Medium case
After nine days of talks, two governments signed a treaty sharing the fishing rights of a northern sea. When the lawyers compared the two language versions, one of them gave the entire catch to a single company — a company nobody at the table admitted to having heard of.
This Medium case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 16 of them carry a clue; the other 4 only have something to say about themselves. 1 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
Ruby the marine guard starts the case already proven innocent:
None of Tariq's neighbors is a criminal.— Ruby, marine guard (B5)
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: lobbyists, marine guards, trade envoys, visiting royals, interpreters, ambassadors. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the marine guards”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Amir | lobbyist | Rogue |
| B1 | Bruno | marine guard | Enforcer |
| C1 | Cal | trade envoy | Merchant |
| D1 | Dexter | visiting royal | Noble |
| A2 | Esme | interpreter | Scholar |
| B2 | Frank | marine guard | Enforcer |
| C2 | Greta | ambassador | Official |
| D2 | Hugo | lobbyist | Rogue |
| A3 | Idris | trade envoy | Merchant |
| B3 | Joan | interpreter | Scholar |
| C3 | Kurt | lobbyist | Rogue |
| D3 | Lionel | visiting royal | Noble |
| A4 | Marco | visiting royal | Noble |
| B4 | Nora | marine guard | Enforcer |
| C4 | Omar | ambassador | Official |
| D4 | Percy | trade envoy | Merchant |
| A5 | Quinn | interpreter | Scholar |
| B5 | Ruby | marine guard | Enforcer |
| C5 | Suki | ambassador | Official |
| D5 | Tariq | trade envoy | 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 17, 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 · Hard case
- Previous Medium: Oct 16, 2026 — The Captain's Charity Auction
- Next Medium: Oct 18, 2026 — The Woman with the Wristwatch
- Clue types in this case: Between clues · Neighbor clues · Above, below, left and right · Common-neighbor clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in embassies · Meet the cast