Clues & Culprits › Archive › Oct 8, 2026 Easy walkthrough
Oct 8, 2026 Full Proof Walkthrough
Every verdict in the Easy case “The Half-Penny Fortune”, 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: Marco (A4) begins the case proven innocent.
The person between me and Olive is a criminal.— Marco, customer (A4)
Step 1: Ned (B4, courier) is a criminal. This follows from Marco’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 2: Arlo (A1, courier) is innocent. This follows from Ned’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The only courier in Column A is innocent.— Ned, courier (B4)
Step 3: Petra (D4, courier) is a criminal. This follows from Arlo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Petra and me is a criminal.— Arlo, courier (A1)
Step 4: Dev (D1, teller) is a criminal. This follows from Petra’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly two of the four people in the corners are criminals.— Petra, courier (D4)
Step 5: Basil (B1, accountant) is a criminal. This follows from Dev’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Basil and I are either both criminals or both innocent.— Dev, teller (D1)
Step 6: Felix (B2, loan shark) is innocent. This follows from Basil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There is exactly one criminal below me.— Basil, accountant (B1)
Step 7: Emil (A2, accountant) is innocent. This follows from Felix’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The person to my left is innocent.— Felix, loan shark (B2)
Step 8: Idris (A3, teller) is innocent. This follows from Emil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Only one of my five neighbors is a criminal.— Emil, accountant (A2)
Step 9: Juno (B3, courier) is innocent. This follows from Basil’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 10: Cal (C1, teller) is a criminal. This follows from Juno’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Everyone to the right of Basil is a criminal.— Juno, courier (B3)
Step 11: Lionel (D3, customer) is innocent. This follows from Cal’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Lionel and me is a criminal.— Cal, teller (C1)
Step 12: Hugo (D2, loan shark) is a criminal. This follows from Lionel’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of Hugo and me is a criminal.— Lionel, customer (D3)
Step 13: Kurt (C3, loan shark) is innocent. This follows from Hugo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly one of us three loan sharks is a criminal.— Hugo, loan shark (D2)
Step 14: Greta (C2, accountant) is a criminal. This follows from Kurt’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Everyone above me is a criminal.— Kurt, loan shark (C3)
Step 15: Olive (C4, customer) is innocent. This follows from Idris’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Olive and I share the same verdict: both criminal or both innocent.— Idris, teller (A3)
The final lineup
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arlo innocent | Basil criminal | Cal criminal | Dev criminal |
| 2 | Emil innocent | Felix innocent | Greta criminal | Hugo criminal |
| 3 | Idris innocent | Juno innocent | Kurt innocent | Lionel innocent |
| 4 | Marco innocent | Ned criminal | Olive innocent | Petra criminal |
What happened
The fractions flowed into a dormant account opened in 2017 in the name of a dog. Greta and Basil, the bank's accountants, wrote the rounding rule into the overnight interest run and signed off its audit every year. Cal and Dev, at the tellers' windows, drew the money out in modest sums; Ned and Petra carried it across town in the daily cash bags, a little heavier than the manifest said. Hugo lent it back out at forty per cent to customers the bank had turned down. The dog, a terrier called Biscuit, died in 2019 and was still collecting interest.