Christmas Eve in Little Smithering
Hints & Solutions
Christmas Eve in Little Smithering
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Hint 1
Where was the victim found?
Hint 2
Look at the picture of the Christmas tree in the village square. Apart from the candles and baubles, notice matching pairs of ornaments on the tree.
Hint 3
Draw a line between the matching pairs of ornaments. Two letters will appear. Check the police report to see which character’s name begins with these initials.
Solution
Dr Laura Nicholas
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Hint 1
There are plenty of numbers on the Christmas pudding recipe card.
Hint 2
Note that not all of the ingredients listed are used to make the pudding. Also note that Hans Tannenbaum plans to make 15 puddings to give away.
Hint 3
Add up the quantity numbers on the recipe card, but only of the ingredients that are used to make the pudding. Multiply this by the number of puddings Hans plans to make.
Solution
11.55pm
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Hint 1
See the Inspector’s handwritten note on the police report which says ‘last letters’, referring to the page of newspaper.
Hint 2
Look for the last letters of sentences on the newspaper.
Hint 3
The last letter of each sentence in the main article will reveal the murder weapon.
Solution
Candlestick
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Hint 1
The same patterns repeat on more than one item.
Hint 2
See if you can find matching patterns on the Christmas Eve Carols invitation and the Silent Night sheet music.
Hint 3
Overlay the border pattern of holly, berries and bells on the carols invite on top of the same pattern on the sheet music. See which letters the stars reveal and unscramble them.
Solution
Vicarage
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Hint 1
Look at the village square map and statements about the residents. Notice the Christmas cracker riddle talks about a ‘helper’ and an ‘aide’.
Hint 2
Using the statements about residents next to the village square map, you can figure out who lives where. The words 'helper' and 'aide' suggest that the riddle is pointing to the murderer’s accomplice.
Hint 3
Once you’ve solved who lives where on the village map, use the riddle to identify who lives at the most north-westerly point.
Solution
Miss Clara Bell
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Hint 1
First, solve the accomplice.
Hint 2
From the police report character profiles, we know that the accomplice has felt overlooked for solo parts in the Choral Society. We also know from the newspaper advert that the soloist for the 27th December event is as yet undecided. Also read the unsigned note on the back of the sheet music.
Hint 3
Bringing together the information in Clara’s character profile, the newspaper ad, and the handwritten note on the back of the sheet music, you can deduce that Clara will help the murderer so that she can get what she wants - a choir solo.
Solution
To be given the solo part at the event on 27th December.
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Hint 1
To solve the murderer, you must first solve the time and location of the murder, and the identity of the victim.
Note that both the Christmas postcard and the article on Greater Snollygoster reference children and war widows.
Hint 2
We know the murder happened at the vicarage at 11.55pm. We also know the victim was Dr Laura Nicholas.
The author of the Christmas postcard is threatening to turn in the embezzler from Greater Snollygoster to the police. Embezzling is a serious offence, and the embezzler must act before Boxing Day – this fear of exposure could be a strong enough motive for murder.
Hint 3
The embezzler must have lived in Greater Snollygoster in recent years to have perpetrated the crime, and must have moved to Little Smithering quite recently. Reviewing the character profiles, this narrows-down the potential suspects to the Colonel, Revd Winter, Mrs Winter, and Mr Tannenbaum.
Because the murder happened late at night at the vicarage and the victim was not a vicarage resident, it is very likely that the murderer is a resident of the vicarage.
Hint 4
The potential murderer is very likely to be one of the two residents of the vicarage: Revd John Winter or Mrs Nia Winter.
The embezzler lived in Greater Snollygoster before moving to Little Smithering. From her profile, we know that Nia Winter moved to Little Smithering directly from Nairobi, so it can’t have been her.
Solution
Revd John Winter, to stop Dr Laura Nicholas from turning him in to the police for his previous embezzlement in Greater Snollygoster.