The cases for 2026-09-21

The Verlaine does not lose, so when the books came up light, the house locked the doors. A row of private rooms, a floor of practiced faces, one forged chip. Unmask the forger, room by room. Statements were taken from all 4 players; Dashiell Crane's is the first page.

1. 1. The gin rummy player was in the room right before the solitaire player.
2. 2. Dashiell Crane was right next to the gin rummy player.
3. 3. The roulette player was right next to whoever stacked the silver chips.
4. 4. Jasper Quaid was right next to whoever stacked the emerald chips.
5. 5. The mahjong player was right next to whoever stacked the rose-gold chips.
6. 6. Anselm Berger was in a lower-numbered room than Dashiell Crane.
7. 7. The roulette player was in the room right before the gin rummy player.
8. 8. Émile Tournier and the mahjong player are the same person.
9. 9. Whoever stacked the emerald chips was in the room right before whoever stacked the rose-gold chips.
10. 10. Anselm Berger was right next to whoever stacked the scarlet chips.
11. 11. Jasper Quaid and the roulette player are the same person.
12. 12. The roulette player was right next to whoever stacked the emerald chips.
13. 13. Émile Tournier and whoever stacked the emerald chips are the same person.
14. 14. The mahjong player was in the room right before whoever stacked the rose-gold chips.

On closing night the lead singer's diamond hair-clip vanished between the second-act bow and the final blackout. Each member of the company waited out the chaos in a separate dressing room down the backstage corridor. Walk the corridor, door by door, and place them. 5 performers, 5 dressing rooms, and no two accounts that quite agree — start with Emil Sandoval.

1. 1. The performer in the feathered mask was right next to the performer holding the wooden dagger.
2. 2. Thaddeus Crowe was right next to the performer in the emerald shawl.
3. 3. Della Fontaine was somewhere after Serafina Locke but before Thaddeus Crowe.
4. 4. Serafina Locke was right next to the performer in the mourning veil.
5. 5. Emil Sandoval and the performer in the silver tunic had exactly 1 dressing room between them.
6. 6. Della Fontaine was right next to the performer in the mourning veil.
7. 7. Bianca Orsini and the performer in the emerald shawl had exactly 1 dressing room between them.
8. 8. Thaddeus Crowe was in the dressing room right before the performer holding the ivory comb.
9. 9. The performer in the emerald shawl and the performer holding the laurel wreath are the same person.
10. 10. Della Fontaine was right next to the performer holding the hand mirror.
11. 11. Emil Sandoval was in a lower-numbered dressing room than the performer holding the wooden dagger.

Every dome on the ridge logged the eclipse; only one logged a theft. The star map was there at totality and gone by dawn. Place each astronomer under the right dome. Statements were taken from all 5 astronomers; Soren Vaughn's is the first page.

1. 1. The astronomer tracking the red planet was in the dome right before whoever was drinking the cocoa.
2. 2. Soren Vaughn was somewhere after Mira Castellan but before Cyrus Penn.
3. 3. Soren Vaughn was in the dome right before the astronomer tracking the eclipse.
4. 4. Cassia Moreau was in the dome right before the astronomer using the field glasses.
5. 5. The astronomer using the celestial globe and whoever was drinking the warm milk had exactly 3 domes between them.
6. 6. The astronomer using the field glasses was in a lower-numbered dome than the astronomer tracking the eclipse.
7. 7. Mira Castellan was right next to whoever was drinking the cocoa.
8. 8. Cassia Moreau was right next to the astronomer tracking the red planet.
9. 9. Idris Hawke was right next to whoever was drinking the barley water.
10. 10. Cassia Moreau was right next to whoever was drinking the spiced cider.
11. 11. The astronomer using the reflector scope and the astronomer tracking the morning star had exactly 2 domes between them.
12. 12. The astronomer using the pendulum clock and the astronomer tracking the eclipse had exactly 2 domes between them.
13. 13. The astronomer tracking the eclipse and whoever was drinking the cocoa had exactly 2 domes between them.
14. 14. Idris Hawke was right next to the astronomer tracking the star cluster.
15. 15. Idris Hawke and whoever was drinking the strong tea are the same person.