The Witch's Game - By EvaRia

[Fippe94]

So basically, you're telling us that it has to be one of those five, and yet that it can't be one of those five?

[EvaRia]

Well, it could be the Witch.

[Fippe94]

Oh come one. The first mystery was hard enough, but there you couldn't deny that there might be a solution because of devil's proof.
But now we have red truths specifically denying every option we have... I hate you

[Kakerlake]

Although it kind'a opposes the red truth that there are only the 3 cousins, the detective and the owner available as culprit, I'll try this:

The culprit killed one of the cousins prior to the whole story and posed as that cousin for the whole story.

The culprit posed as Bill. Fred made arrangements for the nights stay and Bob was driving the car. So they both must have been there already. Fake Bill is the only one left who might not have been there previously.

[timetock]

There's still the question about the perfect seal. I don't think we've gotten that quite figured out yet.
unless...

Expanding on the last post by Kakerlake
You check on Bill's room first. Real Bill is dead there in his blood, meanwhile fake Bill sneaks out of the window you just smashed. He enters via the front door and kicks open the door to Fred's door, kills Fred silently, and leaves, closing the door behind him. He does the same with Bob. Since you didn't check the doors after you found the dead bodies, you *think* it's a perfect seal, but it's not anymore.

[eaglgenes101]

I would have explained that there was a logic bomb... except a bunch of bright human minds jumped onto the problem first. I'll wait for EvaRita to reply to them first.

[eljoemo]

I think i might have found a loophole.

- A culprit in this game is defined as "One who has murdered one of the game's victims."

- A "victim" in this game is defined as a human in the story who has been murdered by one of the game's culprits.

We know that your cousins die. We also know that a victim cannot commit suicide. However, no-one said that the cousins were actually victims. The definition of a "victim" requires there to be a "culprit". The definition of a "culprit" requires there to be a victim. If there is no "culprit", there are no "victims". All 3 cousins locked up the rooms and committed suicide. Since there is no "culprit", they do not qualify as "victims" so no red truth is breached.

This is most likely wrong but its worth a shot.

Also, I would like a specific red truth to counter my previous blue theory.

Spoiler for Hidden:

Theory time!

This is quite a long read.

The mansion is actually a cover up for a secret cloning laboratory. It was built to look ancient and run down so as to seem inconspicuous. The legend of the witch was also created to keep people away. The mansion is actually a high tech building kept in pristine standards. This explains the outhouse building being so much better looked after. Your cousins are all scientists who have in fact been co-operating with whoever runs the facility and as a result have many clones of themselves. The real reason behind this trip is to visit the "mansion" to do more work/experiments.

However, whilst they slept, the was a breakout at the facility (Oh no!). 3 clones escaped and it just so happened that these clones were of Bob, Fred and Bill. They knew that they were experiments and swore to get revenge on their evil creators. So each clone climbed through the window with a knife to kill their respective cousin. But they were too loud, the original cousins awoke and after a brief (yet quiet) fight, each clone was lying dead on the bed. The cousins then panicked. They never meant to kill anyone. They locked their rooms and hid in the bathroom and locked the door. A nightmare ridden sleep engulfed them all.

Morning came, you awoke. The cousins were too fearful to open their doors to you. As you smashed each window, it was true that the body was dead and that it belonged to one of your cousins. And that you and the cousin were the only humans in the room. Discovering a tragedy, you run and hide under the table...

But wait! There's more!

The secret operation was flawed. A double agent worked at the facility. Someone who was against the evil that happened there. She (yes, a woman. This story had a gender inbalance, ok?) was the one who let the clones out and told them to kill the originals. She watched as the clones were stabbed and the scientists hid. She had failed... Until you came along and smashed the windows in. She went into each guestroom after you had checked, kicked the bathroom door down, killed the cousin and hid the body. When the police arrived, the attention from your story of a witch would prompt a full investigation, leading to the discovery of the secret lab.

Culprit: check
Motive: check
Method: check

[dawn to dusk]

How about the fact that there is exactly 1 culprit in the game?

[EvaRia]

Your theories all stall at Knox's Tenth.

It is forbidden for a character to disguise themselves as another without any clues.

[Kakerlake]

The culprit is a fake Fred.

Why? Because he said "They say that in this very guesthouse, there lives a Witch who practices dark magic..."
Who is "They"? There is no one in the area that Fred would recognise except for the owner, so he hasn't talked to anyone except for the owner.
And someone not from the area should hardly know stories of the witch in the backyard of some run down mansion.

Motive? He accidentally killed real Fred waaay back and wanted to disguise his accidental murder as a crazy story no one would believe, so he'd be free to go.

yeah, I'm pushing it. didn't find any real 'clue' or logical flaw in the story that would indicate someone is disguising himself as one of the cousins :/

[einherjar145]

Well, since Eva didn't answer my questions..... Guess I just have to shoot my theory.

First off, we know that they entered through a gated entrance, so not many people could have entered easily. Since the culprit most probably would have to know the owner to even enter the compound, she could have came to the house before the cousins have via key from the owner or from the furnace..  So, before the cousins and our detective even entered the house, she stuck something on the area where the bolt would connect to the door. Then, at night, she decided to enter the house via methods mentioned. Now, since the door's locking mechanism was prevented, she could enter through all of the doors with ease(Since there was the 'perception' that the doors were securely locked, no real confirmation). After killing each cousin, one by one, she would close the door from the outside, after which, she  remove the object dislodged at the area of the lock. This means that the rooms were not perfectly sealed in the beginning, therefore there was no 'seal' to be broken with.

EDIT: Nvm, didn't see the Knox's truth .-.

[EvaRia]

The culprit is a fake Fred.

Why? Because he said "They say that in this very guesthouse, there lives a Witch who practices dark magic..."
Who is "They"? There is no one in the area that Fred would recognise except for the owner, so he hasn't talked to anyone except for the owner.
And someone not from the area should hardly know stories of the witch in the backyard of some run down mansion.

Motive? He accidentally killed real Fred waaay back and wanted to disguise his accidental murder as a crazy story no one would believe, so he'd be free to go.

yeah, I'm pushing it. didn't find any real 'clue' or logical flaw in the story that would indicate someone is disguising himself as one of the cousins :/

All three victims were murdered at some point after you and the three cousins entered the guesthouse in the story.
It is not the case that a victim had died before that point.