Deductive Logico and his partner Professor Irratino are finally taking a well deserved holiday vacation to the Bermuda Triangle. As his intern, you have gone to a Christmas charity ball to accept an award on his behalf. This year’s host is Sir Rulean, heir to a vast shampoo empire fortune.

Unfortunately, that fortune will go to his next of kin, as the magnate is dead when you arrive at the Grand Hotel.

Logico is relying on you to solve this murder as your first real case!

Follow the clues and fill out the puzzle to find out who did the deed, what weapon they used, where they killed him, and their motive.

The Suspects:

LADY LAVENDER

Sir Rulean’s wife, a self-proclaimed psychic and mystic. She’s mostly famous for getting every prediction wrong…including those about the sports matches she bets millions on.

5’2” * Brown Eyes * Auburn Hair * Scorpio

MADAME MAGENTA

A savvy businesswoman and sweater enthusiast. She has the world’s finest collection of argyle cardigans.

5’1” * Brown Eyes * Brown Hair * Capricorn

PROFESSOR PINK

English professor and crazy cat lady, who got lazy a few years back and let her cats type all her scholarly articles. No one noticed.

5’3” * Blue Eyes * Blonde Hair * Taurus

HENNA HUMAN

Absolutely not three penguins in a trench coat, why would you even ask?

7’2” * Sunglasses * Scarf * Virgos

The Locations:

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Indoors. A grand 12 foot Douglas fir in the main foyer of the hotel. Tastefully decorated, but shedding needles everywhere.

THE KITCHENS

Indoors. Don’t look too closely at the ingredients for the soup.

THE FIRE PIT

Outdoors. A great place to cuddle up by the fire and make some s’mores. Or get rid of a body.

THE PENTHOUSE SUITE

Extremely swanky, and extremely expensive.

The Weapons:

A SHARPENED CANDY CANE

Light weight, made of sugar. A beloved holiday treat, great for giving you minty fresh breath or stabbing your enemies.

A POORLY DISGUISED GIFT

Heavy weight, made of resin. A suspiciously bowling-ball shaped package, wrapped unevenly in lime green paper with a frayed purple ribbon. Great for knocking down pins, or people.

POISONED CHRISTMAS COOKIE

Light weight, made of sugar and poison. If the poison doesn’t kill you, the diabetes might.

STOCKING FULL OF COAL

Medium weight, made of fabric and mineral. For when you’re REALLY on the Naughty list.

The Motives:

TO AVOID BLACKMAIL -- SHEER ANGER -- PROFESSIONAL JEALOUSY -- TO PAY A DEBT

CLUE 1:

After interviewing the staff, you learn two important pieces of information.

A waiter delivered an order of candy to the Penthouse Suite right before the party, and there was an anonymous note left for you at the reception desk. The note is in code.

FWN ARAZNHF BWP BUA PRFAEDN BUA NTFLNYNVO UKILO.

There’s a scrap of paper laying under the code. Someone must have used it as a reminder for decoding the message and forgot to take it.

What's the code? = BWUF'A FWN HPDN?

Let’s look up some tips on decoding it.

(Link to https://www.101computing.net/frequency-analysis/)

HINT: All of the encoded messages use the same key. If you’re having trouble breaking the code, remember – the more cipher text you have, the more hints you’ll have to work with.

Next clue:

MEFHWNK FUQVN

CLUE 2:

Lavender’s clue:

“Well, I certainly didn’t kill my husband! But I read some pine needles earlier, and they told me that a Capricorn is staying in the Penthouse Suite.”

Next clue:

GPVD DPBK DNAM EK VECEKI LPPY

CLUE 3:

Magenta’s Clue:

“I didn’t do it, but If you ask me, he got what was coming to him! I did overhear an unusually tall person by the bar say they were being blackmailed though. You should find them!”

Next clue:

DUD'A PGGEHN DNAM

CLUE 4:

Pink’s Clue:

“All I know is that I saw a very heavy weapon by the Christmas tree, right next to that psychic woman. I heard she’s millions in debt, quite a good reason to off her husband!”

Next clue:

QUAMNF RKDNL FC

Clue 5:

Henna’s Clue:

“I was down in the kitchens when all the commotion occurred, and doing human things. Yes, ordinary human things! I did see a blonde woman hovering near the cookie tray though. That was suspicious. Much more suspicious than a regular tall human in a trench coat!”

Next clue:

JUKN'A DNAM

Final Clue:

The body was found with s’mores residue on his suit.

Figure out who the killer is. When you think you have the answer, you can check here to see what really happened!