Spoiler-free Puzzle Tips and Hints

Stuck on a puzzle but don't want to spoil it by looking up a walkthrough. With this guide I'll attempt to nudge you in the right direction or point out weird stuff frequently missed.

Intro

- Hints for puzzles will be covered as spoilers, reveal as many as you need until your back in the right direction. I will try my best to keep the hints from completely ruining the puzzles so most puzzle answers will NOT be posted in this guide. If you want the answer given to you there are plenty of walkthroughs and Let's Plays already that can do that for you.

- Tips for difficult or poorly placed items and clues are also included. There are many that are easy to overlook due to odd behaviors, trigger events, or player perspective. Let me know if I miss any that were too difficult to find. Otherwise I will leave out anything I felt was obvious or easily found with 6th sense or patience.

Marquise Room

"Help me I can't...."

Wait what! Stuck already, I was going to slip out for some tea. Very well this tutorial area leads you by the nose and is easy enough but one thing can be pointed out.

6th Sense is your best friend. Keep using it till you found everything in this room but be sure to follow the tutorial as well.

It makes a raspy sound when used correctly and a chime when it recharges to be used again. It is not flawless! Sometimes it doesn't register certain items and can't help you if those items are not in view. It also doesn't help with items that are unusable until an event triggers them or some items that take multiple examinations to use. In addition doors and exits constantly give you a blue icon no matter how many times you use them.

Sherlock's Apartment

"How do I convince him that Morgan is my wife?"

You need something stinky for her to smell.

Climb up the mast and into the manitee's head.

Oops, wrong game, wrong everything!

Oh well this part is exceedingly easy, no help should be needed here.

The Diocese of Knightsbridge

"I've done my first sweep of the room, clicked on everything, no one will talk to me, I'm stuck!"

There is a clue on the ground that's easily missed.

Did you wipe your feet?

Nope, no door mat huh.

There is a missable clue on the floor near the door. If that's not it you've overlooked a clue easily found with 6th sense. If 6th sense triggers the body then you haven't finished examining it.

If you've done all that, you haven't finished the deduction board. The theories on the third row will turn green if you've chosen the right answers.


"Help. The stone chessboard puzzle."

6th sense will lie to you. Other than that there is no trick, it's just really hard.

A pattern of attack helps.

Save the center for last. Beware, the next hint is a mild spoiler.

Try to hit all the corners as soon as possible while circling the center. The correct pattern will start with all four corners hit and a cross in the center excluding the actual center tile. From here repeating should get easier.


"Help. The safe chessboard puzzle now."

The game let's you start this puzzle without enough pegs!

There are seven pegs total spread across all the rooms.

Have you checked the veranda. You did, did you check it twice?

This puzzle looks like a chessboard again, but still there aren't enough tiles for a full variety of peices.

The first puzzle was based on the knight movement.

Experiment to see what pegs stay and which ones conflict. Do you know why? It doesn't take royalty to figure this out.

Return to Sherlock's Apartment

"I'm chemically analysing the broken bottle, but somethings wrong."

Yup, common roadblock. The small spigots on the end of these vials is very easily missed. Click on vials themselves to turn them, click on the spigot to use the vial.


"I can't decide where this soil/stone came from!"

Yeah, there are a few deduction puzzles like this that kind of leave you guessing. Just guess! You aren't punished for being wrong and like all deduction board problems when you finally get it right the set will turn green.


"Thomas is deceiving the Crawleys again, when will it end?"

It won't because it's a soap opera. Face it! I just wanna wring his little neck!!

Whitechapel

"Verified all three evidence peices, gambled, and found Kurtz's shirt. What now?"

Good I'm not the only one who didn't realize examining Kurtz's shirt wasn't enough.

Remember your Sherlock Holmes, you don't care about peoples property.

Snip snip snip.

Autopsies aren't only for bodies. You'll need the scissors.


"What, I can't leave and I've been everwhere."

The shirt disection has triggered some interactions in the graveyard that you couldn't do before as well as allowing you to take things you were only able to look at the first time.


"Romeo and Juliet?"

Ah young love. Makes you do stupid things. Like hang out in a graveyard.

Vandalism is stupid too.

Carving ones initials isn't as bad as taking poison.

Find the only living things in this graveyard, and see who's been there last.


"Help! The bank box."

This is another puzzle without a real trick, it's just hard. Keep trying.

I won't give any hints as to the proper combination. You only have one lead.

Just keep shuffling. I worked from left to right switching and seperating pairs to get the right order number by number. Be sure to use both lanes, above and below.


"Small burnt balls! Stuck in the Opium Den."

This is another case of hidden items needing a trigger. Not only that but 6th sense can work poorly here.

Exploring the place fully triggers a cutscene.

Perspective can be problematic here, use various camera types near the locked door.

Once the cutscene is triggered items become collectible in the den. Search again.

Luckily the three hard to spot items are near eachother, find one and you don't have to go far for the rest.


"The guard keeps clobbering me."

Location location location.

Timing isn't everything, where you put it is.

Timing is important though.

Red is bad.

Blue is good.

Westgate Jail

"How about Hanz's Lockbox?"

This puzzle is deceptivly simple, the devil is in the details, the small ones.

There really isn't anything to solve, in fact you can ignore the two most complicated parts at first.

Pull up that nice blank sheet of blotting paper. So nice and clean, so full of possibility.

If you had OCD you'd have this finished by now.

Maybe you haven't gotten it because your screen is dirty. Wipe your screen. Maybe it's a resolution issue. Are those dead pixels? Can you scratch it off?.


"And Jenny's Lockbox smart guy?"

You probably have the right idea and yes they do all have to match up.

How is Jenny's box so much harder, it runs rings around Hanz's box. Next hint is kinda spoilery.

Try and make a ring around the center,it can only be done one way and everything else will fall into place after

Kensington Garden

"Grrrrr. I'm at my wits end, what am I missing in the garden?"

There is a very very difficult item to spot here. It can only be easily seen in one of the three player perspectives otherwise 6th sense is useless.

Have you tresspassed yet?

The grass is always greener in the other yard.

If your using the adventure perspective which is controlled camera and left click to move you might get lucky.

That garden is so cold. But that shed is warmer, warmer, hot.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the sky.

The tree! It's in the freaking tree alright. They hid something in that big tree near the neighbors shed which dodges your 6th sense. Getting it is not as hard.


"Help. I'm stuck on Henry's lockbox."

Okay, I'm going to assume you realized that these are not just random sets of numbers and the significance of the empty spots. Well and that you've located all four scratchings.

A good way to decipher patterns is to find the difference between the first two numbers and write it down. Then find the difference between the 2nd and 3rd and so on. Take a look at what you've written and see if there is a noticable pattern of increase or decrease.

• Dial One
  
  Examine the tip above about pattern deciphering.
  
  I hope your not looking here for a clue because if you are on this relatively well known sequence then I'm in trouble as the difficulty adds and adds from here on.
  
  Seriously this one isn't too hard. The next one is twice as hard. The third dial is as hard as this one plus the second one, and the last is as hard as the previous two added.
  
  
• Dial Two
  
  Look at the general tip about finding patterns of difference. It's useless here.
  
  The structure is important.
  
  Honestly the diagram is deceptive, look at it on its side with the first row 4 2 3, the second as 1 6 2 and the last as 5 3 X. That makes more sense.
  
  I guess these hints aren't adding up.
  
  
• Dial Three
  
  There are hints to solve Dial 1 and Dial 2 that don't apply to eachother but do apply to Dial 3.
  
  Again the structure is important, so is the difference.
  
  The sequence becomes more apparent if you know the order/structure. Then again, the structure/order is more apparent if you look for a simple sequence.
  
  If you wrote this sequence on a long thin strip of paper 21 would be first and 15 would come after 16.
  
  
• Dial Four
  
  Ok so I lied, Dial 4 isn't that hard, none of the usual structure tricks.
  
  Look at the general tips for help with this lock box.

"I'm a dog, Sherlock is useless and we're at a dead end with a locked door."

Hopefully we're thinking of the same spot with a couple pulleys in mid air next to said door.

Is one empty, relatively dog sized, and under an open window?

If you cant tell then you probably aren't in first person mode, if you were the activation spot would be a lot more apparent.

Switch to first person mode and follow the rope till you find where it is tied. Surprise surprise it's somewhere you can reach as a dog because Sherlock is as helpful as a goldfish in a sandbox.


"Sherlock won't let me jump through the open window"

The alternate route is difficult to find outside of first person.

I assure you it's at a dogs eye level, otherwise Sherlock over there would have to lift a finger.

From the locked door on the ground you should be able to 6th sense it in First person mode.


"I'm a dog, etc. I'm lost in the warehouse now."

Some of those boxes are stacked so perfectly.

Went up but hit a dead end? Your barking up the wrong tree, and there are only 2 trees.

Keep looking for another pile of boxes to climb.


"Why did I do that?"

Because your a heartless dog driven by bloodlust and drunk on the vengence that can only be found in wasting human life. But Toby beat you to it.

Farlay's Office

"Just got into his office and can't move things along."

There are two problem spots in this room. One is highly visible but I can imagine someone still overlooking checking out the door they just left open. The second is the cigar in the ash tray, it needs to be interacted with twice to queue a cutscene. 6th sense points both these out fairly well.


"What am I looking for in the file cabinet and why can't he do that??"

I still don't understand what is up with this puzzle, needless to say you probably won't be stuck on it for long as it solves itself.

Even knowing what to look for it is impossible, as far as I can tell, to grab the right paper. The only way to get it is to click on the cabinet door repeatedly like you were trying to close the drawer.


"The deduction/room puzzle is a problem."

This graphical deduction board is poorly explained. Several choices are equivalent which is confusing. That is because the when is more important than the why.

The number next to the choice indicates the 'when' so you should only have one item with each number of choice creating a sequence.

If your still having problems make sure you are working with six items. If you see dark circles you haven't examined that item fully. If you can't find the sixth item that's because it's nowhere near the other ones.

Still looking for that sixth item? It's more in the scetch section than the colored one.


"Where is 'the place where the reporter should not be'?"

Again I found this a bit confusing. You solve this in the deduction map not in the real room.

In the deduction board click the event that had no real logical reason to occur. That will allow you to interact with it in the real room.


"Another puzzle lock? Were all english locksmiths insane?"

Tricky tricky but you can see they've scratched a hint.

That hint really doesn't help much because theres a second secret pattern involved in the order.

Jumping to conclusions and trying things out might work or might not.

Letters can be treated like numbers since they have a numerical order in the alphabet. But 'D' (which is the 4th letter) is not '+6' from 4. It IS something else though.

Think of it as two different patterns woven together into one puzzle.

While each tumbler can represent numbers or letters, the ones you have to manipulate are already of the right type. If you've messed with them "reset" will bring you back to the right pattern.

Sherlock's Apartment and the Hat

"This part was easy, I don't need you anymore!"

Fine be that way! Just wait till they start putting puzzle locks in hats then we will see who's so high and mighty.

The Judge's Mansion

"This Roman Numeral box is a pain."

Ooooooh. Look who comes crawling back! [mocking] I don't need your help, I'm soo smart! [/mocking]

Fine fine, it's this stupid Mansion that made me write this guide.
The instructions are that each of the four quadrants is a math equation with one number missing. Whatever number you put in will produce a 'result' or sum based on if it's addition or subtraction and the real kicker is that each quadrants result has to be bigger than the previous quadrant by 1 (even though they don't say that). In addition you have to use all the sticks and 10 once.

So an example might be 1+2=3, 5-1=4, 4+1=5, 10-4=6. Again you cannot have any leftover sticks and you must use 10 ('X') once and only once.
A Guide to Roman Numerals
1=I 2=II 3=III 4=IV 5=V 6=VI 7=VII 8=VIII 9=IX 10=X


"I can't get this chalkboard to budge!"

Uggh, I hate this puzzle so much I'm just going to say it, you have to go back to the kitchen and get the olive oil. It won't let you take it the first time and when it does let you you'd never know. 6th sense isn't much help not to mention it's out of the way. I don't know if examining the chalboard triggers it, so if it still won't let you take it wait until the next puzzle below.


The Fraternity/Coat of Arms/Oar/Lego in my Foot puzzle is infuriating!

Right! This is the only puzzle where it doesn't matter if you know the answer, Sherlock has to know it too. Meaning you need to educate him first. Start with the chalboard and be sure to check the hint above.

You don't need all 5 information sheets to get the answer but Sherlock sure does.

It's not hard from here but honestly if you've got just the List of Fraternity Symbols, the Fraternity invitation, and some basic love for math it's pretty easy to guess.

Ok you've made your selection. But that sheet you wrote on is NOT part of the puzzle, it's just a reference. Time to combine that info with the Coat of Arms puzzle.

The oars have multiple hinges meaning they can rotate about one point but depending on where you click can rotate around a different one. Sometimes you'll block that ability with a different oar. Understanding it doesn't really matter though you can force the oars the way you want just by fumbling with them enough.

Sherlock's Apartment - What a Mess

"Costume help? My 19th Century British fashion sense is rusty.

I don't see how anyone can do this one without guessing endlessly. Let's spoil it for you suit by suit. Leave the hats where they are and we will start there.

So we've got the wide brim hat, the small brown hat, and the tall blue hat. Start on the right with the tall blue, it's a pretty obvious set

Tall blue hat with blue ribbon. Hey there's a suit coat that matches that ribbon, and some blue pants that nearly match that coat. Blue blue blue. Guess which shoes you need. The blue ones right? Wrong! Red leather with metal toes. See what I mean.

Ok now for the center small brown hat. With two suit coats to choose from this is easier. See the one with the white crap on it. That's candle wax, it goes with the priest outfit on the left. How do you know that. You don't! So pick the other gray one with the blue inside. Now for the slacks pick the ones with the blue ink stains, use the magnifying glass to see it. For the shoes pick the blue ones with laces.

The left one just took care of itself. Looks kinda priestly doesn't it. Find the letter that goes to a Priest. The other two have clues that should make the other letters easy. If not, just keep mixing till you hit it.

The Rat's Nest Apartment

"I looked at everything in the apartment. What did I miss?"

Double check the table, then triple check it.

The pipe on the table is tricky in that you won't pick it up the first time or the second for that matter and it may need to be activated by looking at other stuff first.


"Now what, I have the code but can't use it!"

Something you just used to get the code has changed.

An item in the room needs examining again, and will activate other old items for interaction.

The Watermill

"I broke my knife, is that bad?"

You could have used it but don't worry there is a replacement. Just skip to the next question if you don't find it.


"I'm at a dead end in the attic. I've checked everything!"

I bet you have. Maybe you should take a break, get some fresh air and think about it.

Seriously Sherlock looks stressed, he should take a breather. Country air is always good for stress.

If your an avid gamer this part can be tough because it's such a foreign concept for us, but don't worry, you can stay all cozy inside while Sherlock braves the wilds.


"I want the spade. Give me the spade."

Sherlock won't put any old nonsense into his pockets, especially something broken/incomplete.

I know there are plenty of substitutes in the shed, but he doesn't want those. Maybe they're rotted, I don't know if that's the reason. Yes it is, why not.

Still stuck. I can see why, it's stuffy in there. Take a break, get some fresh air and think about it.

There's an item you couldn't interact with before that has just activated and was in a blind spot when you came to the shed so you would have missed it from your angle.


"I'm back in the attic, but I'm short a cog and more rope."

That new shovel is soo sturdy.

If it were a guitar you'd have trouble breaking it in rockstar fashion.

In fact you'd probably make a hole instead.

It's so sturdy, you could probably make a second hole.

There are two weak points in this room, one you examined, and one that you accidentally triggered when you walked in a certain spot.


"The keypad locked trunk downstairs is easy to figure out but it won't work!"

Even if you dusted enough to know which buttons to press it will not respond unless you've dusted all the buttons, even the ones you won't use.

The Sewer

"I can't cross the canal."

That's because at the beginning you zigged when you should have zagged.

There's an important clue opposite the direction they pointed you at the start of the sewers.


"None of this makes sense, least of all this mechanical grate lock."

The sewers are seriously wierd but here's a few hints in case your too impatient to mess around.

It doesn't always work but sometimes it helps to plan the path backwards, from the end point to the ball.

1st puzzle

(spoiler to get you started)This ones a bit tricky but to get the right start you just have to be down with trying.

2nd puzzle

This one is easier to plan backwards since the last point can only be reached from two paths and one of those is impossible.

3rd puzzle

This one is a giveaway if you plan it backwards, even if you mess up. But if I had put nothing here this set of hints would just look wrong. Hence the rambling. Rambline. Meow meow meow meow meow.

The Fair / Warehouse

"As Watson I've done nearly everything and ended up with one item. What do I do with it?"

If your in first person view this part is tricky.

Go down. Switch views.

The window is easy to miss depending on the perspective.


"The Animal game is driving me crazy."

This one is problematic, first off if Holmes refuses to manipulate the animals even though you have them all then your missing some info.

Odds are your problem is with the safe under the animals. Holmes says its a secret compartment, but he isn't happy till you've revealed it.

It has a cover on.

Now to clarify some things the game does not. First off which way is that Vulture facing??The game is counting his head as the facing direction not his body.

Figuring out the Animal order is not too hard, just be sure to note that the Elephant's description mentions "predators" not "predator". That's important. As for which edge the Chimp is on it does not matter.

Now for the direction. For the Chimp, think of why he didn't notice the Vulture. The Rabbit isn't mentioned but it's logical which way he faced. As for the Lion they say nothing but you can assume he's facing the one he is more involved with at the moment.

Up is alive. Down is dead/will die.


"What good is ether without a rag? Why can't I soak the money in ether and throw it at people!"

I know right! Sleepy money attack. So awesome, but no. Use your sixth sense a ton and you'll notice some new spots.

Now what no rag right? To bad you don't have a moltov, that'd take care of him, oh yeah but that would have a rag.

Sleep moltov? Well you wouldn't want the burning rag, without that it would just....oh.


"I have the crank. Let me use the crank!"

Another one that has to be triggered by something else.

There are two possible trouble spots you've missed and they are both near the wolfman cage. Sherlock won't proceed until they are examined


"How do I flush out these brothers?"

You need the plate. I'm sure you have it. You also need a belt.

A belt itself isn't what we need, but this belt is unusual.

We need to de-combine this belt, so we need to use an item to un-item this item.


"How do I get into that high window?"

You've done this once before.

There are items that can help you that you've overlooked as unimportant till now.

You got into the park using one of these but you don't need to go back for it.


"Oragami. Nooo I failed that course. Help me with the folding."

I can't think of any way to hint at this other than just saying. You can try and decipher the existing dents in the paper but that's not easy. So each is a spoiler, stop when you don't want further help.

The first fold is the outermost one.

The next is the fold next to the outermost one.

The next is the one next to that one. Outside in.

You should have a long planelike peice with some lined up drawings. From here your only option seems to fold it in half along the center. There is another option, its hard to see unless you notice the crease. It's a horizontal fold across the short width instead of down the long length.

There's another like the previous.


"Solving the maze."

You need an easily overlooked item. The 6th sense range near one of the bookshelfs is very short.

You can see from up here that there is no stairway up on the other side.

"Defusing the bombs."

I don't think this is hard, I've done it twice without a strategy and solved it both times on the first try. I don't know if you can mess it up but in case it is possible here are some tips.

I started with double yellow.

From there I added a different color and then double of that and so on trying to eliminate all the doubles first but connecting them with another set as well.


"Wait, wait. Is that how babies are made."

Yes. Yes it is.

[gemerald84]

I like this style of help on the game because you do not accidentally read more than you may or want tol

[East]

The goddamn office was infuriating to "solve". I knew exactly what was going on but I failed to set up the door as part of the setup

[Corrupty]

This is a really great guide, even though I sometimes really wanted to scream "just fucking tell me you asshole" in your face lmao, I appreciate it though - some puzzles felt really frustrating, the amount of "Why don't you just use xy, you moron!" was so high in this game

[Emrys]

I think it would help if you updated Farely's office to state that the last hard to find area on the deduction board does NOT have a circle around it, instead it is outlined exactly with no floor or wall space visible and therefore is not matching the design of the rest of the board.

[Rambling Old Fish]

Thanks for writing this guide. It was a pleasant adventure . I keep reading your guide even I didnt need help in solving some of the puzzle.

[Tricky McBomb]

Thanks a ton ゆりもん, also good to know that people still play a game that's been out so long. My only hesitation at ever making another guide is I tend to play games long after release.

[DOBERMAN]

So, I find myself replaying this game because I wanted to refresh my memory of the game lore thus far. As it happens, I find myself in need of this guide AGAIN and as before, I must say this is one of the most creative and best guides I have stumbled upon in my entire gaming life. I am not even kidding. Smart-ass commentary here and there, a gradual spoiler-free approach... kudos to you! Not anyone would take their time to write a guide that puts 2-4 varying degrees of solutions, is not only helpful and comprehensible, but also fun to read and explore! Absolute thumbs up!

[rock]

Very helpful stuff, thank you.

[Mister Hobbert]

This honestly saved my ass during this game. I hate using walkthroughs that give you the all answers because it feels like I'm wasting my time. This was very helpful, thank you.

[Bunzer]

Thank you for this amazing and spoiler-free guide ! I love when I can have hints without the whole solution !