Dagon Files

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Welcome, Seeker of Forbidden Knowledge, to Sunday's puzzle, week 9 of the year 2026. (Simpler puzzle) and (Harder puzzle)

The Case Of The Row Of Transverse Incisions.

You have stumbled upon The Dagon Files, a cryptic corner of the web where reality frays and reason falters. Here, beneath shifting sigils and whispering images, ancient puzzles lie in wait—twisting enigmas born from the depths of forgotten tomes and cosmic dread. Each riddle you solve draws you deeper into a truth not meant for mortal minds.

But beware: not all doors should be opened. And some answers… change you.

Begin, if you dare…

Suspects/Weapons/Locations/Motives

Librarian

grid [G]

Miriam Vale

height: 5' 5"

gray eyes

left handed

necronomicon cultist

Detective

grid [I]

Elias Crane

height: 6' 1"

blue eyes

right handed

yog-sothoth cultist

Chaplain

grid [F]

Malachai Grady

height: 5' 10"

blue eyes

left handed

nyarlathotep cultist

Parapsychologist

grid [P]

Celeste Mallory

height: 5' 6"

brown eyes

left handed

dagon cultist

Nurse

grid [N]

Evelyn Marsh

height: 5' 7"

gray eyes

right handed

deep-ones cultist

Mirror Shard

grid [M]

It never seems to reflect its surroundings, always somewhere else.

Sometimes leaves a trace of a feeling of deja-vu.

Bone Stylus

grid [B]

Multi-use, first as a puncture weapon, then for carving runes on the victim's body

Sometimes leaves a trace of a set of incised runes.

Dream Serum

grid [D]

Administered in a large dose it causes the heart to freeze in fear.

Sometimes leaves a trace of an expression of frozen horror.

Lobotomy Pick

grid [L]

Classic asylum tool; missing from the locked surgical suite.

Sometimes leaves a trace of a calm feeling.

Graven Scalpel

grid [G]

Ordinary medical scalpel, but engraved with glyphs which shimmer as if moonlit.

Sometimes leaves a trace of a row of transverse incisions.

Hydrotherapy Chamber

grid [H]

A plain white, tiled room with a row of metal baths; each equipped with manacles.

It has been described as a sound of gurgling screams.

Indoors

Area has been blessed or warded by some cult.

Unnatural Cavern

grid [C]

An ancient, natural cavern beneath the asylum said to have influenced the choice of the site. The stones still thirst.

It has been described as an echo of ancient ritual.

Indoors

Area has been blessed or warded by some cult.

Roof Garden

grid [R]

Once a manicured garden, now dead ivy covers oddly-shapen, mist-shrouded stone sculptures.

It has been described as a sound of moving stone statues.

Outdoors

No warding found here.

Observation Tower

grid [O]

A panopticon for surreptitiously viewing the patient's cells. A distant howling wind can always be heard here.

It has been described as a room of secrets.

Indoors

No warding found here.

Greenhouse

grid [G]

A greenhouse with hanging vines which seem to cling as they touch you. Some rows of unearthly plants grow in the farther corners.

It has been described as a graveyard of misguided, botanical experiments.

Indoors

Area has been blessed or warded by some cult.

Suspects/Weapons/Locations/Motives

Librarian

grid [G]

Miriam Vale

height: 5' 5"

gray eyes

left handed

necronomicon cultist

Detective

grid [I]

Elias Crane

height: 6' 1"

blue eyes

right handed

yog-sothoth cultist

Chaplain

grid [F]

Malachai Grady

height: 5' 10"

blue eyes

left handed

nyarlathotep cultist

Parapsychologist

grid [P]

Celeste Mallory

height: 5' 6"

brown eyes

left handed

dagon cultist

Nurse

grid [N]

Evelyn Marsh

height: 5' 7"

gray eyes

right handed

deep-ones cultist

Mirror Shard

grid [M]

It never seems to reflect its surroundings, always somewhere else.

Sometimes leaves a trace of a feeling of deja-vu.

Bone Stylus

grid [B]

Multi-use, first as a puncture weapon, then for carving runes on the victim's body

Sometimes leaves a trace of a set of incised runes.

Dream Serum

grid [D]

Administered in a large dose it causes the heart to freeze in fear.

Sometimes leaves a trace of an expression of frozen horror.

Lobotomy Pick

grid [L]

Classic asylum tool; missing from the locked surgical suite.

Sometimes leaves a trace of a calm feeling.

Graven Scalpel

grid [G]

Ordinary medical scalpel, but engraved with glyphs which shimmer as if moonlit.

Sometimes leaves a trace of a row of transverse incisions.

Hydrotherapy Chamber

grid [H]

A plain white, tiled room with a row of metal baths; each equipped with manacles.

It has been described as a sound of gurgling screams.

Indoors

Area has been blessed or warded by some cult.

Unnatural Cavern

grid [C]

An ancient, natural cavern beneath the asylum said to have influenced the choice of the site. The stones still thirst.

It has been described as an echo of ancient ritual.

Indoors

Area has been blessed or warded by some cult.

Roof Garden

grid [R]

Once a manicured garden, now dead ivy covers oddly-shapen, mist-shrouded stone sculptures.

It has been described as a sound of moving stone statues.

Outdoors

No warding found here.

Observation Tower

grid [O]

A panopticon for surreptitiously viewing the patient's cells. A distant howling wind can always be heard here.

It has been described as a room of secrets.

Indoors

No warding found here.

Greenhouse

grid [G]

A greenhouse with hanging vines which seem to cling as they touch you. Some rows of unearthly plants grow in the farther corners.

It has been described as a graveyard of misguided, botanical experiments.

Indoors

Area has been blessed or warded by some cult.

Rules

A restriction you will need to rely on is that every weapon, location and motive in the puzzle will be attributed to exactly one suspect.

So you can make a deduction like this, if the dagger was at the campanile, and the professor was at the campanile, then the professor had the dagger. This must be true since only one suspect can be at each location, possess each weapon, have each motive.

Similarly, negative deductions can be made, if the dagger was at the campanile, and the professor did not have the dagger, then the professor was not at the campanile. This is because only one weapon can be at a given location, and the professor's weapon is not the dagger.

These rules will help to fill in blanks which remain after all the clues have been accounted for.

Clues

  1. The Parapsychologist never visited the observation room with one-way glass.
  2. A shard of mirror, reflecting another place was found, but not at the observation room with one-way glass.
  3. This (fingerprint) was found on the weapon producing a row of transverse incisions.
  4. The Parapsychologist never visited the open roof terrace.
  5. A row of transverse incisions was found at the echo of ancient ritual.
  6. The Nurse wielded the vial of dream-inducing serum.
  7. The Detective wielded the shard of mirror, reflecting another place.
  8. You receive an anonymous telegram with the cryptic message 'A ENIFEGL FO ADEJ VU ASW FNUOD BUT NTO AT THE OPRDHAHYRTYE MEHARCB.'. (decodeA feeling of deja-vu was found, but not at the hydrotherapy chamber. [anagrammed])
  9. A lobotomy pick, asylum issue was found at the open roof terrace.
  10. A row of transverse incisions was found near the body.

Accusation