I did a four week murder mystery through my newsletter. This is a detailed explanation as to how to solve it for those who had a problem doing so. I will be doing another murder mystery through my newsletter during October as well as a murder mystery during my Kathi Daley Books Halloween Spooktacular so even if you didn’t participate in this murder mystery you might want to check out the helpful hints which can be extrapolated and used in the future.

 

First off here was the setup:

Twelve guests were invited to a murder mystery weekend. One of the guests was killed for real on the first night in the old mansion. Follow the clues provided each week to determine who the victim was, who the killer was, and what color shirt each was wearing.

The answer should include the name of the killer and the name of the victim as well as what color shirt each was wearing.

Guest Names:
Wilma
Walter
Tiffany
Toby
Sarah
Steven
Ronald
Regina
Peter
Patricia
Mike
Molly

Color of shirt worn by guests:
Blue
Green
Red
Pink
Black
Brown
Yellow
Orange
Purple
White
Silver
Gold

 

At this point I make two list. One is labeled Killer and one Victim.

Killer                                                       Victim
Guest Names:                                       Guest Names:
Wilma                                                    Wilma
Walter                                                    Walter
Tiffany                                                    Tiffany
Toby                                                        Toby
Sarah                                                      Sarah
Steven                                                    Steven
Ronald                                                   Ronald
Regina                                                   Regina
Peter                                                      Peter
Patricia                                                  Patricia
Mike                                                       Mike
Molly                                                      Molly

Color of shirt worn by guests:       Color of shirt worn by guests:
Blue                                                     Blue
Green                                                  Green
Red                                                      Red
Pink                                                     Pink
Black                                                   Black
Brown                                                 Brown
Yellow                                                 Yellow
Orange                                                Orange
Purple                                                 Purple
White                                                  White
Silver                                                   Silver
Gold                                                     Gold

 

Here were the first set of clues:

The Killer did not wear a Green shirt.
The victim was not Molly.
The Victim did not wear orange or red.
The Victim was not Ronald who wore blue

 

We now know – Red Eliminated

Killer                                                       Victim
Guest Names:                                       Guest Names:
Wilma                                                    Wilma
Walter                                                    Walter
Tiffany                                                    Tiffany
Toby                                                        Toby
Sarah                                                      Sarah
Steven                                                    Steven
Ronald                                                   Ronald – Blue
Regina                                                   Regina
Peter                                                      Peter
Patricia                                                  Patricia
Mike                                                       Mike
Molly                                                      Molly

Color of shirt worn by guests:       Color of shirt worn by guests:
Blue                                                     Blue
Green                                                  Green
Red                                                      Red
Pink                                                     Pink
Black                                                   Black
Brown                                                 Brown
Yellow                                                 Yellow
Orange                                                Orange
Purple                                                 Purple
White                                                  White
Silver                                                   Silver
Gold                                                     Gold

 

Here are the second set of Clues:

Toby, who wore a red shirt, was not the killer.
Peter, who wore a yellow shirt, was not the victim.
While the bad guy often wears black and the good guy wears white in this case the killer did not wear black and the victim did not wear white.
The killer did not wear Blue or Purple.

We now know – red eliminated
Killer                                                       Victim
Guest Names:                                       Guest Names:
Wilma                                                    Wilma
Walter                                                    Walter
Tiffany                                                    Tiffany
Toby                                                        Toby – Red
Sarah                                                      Sarah
Steven                                                    Steven
Ronald                                                   Ronald – Blue
Regina                                                   Regina
Peter                                                      Peter – yellow
Patricia                                                  Patricia
Mike                                                       Mike
Molly                                                      Molly

Color of shirt worn by guests:       Color of shirt worn by guests:
Blue                                                     Blue
Green                                                  Green
Red                                                      Red
Pink                                                     Pink
Black                                                   Black
Brown                                                 Brown
Yellow                                                 Yellow
Orange                                                Orange
Purple                                                 Purple
White                                                  White
Silver                                                   Silver
Gold                                                     Gold

Here is the third set of clues:

Steven, who was not the victim, wore a brown shirt and Sarah wore pink.
Walter, who was not the victim, wore a black shirt, and Regina wore Purple.
Mike and Molly did a couples theme with Mike wearing Gold and Molly wearing Silver
The killer was not Patricia who wore white and Wilma who wore green was not the victim.

We now know – red eliminated
Killer                                                       Victim
Guest Names:                                       Guest Names:
Wilma                                                    Wilma – Green
Walter                                                    Walter – Black
Tiffany                                                    Tiffany – (Orange) 
Toby                                                        Toby – Red
Sarah                                                      Sarah – Pink
Steven                                                    Steven – Brown
Ronald                                                   Ronald – Blue
Regina                                                   Regina – Purple
Peter                                                      Peter – yellow
Patricia                                                  Patricia – white
Mike                                                       Mike – Gold
Molly                                                      Molly – Silver

Color of shirt worn by guests:       Color of shirt worn by guests:
Blue                                                     Blue
Green                                                  Green
Red                                                      Red
Pink                                                     Pink
Black                                                   Black
Brown                                                 Brown
Yellow                                                 Yellow
Orange                                                Orange
Purple                                                 Purple
White                                                  White
Silver                                                   Silver
Gold                                                     Gold

**NOTE – at this point you need to refer to old clues and make some inferences. First of all we can figure out that Tiffany wore an orange shirt because orange is the only color left. Since the victim did not wear orange we can figure out that Tiffany was not the victim.

Additionally, in the first set of clues we learned that the killer did not wear green – We learned that Wilma wore green in this set of clues so Wilma cannot be the killer – The clue also says that Wilma is not the victim so Wilma and Green are off both lists.

Another example is in the second set of clues we find out that the killer did not wear black. In this set we find out that Walter wore black. It also says that Walter is not the victim so both Walter and Black are off both lists.

We learned that the killer was not Patricia who wore white – we learned in the second set of clues that the victim did not wear white so Patricia and white are off both lists.

(If you don’t have everyone crossed off by this point that I do pause and go back to look at earlier clues)

Final set of clues
The killer did not wear silver or brown.
The victim was not Mike.
The killer was not Tiffany who wore orange.
The victim did not wear purple and the killer did not wear Gold.

We now know – red eliminated
Killer                                                       Victim
Guest Names:                                       Guest Names:
Wilma                                                    Wilma – Green
Walter                                                    Walter – Black
Tiffany                                                    Tiffany
Toby                                                        Toby – Red
Sarah                                                      Sarah – Pink
Steven                                                    Steven – Brown
Ronald                                                   Ronald – Blue
Regina                                                   Regina – Purple
Peter                                                      Peter – yellow
Patricia                                                  Patricia – white
Mike                                                       Mike – Gold
Molly                                                      Molly – Silver

Color of shirt worn by guests:       Color of shirt worn by guests:
Blue                                                     Blue
Green                                                  Green
Red                                                      Red
Pink                                                     Pink
Black                                                   Black
Brown                                                 Brown
Yellow                                                 Yellow
Orange                                                Orange
Purple                                                 Purple
White                                                  White
Silver                                                   Silver
Gold                                                     Gold

 

*NOTE – when we learn that the killer did not wear silver or brown we also learned that Molly who wore silver and Steven who wore brown were not the killer.

The Victim was not Mike so Gold was also not worn by the victim.

The killer was not Tiffany who wore orange – so eliminate both Tiffany and orange from the killer – we also know from the first set of clues that the victim did not wear orange so Tiffany is not the victim.

The victim did not wear purple – we know from the third set of clues that Regina wore purple so Regina is not the victim.

The killer did not wear gold so we know that Mike who wore Gold was not the killer.

At this point the killer can either be Sarah who wore pink or Peter who wore Yellow. However the only person who can be the victim is Sarah who wore Pink and the victim and killer cannot be the same person so The Victim was Sarah who wore Pink and the Killer was Peter who wore Yellow. 

Respond below and be entered to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card.

Last weeks gift card winner was Linda Davis. Please email me at kathidaley@kathidaley.com to collect your gift card.