Solution: The Second Teacup at the Theatre

The clues

• 
  KarimThe family lawyer.

  He was beside a piano.

• 
  VeraThe widow who sets the crosswords.

  She was in the Box Office with another woman. She was beside a plant.

• 
  Yara · VictimThe young pharmacist.

  The victim. She was alone with the killer. She was in the Green Room with another woman.

• 
  ZoeThe tattoo artist.

  She was not in the Box Office.

• 
  PaulaThe opera singer between engagements.

  She was on a chair.

• 
  WalterThe estate’s groundskeeper.

  He was in the Foyer.

• 
  NoraThe village doctor.

Step by step

The order our solver finds. Each step uses only the clues and what the steps before it proved, and its heading links to the technique.

1. Follow it to a contradiction If Karim were in the highlighted cell, Vera would have no cell left. So he is not there. The cells meant: row 5, column 5. Placed: Karim: row 6, column 2 (Corridor).
2. Follow it to a contradiction If Vera were in the highlighted cell, Walter would have no cell left. So she is not there. The cells meant: row 4, column 6. Placed: Vera: row 5, column 5 (Box Office).
3. Room counting Vera was in the Box Office with exactly one other woman. Only Nora can still get there.
4. The only one who fits Only Zoe can still reach the bottom row, so she must be there.
5. The only one who fits Only Nora can still reach the fourth row, so she must be there.
6. The only one who fits Only Zoe can still reach the left column, so she must be there. Placed: Zoe: row 7, column 1 (Corridor).
7. Room counting The victim, Yara, cannot be in the highlighted cells: her room there could not hold exactly one other person. The cells meant: row 1, column 6; row 1, column 7; row 2, column 6; row 3, column 6.
8. Pinned suspects Yara can only be in the second row, so nobody else can be there.
9. Room counting The victim, Yara, was in the Green Room with exactly one other person. Only Paula can still get there. Placed: Paula: row 1, column 6 (Green Room); Nora: row 4, column 7 (Box Office); Yara: row 2, column 4 (Green Room); Walter: row 3, column 3 (Foyer).