Sleuthic

The Black Files · November 9, 2026 · Difficulty: Investigator

Black File #151 — SolutionCold Storage

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The case

Gregory Underwood, auditor, was found dead at Riverside Warehouse at 8:40 PM. Seven people were at the scene. Exactly one of them was alone with Gregory in the same zone.

The evidence (8 clues)
  1. Alicia was sitting in a chair.
  2. Alicia was in the Office Cage.
  3. Dennis was in the Office Cage.
  4. Eric was in the Loading Dock.
  5. Florence was the northernmost person at the scene.
  6. Connie was the easternmost person at the scene.
  7. Connie was the southernmost person at the scene.
  8. Brian was the westernmost person at the scene.

The answer

The killer: Florence Pruitt, alone with Gregory Underwood in the Main Aisle.

Fixing rows and columns from the extreme-position clues cascades through the board and leaves Florence alone with Gregory in the Main Aisle.

Step-by-step deduction

  1. Before placing anyone, each clue eliminates cells:
  2. • Alicia: was sitting in a chair; was in the Office Cage; column A belongs to Brian; row 1 belongs to Florence. Only D3 is left.
  3. • Brian: was the westernmost person of all, and since there is one person per column somebody occupies column A: that is Brian; row 7 already belongs to Connie; row 1 belongs to Florence; row 3 already belongs to Alicia; row 2 belongs to Dennis; row 5 belongs to Eric; row 4 belongs to Gregory. Only A6 is left.
  4. • Connie: was the easternmost person of all, and since there is one person per column somebody occupies column G: that is Connie; was the southernmost person of all, and since there is one person per row somebody occupies row 7: that is Connie. Only G7 is left.
  5. • Dennis: was in the Office Cage; column A belongs to Brian; row 1 belongs to Florence; row 3 already belongs to Alicia; column D already belongs to Alicia. Only B2 is left.
  6. • Eric: was in the Loading Dock; row 7 already belongs to Connie; column A belongs to Brian; column B belongs to Dennis. Only C5 is left.
  7. • Florence: was the northernmost person of all, and since there is one person per row somebody occupies row 1: that is Florence; column G already belongs to Connie; column A belongs to Brian; nobody else can occupy column F, so it must be Florence. Only F1 is left.
  8. • Gregory: Gregory cannot be in the Office Cage: the crime zone holds exactly two people and Alicia and Dennis are already there, and with Gregory that would be more than two; row 7 already belongs to Connie; column G already belongs to Connie; column A belongs to Brian; row 1 belongs to Florence; nobody else can occupy column E, so it must be Gregory; row 3 already belongs to Alicia; row 2 belongs to Dennis; row 5 belongs to Eric. Only E4 is left.
  9. That already places Connie at G7, Alicia at D3, Florence at F1, Brian at A6, Dennis at B2, Eric at C5 and Gregory at E4.
  10. With all seven placed, the only people in the Main Aisle are Gregory and Florence: Florence was alone with the victim.
Solved map of Black File #151: Alicia D3, Brian A6, Connie G7, Dennis B2, Eric C5, Florence F1, Gregory E4
The solved map: Alicia D3, Brian A6, Connie G7, Dennis B2, Eric C5, Florence F1, Gregory E4.

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