Sherlogic Mystery
A storied logic puzzle. Read closely, every detail may matter.
Case File · Read Carefully
The Museum After Midnight
History Steps Out of Its Cases
For the Bellweather Museum’s annual Museum After Midnight, five performers turned the galleries into a living stage. Clara Bennett, Felix Grant, Lena Ortiz, Marcus Reed, and Priya Shah would appear as the Clockmaker, Explorer, Innkeeper, Jewel Thief, and Royal Courtier. Each began in a different location: the Art Deco Gallery, Early America, Exploration Hall, Maritime Gallery, or Royal Treasures. Their sealed costume bundles waited in the cloakroom beneath brass claim tickets engraved with an Acorn, Bell, Crescent Moon, Swan, or Torch.
Five Empty Places
Soon after the performance began, a newly hired guard received five alarming reports. A jeweled necklace, silver goblet, naval spyglass, explorer’s journal, and ceremonial dagger had apparently disappeared from their presentation stands. Visitors described one mysterious figure collecting the articles, but their accounts seemed impossible. One remembered a velvet cape, another a traveling coat, and another a feathered hat. The figure seemed to change identities while moving from gallery to gallery.
The Cloakroom Counter
The attendant remembered two details clearly. Lena Ortiz presented the Torch ticket. Clara Bennett’s ticket did not show the Crescent Moon. Marcus Reed carried neither the Bell ticket nor the Swan ticket. The performer dressed as the Explorer had presented the Bell, while the Royal Courtier had claimed the Acorn.
Opening Positions
The stage manager’s route sheet placed Felix Grant in the Maritime Gallery for the opening scene and Marcus Reed in Early America. The Swan ticket belonged to the performer who also began in the Maritime Gallery. The Clockmaker opened the evening in Royal Treasures, while the Jewel Thief began in Exploration Hall. Priya Shah started in neither Early America nor Royal Treasures.
A Figure Between Galleries
A volunteer then found a discarded black overskirt with a plum-colored lining. Turned one way, it resembled a formal evening skirt; reversed and fastened across the shoulders, it became the velvet cape described by another witness. A collapsible feathered hat lay nearby. The conflicting sightings had not involved several people at all. One performer had been changing a few outer costume pieces while following a route through the museum.
The Route Card
Behind the last presentation stand, the event coordinator discovered a printed route card: “The Jewel Thief collects all five articles, announces ‘I have the last piece,’ and carries them to the Grand Hall for the finale.” Every collected object bore the museum’s blue handling-replica mark. The real necklace, goblet, spyglass, journal, and dagger remained behind glass, and the numbered security seals on all five cases were unbroken. The alarm had interrupted the evening’s central performance.
Detective’s note: There is no separate clue list. Circle the useful facts in your mind and transfer them to the grid.
Detective’s Deduction Grid
Record the relationships you uncover in the case file.
Eliminate is selected.
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