Death in a Snowstorm
Hints & Solutions
Death in a Snowstorm
Victim
Hint 1
The baseball scores in the newspaper look quite unusual.
Hint 2
Do the newspaper baseball scores align with any other item?
Hint 3
Align the bottom of the newspaper baseball scores with the top of the grid to create and solve a nonogram.
If you are new to nonogram puzzles, you can find help to solve them here.
Hint 4
Here is an image of the completed nonogram, which spells-out a short phrase.
Solution
Joe
Who is unrepentant of their previous crime
Hint 1
To find out the previous crime, read the main newspaper article. To find the unrepentant criminal, consult with Father William.
Hint 2
Have a closer look at the tools Father William has at his disposal.
Hint 3
Look at the magnifying glass in the newspaper advert for the Father William book. Read the eight words that border the magnifying glass.
Hint 4
The words bordering the magnifying glass read: 'Christian is not sorry for his past sins'.
Solution
Christian
Weapon I
Hint 1
The vial contains answers.
Hint 2
How can you align the letters on the strip of paper to reveal a message?
Hint 3
Roll the strip of paper around the vial, aligning the letters to reveal the first weapon.
Solution
Heroin
Weapon II
Hint 1
Into each life, a little snow must fall.
Hint 2
Gather each of the three snowflakes and notice the two markings on each one.
Hint 3
Translate the six Morse code markings on the snowflakes and rearrange the letters to find the second murder weapon.
Solution
Wrench
Location of murder
Hint 1
This one needs to be puzzled-out.
Hint 2
Assemble the 12 puzzle pieces and a picture will appear.
Hint 3
The sign in the picture will show you where the murder took place.
Solution
Sauna
TIME OF MURDER
Hint 1
There seems to be one playing card of each suit. Whose image is on the back of each card?
Hint 2
If you compare the image on the back of each playing card against the character profiles in Isabel's diary entry, you'll notice that the drawing is of Cynthia. Which other item is related to Cynthia?
Hint 3
The other item connected to Cynthia is her letter. Search her writing for suit-able words.
Hint 4
The letter mentions each playing card suit in turn (club, diamond, spade, heart).
Arrange the playing cards in this order to find the time of the murder.
Solution
16:45
Accomplice
Hint 1
First, discover weapon I. Also, the Northern Lights postcard mentions a reference worth exploring…
Hint 2
The postcard author seems to align her predicament with the Valkyries, the ‘Choosers of the Slain’, suggesting the writer may be both implicated and female.
Hint 3
Weapon I could be procured by someone with a certain type of occupation. Together with the character profiles, you can use the postcard and weapon I to deduce the accomplice.
Solution
Eleanora
Motive
Hint 1
Several clues are needed to understand the motive:
a) Read the newspaper article on the theft of the emerald during the Great War (the First World War).
b) Note the number ‘3’ on the ship photo, which could be applied to the code on the back of the photo.
c) The translucent paper has symbols on it that you’ve seen before…
Hint 2
a) We know from the character profiles that two of the party were close during the Great War.
b) On the ship photo, move each letter of the code 3 places forward in the alphabet to reveal a message.
c) The symbols on the translucent paper are also found on Isabel’s first diary entry.
Hint 3
a) Joe and Christian stole the Bygdøy emerald during the Great War.
b) When solved, the code reads: 'You said you returned it. You lied. I will make you pay.' This message and Cynthia’s letter show that the thieves are no longer on the same page.
c) Overlay the translucent paper on Isabel’s first diary entry, aligning the symbols on each page – the highlighted boxes then reveal a message.
Hint 4
Although Joe and Christian stole the Bygdøy emerald together during the Great War, Joe has since had a change of heart. The message on the back of the ship photo suggests that Christian had lied to Joe, promising that he had returned the emerald when he hadn't.
We know from Cynthia's letter that Joe was angry at dinner one evening, talking passionately about heritage and integrity – opposed by Christian.
Yet, the code in the ship photo, and the message to Christian at the bottom of the snowflake dial, both suggest that Joe is determined to right the wrong of the theft, and is trying to persuade Christian to agree with him.
When you overlay the moon on the translucent paper on top of the matching moon on Isabel's first diary entry, this message appears in the orange boxes: 'He was trying to convince Christian to return the jewel'.
When you turn the page over and overlay the matching stars, this message appears in the purple boxes: 'So Joe had to die. He was a threat to our wealth'.
Solution
To stop Joe from convincing Christian to return the emerald.
Murderer
Hint 1
The pendant is a vegvísir, also known as a ‘Viking Compass’, and it will help clear a path to the killer. You’ll find the symbols (rune staves) on the vegvísir are also scattered across previous clues.
Interestingly, the vegvísir has the same basic shape as a snowflake…
Hint 2
Lay the vegvísir on the snowflake dial (the snowflake drawing surrounded by circles and numbers), with the top of the pendant pointing north.
On the items with vegvísir symbols, each symbol has a corresponding letter. There are seven symbols and letters (one symbol repeats on the vegvísir).
Find them scattered across these items: the welcome card, both diary entries, Cynthia’s letter, the newspaper, the postcard, and the nonogram grid.
Hint 3
Note the letter corresponding to each symbol in the relevant circle of the snowflake dial.
Next, arrange the letters in the order of the numbers shown around the dial (from 1 - 11) to reveal the murderer.
Solution
Isabel