Mystery · Large print

Case File No. 4: The Caroler Who Wasn’t There

Christmas caroling mystery game: 2,000 carolers signed the sheet on Carol Night, 1959, and one of them slipped out of the line between the bandstand and the county home. Nobody fell and nothing was taken. 13 clues, taken one at a time, strike out every name but one.

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Instant PDF download on Etsy. You print it at home; nothing is mailed.

Players: 1 to 6, with a Team Sheet for groups
Time: about an hour at a table of four; 3 hours or more alone
You need: pencils and a ruler; no scissors, no app, no host
Print: US Letter and A4; black ink is enough
Print size: Standard sheet 10 pt; Large Print edition 16 pt
Also: No theft and no villain: a kindness nobody owned up to, and a choir director who wants to say thank you

At the table

You read the first clue aloud: “The missing caroler walked behind lantern 14 or lower.” Pencils move down the sign-in sheet and someone calls the count: 1,192 still standing. An hour later, one name is left.

However you find them, be gentle. I am not angry; I want to know where the song went.

How the clues work

Each clue rules people out, never in. Three from this case:

“The missing caroler walked behind lantern 14 or lower”: strike out everyone behind lanterns 15 to 24.
“The missing caroler’s first name contains the letter E”: Helen stays, Mary is struck out.
“The missing caroler’s address does not end in the word Street”: strike out every Street, keep every Lane, Road, Avenue and Hill.

Every reading rule (strictly fewer, through, double letter, share a letter) is spelled out on the How to Play page with an example, so there is nothing to argue about at the table.

What you get5 files

Standard edition, US Letter (51 pages) and A4 (47 pages)letter, story, how to play, 13 clues, the 2,000-name sign-in sheet, Detective’s Log, Team Sheet
Large Print edition (zip, Letter 44 and A4 40 pages)the same case, its own 12-clue chain over 800 carolers, 16 pt
Quick Case edition (zip, Letter 26 and A4 25 pages)the 800-caroler chain at 10 pt, one evening

Why it works

Exactly one name survives all 13 clues: checked by program twice, the second time on the finished PDF. Leave any one clue out and two or more names survive, so there is no guessing and no dead end. A count line is printed on every page of the sign-in sheet (“Check: clue 1 leaves 23 of the 48 names on this page”), and the Detective’s Log has check-points after clues 3, 6, 9 and 12, so a missed name shows up at once, without seeing the answer. The answer itself has been hiding in plain sight since page two; the Solution Pack says where.

Made for: Church fellowship hours, choir parties, Christmas parties, book clubs and family tables. No crime at all: a missing voice, a town full of witnesses and one kindness nobody has owned up to.