John Horner, a suspect
John Horner
What’s he hiding?

Enigmee

Question the suspects. Catch the lie. Prove it.

Question the suspects. Catch the lie. Prove it.

A free detective case in your browser. The suspects answer out loud, and they lie. Then you take them to court.

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Examine the evidence

Every object turns in your hands. Nothing is lit up for you: tilt it until the lamp catches something.

The letter reads: Thursday night. Dear Sir, I dare not call on you by daylight. What I saw on Tuesday was no accident, and one other man in London knows it. Come alone, and tell no one. Burn this when you have read it. H.B.

  1. A battered black bowler hat under a lamp
  2. Close on the hat's band: a greasy thumbprint on the ribbon
  3. Close on the hat's crown: a spatter of dark blood on the felt
  4. The initials H.B. written in ink on the hat's leather lining
  5. A cork board under a lamp. A letter signed H.B. is pinned at the centre, with a photograph of the hat, a portrait of a commissionaire, a blue stone in an open hand, a press cutting and a lifted thumbprint around it, all tied together with red string.

Interrogate your suspects

Ask them anything. Show them what you've found. Every suspect is played by AI, knows their story, and may lie to your face.

Interview transcript

John HornerAI character

Plumber, 26, committed for trial

John sits across the table, waiting. Open with a question.Ask them anything. Show them what you've found. Every suspect is played by AI, knows their story, and may lie to your face.

DET:
[Lays it on the table: a letter signed H.B.]

Is this your hand, John?

JOHN:

Never seen it in my life, sir.

JOHN:

…He swore to me he'd burnt it.

Lying?

DET:Ask John something…Open the case Open the case

Fight their lawyer in court

Charge your suspect, and their counsel stands up for them. Answer every point with the evidence you’ve found. Waste the bench’s time and its patience runs out.

Mr Aubrey Fane, barrister, for the defence
Mr Aubrey Fane

Mr Aubrey Fane · for the defence

The bench’s patience

“A hat, your worship! Half the men in London wear one exactly like it.”

Put to the court

The hat, initialled H.B. in the lining

FANE: I have nothing further, your worship. Nothing at all.

Pick a case

One mystery open now, and 8 more on the way: classics retold, and new ones you won’t have read.

  1. A battered felt hat
    Start here

    Difficulty: 2 of 5, Gentle.

    A Goose for Christmas

    adapted by Enigmeeafter Arthur Conan Doyle

    London, 1889 · 30–45 min · 3 suspects

    Someone stole the Countess's blue carbuncle. On Christmas morning it fell out of a goose.

    • Interrogation
    • Legwork
    Play now : A Goose for Christmas
  2. A huge paw print in the mud of a moor at night, a cane and a glove beside it
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 5 of 5, Diabolical.

    The Hound of the Baskervilles

    adapted by Rowan Fairleyafter Arthur Conan Doyle

    Dartmoor, 1889 · 60–90 min · 5 suspects

    Sir Charles died at the gate to the moor, his face twisted with terror. Beside him, the footprints of a gigantic hound.

    • Forensics
    • Deduction
    Coming soon: The Hound of the Baskervilles
  3. A mail carriage at night, sacks slit open on the floor under a swinging lamp
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 3 of 5, Fair.

    The Night Mail

    by Theo Okafor

    The London train, 1936 · 45–60 min · 4 suspects

    The sorting clerk was found at Crewe with the registered sacks slit open. Four men worked that carriage. None of them saw a thing.

    • Interrogation
    Coming soon: The Night Mail
  4. Little chalk stick figures, dancing, along the edge of a stone sundial
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 4 of 5, Tricky.

    The Dancing Men

    adapted by Priya Nairafter Arthur Conan Doyle

    Norfolk, 1898 · 45–60 min · 3 suspects

    Someone keeps chalking little dancing figures on the sundial. Each time they appear, Mrs Cubitt goes white.

    • Ciphers
    • Deduction
    Coming soon: The Dancing Men
  5. An empty ballroom after the dance: an open piano, and sheet music and a glove on the floor
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 2 of 5, Gentle.

    Death at the Winter Garden

    by Margot Lindqvist

    Brighton, 1924 · 30–45 min · 6 suspects

    The band stopped mid-waltz. By the time the lights came up, the singer was dead and her pearls were in the punch bowl.

    • Interrogation
    • Forensics
    Coming soon: Death at the Winter Garden
  6. A bedroom at night by candlelight: a bell-pull, a small grille high on the wall, an iron safe
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 5 of 5, Diabolical.

    The Speckled Band

    adapted by Tom Hadleyafter Arthur Conan Doyle

    Surrey, 1883 · 45–60 min · 3 suspects

    Her sister died whispering of a speckled band. Now Helen hears the same low whistle in the night.

    • Forensics
    • Deduction
    Coming soon: The Speckled Band
  7. A lighthouse lamp room in the rain, a coat on a hook and the log open on the table
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 3 of 5, Fair.

    The Keeper's Log

    by Hollis Reed

    Cornwall, 1911 · 30–45 min · 3 suspects

    The light went out at midnight. At dawn the keeper was gone, and one page had been torn from his log.

    • Deduction
    • Legwork
    Coming soon: The Keeper's Log
  8. An office desk with an open encyclopaedia, a stack of copied pages, a pen and ink
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 1 of 5, Elementary.

    The Red-Headed League

    adapted by Enigmeeafter Arthur Conan Doyle

    London, 1890 · 30–45 min · 4 suspects

    A pawnbroker is paid four pounds a week to copy out the encyclopaedia. Then, one morning, the League is gone.

    • Legwork
    • Deduction
    Coming soon: The Red-Headed League
  9. A séance parlour by candlelight: a lace-covered table, chairs pushed back, an open cabinet
    Coming soon

    Difficulty: 4 of 5, Tricky.

    The Empty Cabinet

    by Clara Benn

    Edinburgh, 1902 · 45–60 min · 7 suspects

    Seven sitters held hands round the table. When the candles were lit again, the medium had gone from a locked room.

    • Interrogation
    • Deduction
    Coming soon: The Empty Cabinet

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