The Double-Bluff Frame

The Frame Unwound
Solved the case of The Double-Bluff Frame.

Patron: Halvik Storn, in Dreskmark Market Square. The sheet asks for Culprit, Tell, Motive. Each answer must rest on a finding; a lead only points you onward.

Usually heard from Ferrin Olt (“Ask Ferrin what was done to the coffer”). You need not wait for it: a case enters your casebook as soon as you hold one of its facts.

Gather the proof

1. Talk to Halvik Storn in Dreskmark Market Square and choose “Ask what he wants of you”.
   Needed before Ferrin Olt: “Ask Ferrin what was done to the coffer”.
2. Talk to Ferrin Olt in Dreskmark Market Square and choose “Greet Ferrin Olt”.
   Needed before Ferrin Olt: “Ask Ferrin what was done to the coffer”.
3. Talk to Ferrin Olt in Dreskmark Market Square and choose “Ask Ferrin what was done to the coffer”.
   Lead Coffer Forced Rumor: “The locksmith Ferrin Olt keeps the market's key-log, and the forced weigh-house coffer has him reading it again.”
4. Talk to Ferrin Olt in Dreskmark Market Square and choose “The robbed coffer”.
   Finding Vyle Grudge: “Reska Vyle has feuded with Orvel Sund across the stalls for years; a grudge that loud makes her the town's easy framer, the hand the suspicion points to.”
   Lead Cried As Frameup: “The square reads it plainly: no thief leaves his own mark, so Sund's seal at the coffer-lid means someone is framing him.”
5. Take the Coffer Seal Token in Dreskmark Market Square.
   Finding Seal From Locked Box: “The seal-token left at the forced coffer is the very mate Orvel Sund keeps locked inside his own strongbox — no copy, but the twin to the locked one.”
6. Take the Key Ward Record in Dreskmark Market Square.
   Needed before Ferrin Olt: “Show Olt the ward-record”.
7. Take the Emptied Coffer Tally in Dreskmark Market Square.
   Finding Takings Really Gone: “The day-tally does not meet the count: the coffer's takings are truly gone, coin gone out of the box — not strewn about to merely look robbed.”
8. Talk to Ferrin Olt in Dreskmark Market Square and choose “Show Olt the ward-record”.
   Finding Only Sund Keyed: “Ferrin Olt cut one key for that strongbox and one only, to Orvel Sund — seven-lever wards no pick can rake or slip; no hand but Sund's could open it.”

Keep the order: a topic only appears once you hold the lead or the item it needs.

The answer

Show the case sheet

Question	Answer	Proved by
Culprit	Orvel Sund	Seal From Locked Box; Only Sund Keyed
Tell	Frame Was Self Planted	Seal From Locked Box; Only Sund Keyed
Motive	Cover His Own Theft	Takings Really Gone

The trap

These are true findings that point at the wrong story. Presenting a sheet built on them costs a segment of the day and the clean pass.

• Vyle Grudge makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Reska Vyle, Motive: A Grudge Against Sund). “Reska Vyle has feuded with Orvel Sund across the stalls for years; a grudge that loud makes her the town's easy framer, the hand the suspicion points to.”
• Olt Took The Takings makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Ferrin Olt). “”
• Outside Seal Access makes a wrong sheet presentable (Tell: An Outside Frame). “Sund keeps but the one seal under lock; the working stall-token lies by the scales all market-day, where any quick hand in the press could palm it.”

Close the case

Stand beside Halvik Storn and present. When the sheet holds, Halvik Storn offers courses; the case closes, and The Frame Unwound unlocks, once you commit to one. Any course counts; they differ in the morale and marks shown beside each. This run chose Convict The Self Framer, which also earns The Frame Turned Inward.