The cases for 2026-09-04

Days from the nearest port, the Aurelia is a locked room with an ocean for a moat. The brooch left its cabin; its owner did not. Chart the promenade deck, front to back. Statements were taken from all 4 passengers; Ambrose Whitby's is the first page.

1. 1. Cordelia Ashe was right next to whoever spent the evening at the card lounge.
2. 2. Vivienne Aubert was right next to the passenger in the lace veil.
3. 3. Ambrose Whitby and the passenger in the lace veil are the same person.
4. 4. Sterling Fox was in the cabin right before Cordelia Ashe.
5. 5. Ambrose Whitby was somewhere after Sterling Fox but before Vivienne Aubert.
6. 6. Ambrose Whitby was right next to whoever spent the evening at the verandah cafe.
7. 7. Sterling Fox was in the cabin right before the passenger in the crimson kimono.
8. 8. Sterling Fox was in the cabin right before whoever spent the evening at the verandah cafe.
9. 9. The passenger in the lace veil was in the cabin right before whoever spent the evening at the grand staircase.
10. 10. Vivienne Aubert and whoever spent the evening at the card lounge had exactly 2 cabins between them.
11. 11. Ambrose Whitby was right next to the passenger in the emerald sash.
12. 12. The passenger in the white dinner jacket was right next to whoever spent the evening at the verandah cafe.

The founder's feast ended early; the library's rarest volume left earlier still. Every professor turned in to a room off the old stone corridor, each with an alibi the porter cannot quite confirm. Reconstruct that corridor, room by room. 5 professors, 5 rooms, and no two accounts that quite agree — start with Warden Thorne.

1. 1. Reader Vane and the professor reading the map of antiquity are the same person.
2. 2. The professor reading the map of antiquity was right next to the professor who claimed to be at the music room.
3. 3. The professor reading the botanical atlas was in a lower-numbered room than the professor reading the alchemical manual.
4. 4. Chaplain Sykes was in the room right before Reader Vane.
5. 5. The professor reading the botanical atlas and the professor who claimed to be at the chapel are the same person.
6. 6. The professor reading the map of antiquity and the professor who claimed to be at the wine cellar are the same person.
7. 7. The professor reading the volume of sonnets was in a lower-numbered room than the professor who claimed to be at the music room.
8. 8. Dr. Albright was in the room right before the professor who claimed to be at the porter's lodge.
9. 9. The professor reading the volume of sonnets was somewhere after the professor reading the botanical atlas but before the professor reading the legal codex.
10. 10. The professor who claimed to be at the music room was in the room right before the professor who claimed to be at the porter's lodge.
11. 11. Chaplain Sykes was in a lower-numbered room than the professor reading the alchemical manual.
12. 12. Reader Vane was in the room right before the professor reading the legal codex.
13. 13. Provost Crewe and the professor reading the botanical atlas are the same person.

A fake painting surfaced at last night's opening. Each guest stopped at a different spot along the gallery wall. Trace their evening, spot by spot. Statements were taken from all 5 patrons; Beatrix Hale's is the first page.

1. 1. Jasper Quill was right next to whoever arrived at 8:10.
2. 2. Hugo Marchetti and the patron holding the white wine are the same person.
3. 3. Lena Moreau was in the spot right before the patron holding the club soda.
4. 4. The patron looking at the bronze bust and whoever arrived at 8:10 are the same person.
5. 5. Jasper Quill and the patron holding the club soda are the same person.
6. 6. Hugo Marchetti and the patron looking at the oil portrait had exactly 3 spots between them.
7. 7. The patron looking at the glass sculpture was right next to whoever arrived at 9:15.
8. 8. The patron holding the white wine was in a lower-numbered spot than whoever arrived at 7:00.
9. 9. The patron looking at the still life and the patron holding the whiskey had exactly 1 spot between them.
10. 10. The patron looking at the glass sculpture was in a lower-numbered spot than the patron looking at the still life.
11. 11. Lena Moreau and the patron holding the whiskey are the same person.
12. 12. The patron looking at the glass sculpture was in the spot right before whoever arrived at 9:15.
13. 13. Jasper Quill and whoever arrived at 6:40 are the same person.
14. 14. The patron holding the lemonade was right next to whoever arrived at 8:10.
15. 15. The patron looking at the bronze bust and the patron holding the whiskey are the same person.
16. 16. Hugo Marchetti was in the spot right before the patron holding the vermouth.
17. 17. The patron holding the lemonade and whoever arrived at 7:00 are the same person.
18. 18. Beatrix Hale was right next to the patron looking at the still life.