Murder at the Evergreen Grand
Christmas Eve, 1959. Snowed in, with a killer.
One glass of cherry brandy. Three questions.
Edmund Hale, owner of the Evergreen Grand, opened his Christmas gifts alone at eleven o'clock and was dead by a quarter to midnight. The night clerk who carried in the gifts has been arrested. She has smuggled out everything she could, and sent it to you.
Mr. Hale's Red Ledger: 80 entries, every family he ruined.
Clues 1–4
The Gift Book: 120 presents. One held the poison.
Clues 5–8
The Winter Register: 4,000 lines. One is the killer.
Clues 9–20
Have you got what it takes?
Large print, numbered rows, checkpoints so you know you're on track, three levels of hints for every clue, and a warm-up case for first-timers. No apps, no outside knowledge: every fact you need is in the book.
The clues
All 20 clues, exactly as printed in the book, with clarifications underneath. Each clue only works on its own list. Solve WHY, then HOW, then WHO: clues 18 and 19 need your first two answers.
Download the printable clue pages, maps, calendar and tracker (PDF)
Mr. Hale's Red Ledger
The Gift Book
The Winter Register
Rules of evidence
- Letters
- Count letters only. Ignore spaces, periods and titles.
- Check-out day
- Arrival date plus the number of nights. Arrive November 28 for 3 nights: you check out on December 1. November has 30 days.
- Stayed the night of a date
- Arrived on or before that date and checked out after it.
- In the hotel at 8 pm on a Sunday
- Signed in at 8:00 pm or earlier that Sunday, or on an earlier day, and checked out after that Sunday.
- Party
- The number of people travelling together, counting the guest who signed. Mrs. and Miss are women signing for themselves; Mr. & Mrs. is a couple.
- Times
- 12-hour clock. "5:00 pm or later" means 5:00 pm up to 11:59 pm.
- Rooms
- First digit is the floor, last two digits the place. Room 312 is floor 3, place 12.
- Food or drink
- Bottles, candy, cakes, fruit, honey, syrup, coffee and tea. Tobacco and cigars are not.
- Over $3,000
- More than $3,000. Exactly $3,000 does not count.
- The railway
- A town is on a line only if it is printed on that line. Kestrel Falls is zero stops; the first station is one stop.
Tips for solving
1. Do the warm-up first
The Missing Star on page 7 takes about 30 minutes and teaches the whole method on 60 hotel staff. You can check it here too.
2. Go in order
WHY, then HOW, then WHO. Within the register, clues 9 to 20 in order is the quickest route: the early ones cut thousands of lines with a single column.
3. One column at a time
Most clues need a single column. Run your finger down just that column and strike out every line that fails. Don't read the names.
4. Use the checkpoints
Every checkpoint gives the count you should have, and names the clue people most often misread. If your count is off, fix it there before moving on.
5. Pick the right pen
Fine-liners and pencils work best. Highlighters can show through, so try yours on the pen test page (page 149) first.
6. Keep a tracker
Write the count after each clue on the tracker page (page 148), or print it from the printables. Solving with friends? Split the register by page and compare counts.
7. Clues 16 to 19 need the exhibits
The calendar, the floor plan and the railway map are on pages 10 to 12. Work out each guest's check-out day before clue 16.
FAQs
Where is the answer?
Not in the book, on purpose, so nobody can spoil it by accident. Enter your three answers on the answer checker. When all three are right, the full solution and the closing chapter unlock.
What do I enter?
Three numbers: the Red Ledger entry number (why), the Gift Book number (how) and the Winter Register line number (who). Just the numbers.
How long does it take?
About 30 minutes for the warm-up and roughly 4 to 8 hours for the main case, spread over as many evenings as you like.
My count doesn't match a checkpoint.
Each checkpoint names the clue people misread most often. If that isn't it, read the hints on page 151: Hint 3 for every clue gives the exact count to check against.
I ended with zero names, or more than one.
Zero usually means one entry was crossed out by mistake, often on clue 12 (Mr. & Mrs. is a couple), clue 13 (5:00 pm itself stays) or clue 16 (Sunday arrivals). Go back to your last matching checkpoint and redo the clues after it.
Do I need to know anything outside the book?
No. Every fact you need is printed in the book. No trivia, no apps, no internet required to solve.
Can I photocopy the clue pages?
Yes, for your own use. You can also download the printable pages.
Is it suitable as a gift?
Yes. It's made for adults, solo or in a group, and it's screen-free. Many people solve it together over the holidays.
Printables
Keep the clues beside the book instead of flipping back and forth. You can solve the whole case without these.
With checkpoints.
Floor plan, railway map and the 1959 calendar.
Write your count after every clue.
Check your answers
Enter the number of the one entry left standing in each list. You'll see which answers are right. Get all three and the case file opens.