The Wrong Cup

The Cup Was Wrong
Solved the case of The Wrong Cup.

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

Usually heard from Brisa Wend (“Ask Brisa what she cannot set down as ordinary”). 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 Contract Notice in Dreskmark Physic-Stall.
   Finding Rival Gains Vote: “The assay-master Tovic Hald keeps the tallies: Brann Oste and Tarl Vesk both stand for the Concord carrying-contract, and a candidate too sick to appear at the vote forfeits his claim outright.”
2. Take the Order Book Page in Dreskmark Physic-Stall.
   Finding Meant For Oste: “Brisa's order-book sets the laced batch against its sent-to name, and it is not Mira's — it reads Brann Oste; the poisoned cup was written for one door and drunk at another.”
3. Take the Laced Flask in Dreskmark Physic-Stall.
   Finding Mira Feud: “Mira Sevast and the clothier Hesia Selv have feuded over cloth and custom for years; not a week past Hesia sent Mira a peace-cup to mend it.”
   Lead Victim Was Mira: “Mira Sevast drank the cordial and was felled, so the whole market reads the harm as meant for Mira — and tongues point straight at Hesia Selv.”
4. Talk to Brisa Wend in Dreskmark Physic-Stall and choose “Show Brisa the returned flask”.
   Finding Cordial Laced: “The apothecary Brisa Wend swears it on her licence: a purge of black hellebore was worked into the cordial after it left her counter — deliberately laced, no spoiled batch.”

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	Tarl Vesk	Meant For Oste; Rival Gains Vote
Motive	Win The Contract	Rival Gains Vote
Method	Laced Cordial	Cordial Laced

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.

• Mira Feud makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Hesia Selv, Motive: Spite Against Mira). “Mira Sevast and the clothier Hesia Selv have feuded over cloth and custom for years; not a week past Hesia sent Mira a peace-cup to mend it.”
• Oste Crossed Traders makes a wrong sheet presentable (Culprit: Nedrik Skelt, Motive: Settle A Grudge). “Brann Oste squeezed the freighter Nedrik Skelt off the grain run and ruined him; Skelt has sworn on the quay he'll see Oste pay.”
• Spoiled Batch Proof makes a wrong sheet presentable (Method: Tainted By Accident). “The week before Mira fell, Brisa's verrith root had turned dark-centered and two bottles came back ill-spoken-of — a real spoilage that let the town call it accident.”

Close the case

Stand beside Halvik Storn and present. When the sheet holds, Halvik Storn offers courses; the case closes, and The Cup Was Wrong unlocks, once you commit to one. Any course counts; they differ in the morale and marks shown beside each. This run chose Convict.