The Mother's Confession

The Confession Undone
Solved the case of The Mother's Confession.

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 Sarn Hewett (“Ask Sarn about the relief chest”), or Halvik Storn (one matter at a time, while no other case is open). You need not wait for it: a case enters your casebook as soon as you hold one of its facts.

Gather the proof

1. Take the Transom Reach in Dreskmark River-Mill.
   Finding Confession Cannot Fit: “The chest was reached through a high transom — a tall reach and a whole-armed wrench, work no bedridden woman bound to her cot could do.”
2. Take the Pry Bite Tool in Dreskmark River-Mill.
   Finding Aldric Forced It: “The pry-bite on the chest's bar is square-shouldered and notched; one pry-bar matches it tooth for tooth — the iron off the mill-floor bench where Aldric Tolle works.”
3. Take the Gaming Tally in Dreskmark River-Mill.
   Finding Orsel Confessed: “Word came down the mill-lane that old Orsel Tolle, the ailing widow, freely confessed to forcing the relief chest and would answer for it.”
4. Talk to Sarn Hewett in Dreskmark River-Mill and choose “Show Hewett the dice-slate”.
   Finding Sons Gaming Debt: “Aldric Tolle owes at the dice-house more than the mill pays in a season, and the day to settle fell three nights before the chest was forced.”

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	Aldric Tolle	Aldric Forced It; Confession Cannot Fit
Tell	Confession Is False	Confession Cannot Fit
Motive	Sons Debt	Sons Gaming Debt

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.

• Orsel Confessed makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Orsel Tolle, Tell: Mother Acted Alone, Motive: Mothers Spite). “Word came down the mill-lane that old Orsel Tolle, the ailing widow, freely confessed to forcing the relief chest and would answer for it.”

Close the case

Stand beside Halvik Storn and present. When the sheet holds, Halvik Storn offers courses; the case closes, and The Confession Undone unlocks, once you commit to one. Any course counts; they differ in the morale and marks shown beside each. This run chose Name The Son, which also earns The Son Named.