One suspect per row and column
Exactly like Sudoku, but with people instead of numbers. Squares taken up by furniture cannot hold anyone, and the victim is already placed for you.
Free demo / Case 001
Play the first case in your browser.
Case 001 (“Petals at Dusk”) is a free browser-playable 6×6 murder-mystery logic puzzle from Detective Sudoku where you place 5 suspects—one per row and column around garden furniture—satisfy every suspect’s truthful statement, and identify the murderer who shares the victim’s Gazebo room. This is “Petals at Dusk”, the opening case of the iPhone game, running here exactly as it does in the app. Nothing to install and nothing to sign up for.
Case 001
Petals at Dusk
Opening the case file…
Case 001 Dossier
What is the board layout and clue setup for Case 001 (“Petals at Dusk”)?
Case 001 (“Petals at Dusk”) takes place on a 6×6 garden floor plan divided into 4 rooms—Lawn (6 cells), Patio (9 cells), Gazebo (6 cells), and Poolside (15 cells)—containing 6 blocking furniture pieces, 1 placed victim (Eleanor at Row 6, Column 1), and 5 suspects to place so each row and column holds exactly 1 person.
6×6 Grid Layout: Rooms, Victim & Furniture Coordinates
Every square on the 6×6 board (Rows 1–6 from top to bottom, Columns 1–6 from left to right) belongs to one named room. Furniture squares are non-standable (`standable: false`) and cannot hold any suspect:
- Lawn (Row 1, Columns 1–6 — 6 cells): Open grass at R1C1, R1C3, R1C5, and R1C6. Blocking furniture: Bench at R1C2 and Table at R1C4.
- Patio (Rows 2–4, Columns 1–3 — 9 cells): Open stone tiles at R2C1, R2C3, R3C1–R3C3, and R4C1–R4C3. Blocking furniture: Barrel at R2C2.
- Gazebo (Rows 5–6, Columns 1–3 — 6 cells): Victim Eleanor is placed at R6C1. Open wood tiles at R5C1, R5C2, and R6C2. Blocking furniture: Table at R5C3 and Tree at R6C3.
- Poolside (Rows 2–6, Columns 4–6 — 15 cells): Open ceramic tiles across Columns 4–6 except two blocking objects: Tree at R2C5 and Plant at R6C5.
Suspect Statements & Constraint Reference Table
| Character | Role (Count) | Exact Truthful Statement | Constraint Type | Board Scope (Cells / Units) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eleanor (E) | Victim (Fixed at R6C1) | “She was alone with the murderer.” | Murder / Room occupancy rule | Gazebo (Rows 5–6, Cols 1–3; 2 total occupants) |
| Daniel (D) | Suspect 1 of 5 | “He was beside a bench.” | Orthogonal furniture adjacency (same room) | Lawn cells adjacent to Bench at R1C2 (R1C1 or R1C3) |
| Fiona (F) | Suspect 2 of 5 | “She was in a corner of the room.” | Room corner geometry (2 perpendicular walls) | Corner cells of Lawn, Patio, Gazebo, or Poolside |
| Ben (B) | Suspect 3 of 5 | “He was in the Poolside.” | Room membership constraint | Poolside (Rows 2–6, Cols 4–6; 13 standable cells) |
| Alice (A) | Suspect 4 of 5 | “She was exactly three cells diagonally southeast of Daniel.” | Exact diagonal vector distance (+3 rows, +3 cols) | (rD + 3, cD + 3) relative to Daniel |
| Carl (C) | Suspect 5 of 5 | “He was directly west of a table.” | Orthogonal furniture direction (same room) | Cells west of R1C4 Table (Lawn) or R5C3 Table (Gazebo) |
Worked Deduction Example: Forcing the First Placements
- Step 1 — Row & Column Elimination from the Victim: Eleanor is fixed at Row 6, Column 1 (Gazebo). By the one-person-per-row-and-column rule, every other cell in Row 6 and Column 1 is immediately eliminated for all 5 suspects.
- Step 2 — Forcing the Murderer’s Square in the Gazebo: Eleanor’s clue states she was alone with the murderer in the Gazebo (Rows 5–6, Columns 1–3). Inside the Gazebo, R6C1 holds Eleanor, R6C2 is eliminated by Row 6, R5C1 is eliminated by Column 1, R5C3 is blocked by a table, and R6C3 is blocked by a tree. Only Row 5, Column 2 remains open—proving the murderer stands at R5C2 (which also locks Row 5 and Column 2).
- Step 3 — Forcing Daniel’s Exact Position: Daniel’s statement is “He was beside a bench.” The only bench on the board is at R1C2 in the Lawn. Orthogonal neighbors in the Lawn are R1C1 and R1C3. Since Column 1 is already occupied by Eleanor at R6C1, R1C1 is impossible. Therefore, Daniel must stand at Row 1, Column 3 (R1C3).
- Step 4 — Chaining Alice’s Diagonal Distance: Alice’s statement is “She was exactly three cells diagonally southeast of Daniel.” Adding 3 rows and 3 columns to Daniel’s confirmed coordinate R1C3 (`1 + 3 = 4`, `3 + 3 = 6`) forces Alice into Row 4, Column 6 (R4C6) in the Poolside.
The rules
Three constraints, one culprit.
Every statement is true
Each suspect gives one truthful statement about where they stood — a room, a piece of furniture, a corner, or a direction relative to somebody else. The arrangement has to satisfy all of them at once.
The murderer is alone with the victim
When the board is complete, whoever shares the victim's room is the culprit. Close the case to see who it is.
If you get stuck
This demo has no hints — the app does. Detective Sudoku explains the next valid deduction and names the statement it follows from, rather than filling in a square for you. Over 100 cases and a new daily challenge come with it.
Prefer paper? The same case is available as a free printable PDF, and the full rules are on how to play.
01 / Keep going
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A new challenge every day.
- This demo
- Case 001 of 100+
- Platform
- iPhone, iOS 17+
- Price
- Free
- Account
- Not required