Death at the Theatre Royal 

The Theatre Royal was alive with the usual rehearsal energy—costumes half-stitched, props misplaced, crew rushing between cues. At 9:16 p.m. the energy shifted to panic.

Actor Giles Fairfax, playing Prospero, was found dead in the stage-left wings. His robe lay crumpled beside the rope lines. His headset microphone had been crushed under someone’s foot. He had been struck from behind with a single, heavy blow.

The stage-left wing is a dead end: a narrow space with rigging, curtains, and only one way in or out—the dressing-room corridor. The rear fire door was alarmed. The alarm never sounded. Whoever killed him entered and left the same way as everyone else.

Three people were in or near that wing around the time of Giles’s death. Each was interviewed. Each gave two statements, with the known rule that exactly one statement per person is true, and one is false.

Your job: determine whose truth set matches the physical evidence—and therefore who killed him.

Physical facts

1. The stage-left wing has one entrance, from the dressing-room corridor.
   The fire door at the back is alarmed and did not open.
2. The headset was stepped on after Giles fell.
3. Giles was struck from behind while facing the stage.
4. A smear of cream stage makeup on the robe was still tacky at 9:16. Under warm stage lighting, this makeup dries in less than 10 minutes
5. A loud lighting cue at 9:15:40 masked all sound in the wings for several seconds.
6. The green room is sound-isolated. Sounds from the stage cannot be heard from inside it.
7. A backstage photo posted at 9:16 shows the dressing-room corridor empty. The killer had already left.

The suspects and statements

Tina – Stage Manager

A. “I was at the prompt desk on the opposite side of the stage when it happened.”
B. “The stage-left curtain jammed again and I saw someone tugging at it.”

Miles – Understudy

A. “I never went near the wings — I was in the green room.”
B. “I heard Giles cry out from the green room.”
(This phrasing is the key fix — B is impossible unless A is true.)

Ruth – Costume Designer

A. “I placed Giles’s robe in the wings at exactly 9:05.”
B. “I walked past the stage-left corridor at about 9:10.”

Detailed solution

The Killer: Ruth

Miles is eliminated immediately

• Green room is sound-isolated (Fact 6).
• Lighting cue masks all sound at 9:15:40 (Fact 5).
• Therefore it is physically impossible to hear Giles “cry out from the green room.”
  

Which means:

• Miles B is false.
• Therefore Miles A is true. He was indeed in the green room.
• Therefore he was not in the wings and cannot be the killer.
  

 

2. Tina cannot produce a valid true/false pair that fits the evidence

If Tina A is true (she was at the prompt desk):

• B (“I saw someone tugging the curtain”) is false.
• But being at the prompt desk means she could not access the wings in the required window. 
• No opportunity means she cannot be the killer.

If Tina A is false (she was near the wings):

• She would have been seen passing Ruth in the corridor at 9:10.
• But Ruth B does not confirm this. 
• Nothing places Tina in the post-9:04–pre-9:16 window required by the makeup smear.
• Tina is eliminated.

Ruth is the only suspect whose true/false pair matches the physical evidence.

Ruth A: “I placed the robe at 9:05.”

• This is impossible.
• Makeup smear was made after 9:08 (Fact 4).
• Smear was fresh at 9:16.
• If she placed the robe at 9:05, the smear would be dry.
• Ruth A is false.

Ruth B: “I walked past the stage-left corridor at about 9:10.”

• Nothing contradicts this.
• This places her near the only entrance to the wing shortly before the killing.
• Ruth B is true.

This combination gives her opportunity, places her at the right time, and explains how she could place the robe later. Ruth is the only person who could have been in the wing after 9:04 and gone before 9:16.