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Printable mystery case fileAdults and teens 14+1 to 6 players, about 45 to 90 minutes

The Ashgrove Heron.

A case file you print at home. October 1964: during a power cut at a private view in a country house, someone took a painting out of its frame and hung a copy in its place. Six guests had the chance. The auctioneer has sent you everything he knows, from letters and a cloakroom ledger to statements and a photograph. Work out who swapped the painting, how the original left the house, and why.

What you get

Two PDF files of the same 21 pages, one A4 and one US Letter. You print them at home, with no cutting, and play alone, as a couple or with friends around a table. Nothing is shipped.

The case file laid out: the painting Heron at First Light in a gold frame, a moonlit photograph of a lake behind a stone balustrade, a railway ticket, a cutting from The Wendham Courier, the back of the canvas with the maker's stamp and a sealed envelope
Papers from the real file, arranged on one picture.
9.90 €one payment, VAT included

VAT included, nothing added at checkout. You buy the two files once, keep them and print a copy for everyone at your table.

See all 21 pages first

The files unlock right after payment. You can still withdraw within 14 days without giving a reason (our terms, section 5). Terms

  • download buttons appear on this page right after payment, and the links come by e-mail too
  • A4 and US Letter, both in the price
  • no account to make

How you solve it.

Four steps. Pages 19 to 21 go in an envelope before you start, so the hints and the answer stay out of sight.

How to play in four steps: read the file, starting with Mr Crane's letter; study the plan of Ashgrove Hall; fill in the logic grid; open the envelope, with the STOP cover page
  1. Read the file. A letter from the auctioneer, a timeline of Friday evening, witness statements, a cloakroom ledger and period papers.
  2. Put the papers together. Match a photograph to the floor plan, decode a dealer’s price code in his notebook and check the train times.
  3. Fill in the grid. Guests, rooms, items and times. Cross out and tick until one guest is left in the Long Gallery at 9:12.
  4. Open the envelope. Hints in three levels if you are stuck, a sealed letter that tells what really happened, and the full solution step by step.

What is in the file.

Twenty-one pages, the same in the A4 and the US Letter file. Every picture on this page is cut from the real pages.

The six suspect cards: Julian Thorne, Ivy Carrow, Dr Arthur Bellweather, Laurence Pask, Dora Quill and Constance Rook, each with a still life drawing, height, spectacles, whether they play the piano or paint in oils, and how they came
Six guests, six reasons. A dealer with a buyer waiting, an art student who paints copies, a museum keeper, the owner’s son, a reporter and the neighbour from the mill.
Two pages from the file: the Garden Lobby ledger with six bags, their inside sizes and times, and the page with the moonlit photograph, the evening train times and the railway ticket
Fourteen pieces of evidence. The cloakroom ledger, the photograph and the train are shown here; the rest waits in the file.
  1. 1Start here: how to play alone or in a team, what to print and the fair play rule
  2. 2Letter from Mr Crane, the auctioneer, with three questions
  3. 3Timeline of Friday evening
  4. 4Plan of Ashgrove Hall and a map of the grounds
  5. 5Auction catalogue, page 9, with Lot 27
  6. 6The restorer’s report
  7. 7 and 8Six suspect cards and the staff and others
  8. 9The Garden Lobby ledger
  9. 10 and 11Interview notes
  10. 12Found in the file: a notebook in trade code and a newspaper cutting
  11. 13The photograph and the train
  12. 14 and 15Letters and papers: five letters and a telegram
  13. 16The logic grid
  14. 17Case report, two to a page
  15. 18Envelope cover
  16. 19Hints in three levels (in the envelope)
  17. 20The sealed letter (in the envelope)
  18. 21Full solution, step by step (in the envelope)

All 21 pages, before you pay.

The clue text is hidden and the envelope pages are blurred, so the picture shows the file without giving the answer away.

All twenty-one pages of the A4 file side by side with a label under each; the clue text is hidden and the hints, the sealed letter and the solution are blurred
Tap the picture to open it large and zoom in.
Page 2, the letter from Mr Hugo Crane of Pellow and Crane, with what he knows for certain and his three questions
Page 2. Mr Crane’s letter.
Page 3, the timeline of Friday evening from the check of the painting at five to the locked doors at 10:35, and the facts you can rely on
Page 3. The timeline.
Page 5, the auction catalogue page with Lots 26 to 30, the painting from the front and the back of the canvas
Page 5. The auction catalogue.

Who it is for, and what you need.

Good to know before you buy: a home printer, pencils and an envelope; about 45 to 90 minutes; 1 to 6 players; two PDF files of 21 pages; and page 16, the logic grid
Age
14 and up. It suits people who like logic grid puzzles and classic whodunits.
Players
1 to 6. Alone, read everything and then fill in the grid. In a team, share out the documents, read them aloud and sum them up for each other. Print the grid once for everyone, or let one person keep it.
Time
About 45 to 90 minutes; alone, allow about an hour. This is our estimate for a first game, not yet timed with players. About 10 minutes to print and get ready.
You need
A printer, pencils, an eraser and an envelope for pages 19 to 21. No scissors.
Good for
A quiet evening, a couple, friends around a table, a book club, or a family with teenagers.

Two files, the same 21 pages.

FilePaperPagesSize
A4 PDF210 x 297 mm21 pages0.91 MB
US Letter PDF8.5 x 11 in21 pages0.91 MB

Print one-sided at 100 percent or actual size. Black and white is fine. Put pages 19 to 21 in an envelope without reading them, with page 18 on the front: they hold the hints, the sealed letter and the solution.

Before you buy.

What kind of mystery is it?

A logic mystery in the form of a case file. The answer comes from putting the documents together on a logic grid, not from guessing a motive: every guest has a reason, and only one of them was in the gallery. If you want a spooky story or a murder, this is not it. Nobody is hurt; the crime is a theft, and the painting is safe and unharmed.

How many can play, and how long does it take?

1 to 6 players, age 14 and up. About 45 to 90 minutes; alone, allow about an hour. Getting ready takes about 10 minutes and no cutting. Stuck? Page 19 has hints in three levels, from a nudge to the full step.

Has it been played?

Not yet at a real table, and we would rather say so. The logic was checked by a computer solver, not by players, which is why the time is our estimate. One clue asks you to compare a photograph with the floor plan; if that one does not click, the hints name it. If anything does not work for you, write to support@arling.sk and we fix it or send the money back.

What happens after I pay?

Stripe sends you back to this page, the page checks that the payment went through, and download buttons for the A4 and US Letter PDF appear in place of the buy button. The same links are sent by e-mail to the address you paid with. The links on this page work for 7 days and the ones in the e-mail for 30 days; after that, write to support@arling.sk and we send fresh ones.

The unlock is remembered in this browser, so you can come back to this page later on the same device. Keep the files once you have downloaded them.

How many copies may I print?

As many as you need for your own household, club or classroom. Please do not share or resell the files.

Who made it?

ARLing s. r. o. in Bratislava wrote the story and the puzzle and drew the pictures, with the help of AI tools. The drawings are simple shapes drawn in code, and our own program typesets every page. All people, places and firms in the story are invented.

Do I get a receipt?

Yes. The seller (merchant of record) is Link (Sold through Link, LLC) through the Stripe Managed Payments service; ARLing s. r. o. supplies the product. At checkout you will see “Sold through Link”, your bank statement will show LINK.COM* ARLING, and Link sends you the receipt.

Can I get my money back?

Yes. As a consumer you can withdraw within 14 days without giving a reason, as our terms say in section 5: write to support@arling.sk or use the withdrawal form, and we refund you within 14 days by the same payment method. If a file is broken or a puzzle is wrong, write to us and we put it right.

That is the law, not our customer service. All 21 pages are shown above so you can decide before paying. If a file is broken or never arrived, write to support@arling.sk and we will fix it or send the money back. Terms and withdrawal form.

Colophon

Publisher
ARLing s. r. o., Ivanská cesta 32E, 821 04 Bratislava, Slovakia. Company ID 56583486, VAT ID SK2122352100.
Who makes it
Andrej in Bratislava looks after the products and the support and answers at support@arling.sk. The story, puzzle and drawings were made with the help of AI tools; our own program typesets every page.
Payment and delivery
The seller (merchant of record) is Link (Sold through Link, LLC) through the Stripe Managed Payments service; ARLing s. r. o. supplies the product. Your download links appear on this page as soon as Stripe confirms the payment, and the same links are sent by e-mail to the address you paid with. There is no account to make.

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