Clues & Culprits › Archive › Oct 4, 2026 Easy walkthrough
Oct 4, 2026 Full Proof Walkthrough
Every verdict in the Easy case “Scrubbed at T-Minus Ninety”, 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. 14 of them carry a clue; the other 2 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 innocent.
Exactly one of Greta and me is innocent.— Dexter, billionaire backer (D1)
Step 1: Greta (C2, mission director) is a criminal. This follows from Dexter’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 2: Freya (B2, launch engineer) is innocent. This follows from Greta’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The person between me and Ezra is innocent.— Greta, mission director (C2)
Step 3: Ezra (A2, press photographer) is a criminal. This follows from Freya’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The person to my left is a criminal.— Freya, launch engineer (B2)
Step 4: Omar (C4, mission director) is a criminal. This follows from Ezra’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Omar and I share the same verdict: both criminal or both innocent.— Ezra, press photographer (A2)
Step 5: Cora (C1, press photographer) is innocent. This follows from Omar’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There are exactly two innocents above me.— Omar, mission director (C4)
Step 6: Jasper (B3, launch engineer) is a criminal. This follows from Cora’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Jasper and me is a criminal.— Cora, press photographer (C1)
Step 7: Ivan (A3, launch engineer) is innocent. This follows from Jasper’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of us three launch engineers is a criminal.— Jasper, launch engineer (B3)
Step 8: Kira (C3, press photographer) is innocent. This follows from Omar’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 9: Lionel (D3, billionaire backer) is innocent. This follows from Ivan’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There is exactly one criminal to my right.— Ivan, launch engineer (A3)
Step 10: Hugo (D2, hacker) is a criminal. This follows from Lionel’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There is exactly one innocent above me.— Lionel, billionaire backer (D3)
Step 11: Amir (A1, hacker) is innocent. This follows from Hugo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Amir and me is innocent.— Hugo, hacker (D2)
Step 12: Basil (B1, mission director) is innocent. This follows from Amir’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Only one of my three neighbors is a criminal.— Amir, hacker (A1)
Step 13: Nico (B4, press photographer) is innocent. This follows from Kira’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of us four press photographers is a criminal.— Kira, press photographer (C3)
Step 14: Marco (A4, billionaire backer) is a criminal. This follows from Nico’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly three of my five neighbors are criminals.— Nico, press photographer (B4)
Step 15: Pia (D4, hacker) is innocent. This follows from Basil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Pia and I share the same verdict: both criminal or both innocent.— Basil, mission director (B1)
The final lineup
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amir innocent | Basil innocent | Cora innocent | Dexter innocent |
| 2 | Ezra criminal | Freya innocent | Greta criminal | Hugo criminal |
| 3 | Ivan innocent | Jasper criminal | Kira innocent | Lionel innocent |
| 4 | Marco criminal | Nico innocent | Omar criminal | Pia innocent |
What happened
The sensor was fine. Hugo, hired to stress-test the network, planted a false reading that only fired inside the final two minutes, and Jasper made sure the engineers chasing it opened the wrong panel. Greta and Omar, the two mission directors, called the scrub by the book — then took twenty minutes longer than the book allows to explain it. Marco had shorted the stock that morning through a shell company in Malta. Ezra's photos of the 'crisis' reached the newswires before the press office had written a word, and that timeline gave the whole ring away.