Room for Murder Daily › All cases › Case #15
Nobody Leaves the Theatre
Lola owed everyone money. Now Lola owes nothing at all.
🔎 Solved by 11 detectives · median time 1:04 · 45% with no help at all
Can stand / sit on: chairstoolsofa
Solid — nobody there: deskpianolampwardrobecrate
What the witnesses say
Fernthe yoga teacher
“She was beside the piano.”
“She was beside the piano.”
Olivethe mayor
“She was beside a crate.”
“She was beside a crate.”
Vincethe car dealer
“He was in a corner of a room. He was not beside any lamp.”
“He was in a corner of a room. He was not beside any lamp.”
Wandathe fortune teller
“She was beside a chair.”
“She was beside a chair.”
Lolathe victim
Found dead — alone in a room with the killer.
Found dead — alone in a room with the killer.
The rules
- Exactly one person in every row and every column.
- Nobody stands on solid furniture; chairs, sofas, benches, beds and rugs are fine.
- Every statement is true. “Beside” means the square directly next to it; north is up.
- The victim was alone in a room with exactly one other person: the killer.
Show the answer and the solution to case #15
The killer was Vince (the car dealer) — the only other person in the Dressing Room with Lola. Fern: B4 · Olive: E5 · Vince: C1 · Wanda: A2 · Lola: D3.
How to solve it, step by step
- Row D still needs someone, and only Lola can still stand in it — so Lola is somewhere in row D.
- Column 1 still needs someone, and only Vince can still stand in it — so Vince is somewhere in column 1.
- Row E still needs someone, and Olive is the only one who can still stand in it. In row E, “She was beside a crate.” fits only E5.
- Row C still needs someone, and Vince is the only one who can still stand in it. In row C, “He was in a corner of a room. He was not beside any lamp.” fits only C1.
- Column 2 still needs someone, and Wanda is the only one who can still stand in it. In column 2, “She was beside a chair.” fits only A2.
- Fern: “She was beside the piano.” Of the squares that fit, only B4 is still open — the others are in rows or columns already taken.
- Lola, the victim, has no statement — but only one square is left in a free row and column: D3, in the Dressing Room.
- Everyone is placed. Lola lies in the Dressing Room, and the only other person in there is Vince. Vince is the killer.
The book
80 more cases in Room for Murder
Five chapters of floor-plan mysteries, from cosy cottages to a lying-killer chapter, with answers in the back.
Book 2
Room for Murder: Thanksgiving
90 floor-plan mysteries in Cranberry Hollow, every case a two-page spread — a puzzle book for the long weekend.
Book 3
Room for Murder: Winter
90 cosy Christmas floor-plan mysteries in snowed-in Juniper Falls — a stocking stuffer for puzzle lovers.