Your friends as witnesses.

Name: Your friends as witnesses: personalized printable murder mystery
Brand: ARLing
Price: 14.90 EUR
Availability: InStock

A printable Halloween murder mystery built around 3 to 14 of your friends: their names sign the clues and stand in a register of 5,000 party guests, and the killer is always a stranger.

14.90 € on Etsy

Two cases in one order: Case No. 1 to download right away, and your own case with your friends as witnesses a few minutes after your payment goes through. Each comes as A4, US Letter and E-ink PDF.

Buy on Etsy See the real pages first

You buy on Etsy: Etsy takes the payment and sends the receipt, and any refund goes through Etsy too. In the EU, Etsy adds local VAT (23 percent in Slovakia), and elsewhere it may add local tax; Etsy shows the final total before you pay.

The real cover of a personalized case: Murder at the Lantern Ball, a Halloween elimination mystery with Emma W., Emma B., Anna V. and 2 more as witnesses; 5,000 guests, 15 clues, 1 killer; detective in charge Maximiliana Featherstone; a paper lantern and a Confidential stamp — **The real cover** of a case built on October 3, 2026 by the same service that builds yours, from five sample names. The detective, Maximiliana Featherstone, came from the optional second box.

Nobody you name is the killer. The killer is always a stranger, so the puzzle stays fair and nobody gets accused.
Checked before you get it. A second, separate program checks every case: exactly one guest fits all the clues. If anything is off, the case is not released.
Start tonight. Case No. 1 is in your Etsy download right away, while your own case is being built.

How your case is made.

Two boxes on the Etsy order page. After that, your case is built automatically as soon as the payment goes through.

Type 3 to 14 names. In the first box, type your guests, each as First Last, separated by commas. For example: Emma Walsh, Liam Turner, Olivia Brooks.
Name the detective, if you like. The second box is optional: a detective name for the cover, for example Sophie.
We build your case. Your friends become the witnesses, named above the clues they gave, and they appear in the register among 5,000 guests. The solution page shows which clue cleared each friend.
Download it a few minutes later. A few minutes after your payment goes through, your case is ready at arling.sk/case. Enter your Etsy order number and the surname of the first guest on your list (or your own), and download three PDF files: A4, US Letter and E-ink.

Clues 1 to 4 from page 4 of the same case. Emma Walsh, who studied the seating plan: Table is less than 24. Emma Brooks found a half-burnt place card in the fireplace: Surname starts with a letter from M to Z. Anna Van Dijk found a torn ticket stub: Ticket does not contain the digit 2. Anna De Vries, who chatted with the doorman: Arrived between 20:45 and 22:45. — **Page 4 of the same case,** clues 1 to 4. Every clue is signed by a witness: clue 2, for example, by Emma Brooks, who found a half-burnt place card in the fireplace. Open the picture for the whole page.

Find your friends. Clear them.

Every friend you name stands somewhere in the register of 5,000 guests, sorted by surname. Nobody you name is ever the killer, so sooner or later a clue clears each of them.

Name	Age	Costume	Mask	Arrived	Ticket	Table	Drink	Street	Sweet
Brooks, Dennis	41	Pirate	Green	21:33	67036	8	Cocoa	Harbor Road	Fudge
Brooks, Diana, struck out by clue 1	35	Owl	Black	19:42	44898	37	Cocoa	Birch Road	Toffee
Brooks, Emma, a witness, Cleared by clue 1	54	Robot	Gold	21:06	89633	27	Punch	Cedar Street	Toffee
Brooks, Evelyn, struck out by clue 1	55	Wizard	Purple	21:04	75558	39	Cocoa	Willow Avenue	Nougat
Brooks, Grace	43	Vampire	Purple	20:24	53593	11	Punch	Mill Lane	Brittle
Brooks, Gregory	30	Cat	Orange	20:52	52580	22	Lemonade	Elm Street	Nougat
Brooks, Joseph, struck out by clue 1	44	Wizard	Orange	20:52	57773	33	Cider	Harbor Road	Marzipan
Brooks, Laura, struck out by clue 1	57	Angel	Black	22:20	64998	28	Punch	Elm Street	Marzipan

The first eight rows of page 13, typed out from the PDF, with clue 1 (Table is less than 24) applied in pencil: five guests sit at table 24 or higher, so they are struck out, and three are left. One of the five is Emma Brooks, a witness. On a narrow screen some of the ten columns are hidden.

The whole page 13 of the register, Brooks to Bryant: 61 guests with name, age, costume, mask, arrival time, ticket, table, drink, street and sweet — **Page 13 of 88,** Brooks to Bryant, as printed: 61 guests in ten columns. Open the picture to read every row.

Clue 2, Surname starts with a letter from M to Z, then clears the rest of page 13 at once. The register is sorted by surname, like a phone book, so a clue about the first letter lets you skip whole pages.

Two cases in one order.

Both take place on Halloween night, 1934, at the Grand Marlowe Hotel, with a different register, different clues and a different killer.

Your case with your friends as witnesses

A few minutes after your payment goes through, at arling.sk/case

A4, 88 pages
US Letter, 96 pages
E-ink, 116 pages
Case No. 1 Murder at the Lantern Ball

Instant download on Etsy, with a Start here page

A4, 88 pages
US Letter, 96 pages
E-ink, 116 pages

1The cover, with your witnesses’ first names and your detective’s name, if you typed one
2The case: the owner of the Grand Marlowe Hotel found poisoned in the Winter Garden while 5,000 guests in costume dance in the ballroom
3How to solve: the rules, how to read each kind of clue, and a worked example
4 and 514 to 18 clues, each signed by one of your friends, with a box for your count and 3 checkpoints
6 to 87The register: 5,000 guests sorted by surname, with your friends among them
88The solution: the killer, every clue checked against the killer’s row, and which clue cleared each friend

The E-ink file (157 x 210 mm) has an index page and a row of letters on every register page that jump to that letter. You may print as many copies as you need for yourself, your family or your friends; please do not share or resell the files.

Every case checked before you get it.

A computer program builds each case. Before your files are released, a second, separate program reads the printed clues and the printed register and checks that exactly one guest fits all the clues, that every clue removes at least 5 percent of the guests still in play, and that every checkpoint number is right. If anything is off, the case is not released.

5,000guests at the start
483left after clue 4
43left after clue 8
5left after clue 12
1left after clue 15

The checkpoints of the case shown on this page, printed on pages 4 and 5; the one guest left after clue 15 is the killer. If your count is different at a checkpoint, go over the last four clues again before you go on.

Names and privacy.

You type the names in the first box on Etsy. This is how we read them.

Each name: First name and surname, separated by commas, up to 20 letters in each.
Two surnames: Join them with a hyphen (Garcia-Lopez), or we use the last one.
Left out: Titles, initials and middle names. Accents are written without marks: Zoë becomes Zoe.
Fine as typed: Apostrophes, hyphens and surnames with van or de, like O’Brien, Smith-Jones or Van Dijk.
Unreadable: If we cannot read at least 3 names, the download page asks you to type them again, and your case is built right away.
Privacy: We use the names only to build your case. Your files contain them and are deleted automatically 30 days after they are ready, so please save your files. Please only use the names of people who will be happy to appear in a game. More in section 8b of our privacy policy.

Who it is for, and who it is not for.

A good pick if

you want a Halloween or birthday gift for a group of friends, a game night or a quiet evening with a pencil
you like logic puzzles and detective stories; it suits adults and teens
you are happy to play alone over several evenings, or to split the register pages between friends

Not the right pick if

you want a role-play party game with characters and scripts; this is a pencil and paper logic puzzle
you want a quick game; the early clues mean going through thousands of rows of the register
you need another language; the text is in English
you want something in the mail; it is a digital download, and nothing is shipped
you would rather not use your friends’ names; then Case No. 1 on its own, Murder at the Lantern Ball, is 5.90 €

You need a printer and a pencil, or a tablet with a PDF app; the E-ink file is sized for e-ink tablets.

Before you buy.

Is one of my friends the killer?

No. The killer is always a stranger: nobody you name is ever the killer, so the puzzle stays fair and nobody gets accused. Your friends are the witnesses. Each of them signs at least one clue and stands in the register among 5,000 guests, and the solution page shows which clue cleared each friend.

How do I type the names?

When you order on Etsy, type 3 to 14 guests in the first box, each as First Last, separated by commas, for example Emma Walsh, Liam Turner, Olivia Brooks. The second box is optional: a detective name for the cover. If a name comes out wrong, there is a link next to your files to fix the names once; your current files keep working until the new ones are ready.

When and where do I get my files?

Right after you pay, your Etsy download has a Start here page and Case No. 1, Murder at the Lantern Ball, in A4, US Letter and E-ink, so you can start tonight. A few minutes after your payment goes through, your own case is ready at arling.sk/case: enter your Etsy order number and the surname of the first guest on your list (or your own), and download three PDF files. The order number is in Purchases and reviews on Etsy and in the receipt email from Etsy. If your case is not there within 30 minutes, message us on Etsy (ARLingStudio); we reply within one working day.

Is it a party game with roles?

No. It is a pencil and paper logic puzzle for one solver or a team, not a role-play party game with characters and scripts. To play as a group, split the register pages between friends: everyone strikes out guests on their own pages, and at each checkpoint you add up your counts. Or play alone over several evenings.

How long does a case take?

We have not timed how long a case takes to solve, so we do not promise a playing time. It is a long puzzle: the early clues mean going through thousands of rows of the register.

What happens to my friends’ names?

We use the names only to build your case. Your files contain them and are deleted automatically 30 days after they are ready, so please save your files. Please only use the names of people who will be happy to appear in a game. The details are in section 8b of our privacy policy.

How many copies may I print?

As many as you need for yourself, your family or your friends. Please do not share or resell the files. It is a digital download; nothing is shipped.

A case built around your friends.

Case No. 1 to start tonight, and your own case with your friends as witnesses a few minutes after you pay.

14.90 € on Etsy

Buy on Etsy

In the EU, Etsy adds local VAT (23 percent in Slovakia), and elsewhere it may add local tax; Etsy shows the final total before you pay.

No names needed? Murder at the Lantern Ball, Case No. 1 on its own, is 5.90 €.
Already bought it? Download your case with your Etsy order number.

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. Texts and puzzles were created with the help of AI tools. Every page is drawn in code; no AI images are used.
Where you buy: On Etsy, in our shop ARLingStudio. Etsy takes the payment and sends the receipt. Case No. 1 is in your Etsy download right away, and your own case is ready at arling.sk/case a few minutes after your payment goes through. Nothing is shipped.
Questions: Before you buy, write to support@arling.sk. After you buy, message us on Etsy (ARLingStudio).

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