Clues & Culprits › Archive › Oct 21, 2026 Hard walkthrough
Oct 21, 2026 Full Proof Walkthrough
Every verdict in the Hard case “Everything Left Wearing a Coat”, in an order where each step is proven by the statements already on file.
Play it first Just a hint, please
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. 7 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together. 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: Lena (D3) begins the case proven innocent.
The person between Kofi and Sadie is a criminal.— Lena, chemist (D3)
Step 1: Otto (C4, art handler) is a criminal. This follows from Lena’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 2: Gemma (C2, cloakroom attendant) is a criminal. This follows from Otto’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Everyone between me and Cora is a criminal.— Otto, art handler (C4)
Step 3: Kofi (C3, cloakroom attendant) is a criminal. This follows from Otto’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 4: Felix (B2, critic) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Gemma’s and Kofi’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Exactly three of my eight neighbors are criminals.— Gemma, cloakroom attendant (C2)
Felix has more criminal neighbors than anyone else.— Kofi, cloakroom attendant (C3)
Step 5: Dina (D1, first-aider) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Gemma’s and Felix’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Gemma and I have exactly one innocent neighbor in common.— Felix, critic (B2)
Step 6: Hattie (D2, first-aider) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Gemma’s and Felix’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Step 7: Cora (C1, restorer) is a criminal. This follows from Dina’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Exactly two of my three neighbors are criminals.— Dina, first-aider (D1)
Step 8: Nico (B4, restorer) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Kofi’s and Cora’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Column B has exactly one criminal.— Cora, restorer (C1)
Step 9: Pia (D4, critic) is a criminal. This follows from Nico’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Everyone to my right is a criminal.— Nico, restorer (B4)
Step 10: Rufus (B5, art handler) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Gemma’s and Cora’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Step 11: Quinn (A5, chemist) is innocent. This follows from Rufus’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Mila and I have no criminal neighbors in common.— Rufus, art handler (B5)
Step 12: Sadie (C5, cloakroom attendant) is innocent. This needs 3 statements together — Kofi’s, Hattie’s and Pia’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Exactly five of the fourteen people on the edges are criminals.— Hattie, first-aider (D2)
An even number of my neighbors are criminals.— Pia, critic (D4)
Step 13: Esme (A2, chemist) is a criminal. This follows from Sadie’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The person between Amir and Ivan is a criminal.— Sadie, cloakroom attendant (C5)
Step 14: Theo (D5, chemist) is innocent. This follows from Pia’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 15: Mila (A4, restorer) is innocent. This follows from Theo’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
An even number of the restorers are innocent.— Theo, chemist (D5)
Step 16: Ivan (A3, art handler) is a criminal. This follows from Quinn’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
There are exactly two criminals between me and Amir.— Quinn, chemist (A5)
Step 17: Amir (A1, critic) is innocent. This needs 2 statements together — Gemma’s and Esme’s. Assume the opposite verdict and at least one of them breaks.
Felix and I have exactly two criminal neighbors in common.— Esme, chemist (A2)
Step 18: Bea (B1, cloakroom attendant) is a criminal. This follows from Hattie’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
Step 19: Jasper (B3, art handler) is innocent. This follows from Gemma’s statement and the verdicts already proven.
The final lineup
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amir innocent | Bea criminal | Cora criminal | Dina innocent |
| 2 | Esme criminal | Felix innocent | Gemma criminal | Hattie innocent |
| 3 | Ivan criminal | Jasper innocent | Kofi criminal | Lena innocent |
| 4 | Mila innocent | Nico innocent | Otto criminal | Pia criminal |
| 5 | Quinn innocent | Rufus innocent | Sadie innocent | Theo innocent |
What happened
They left by the cloakroom. Ivan and Otto, art handlers with storeroom keys, slipped one small object a day into the lining of a coat hanging on the cloakroom rail; Bea, Gemma and Kofi, the attendants, handed those coats to the 'visitors' who collected them — a rota of friends with matching tickets. Esme, a museum chemist, changed each object's catalogue entry to 'transferred for analysis', and Cora, a restorer, cast plaster stand-ins for any drawer an inspector might open. Pia, a critic who wrote about the museum every month, sold the objects to private collectors. The rota was caught when one friend came back for a heavy coat in July.