The Black Ledger

London, 1891. Five deaths in five locked rooms, and a black ledger that ties them together. Question, search, connect the clues. You only accuse once.

London, 1891. Dr Blackwood is dead in his study, locked from the inside. He kept a ledger bound in black cloth: dates, sums, initials. Every line is something someone paid to make disappear.

The Black Ledger is a detective game you play by writing. Ask questions in your own words, or pick from the suggestions. Search the scene, question the witnesses, show them what you have found.

The Casebook keeps everything: people, clues, documents, open questions, your own theories. Connect a clue to a statement. If both cannot be true, the game tells you so. During the investigation, its meaning is yours to work out. After an incomplete ending, an optional review explains the missing pieces.

When you are ready, accuse. Once. The game never tells you beforehand whether you are right.

SEASON 1 — THE LOCKED ROOMS Five cases, one world: England in 1891, from London to the cliffs of Cornwall. Each can be solved on its own; together, they follow the ledger back. Each case opens once the one before it is solved.

• CASE 01 — The Locked Room. London, 17 October. A doctor dead in his study, locked from the inside. No murderer. No weapon. • CASE 02 — The Last Passenger. Dover, 23 October. A messenger dead in a compartment locked since London. The packet boat sails at 2 am. • CASE 03 — The Lighthouse. Cornwall, 7 November. A keeper dead in his lantern, locked from the inside, and a light that stayed dark for three hours. • CASE 04 — Signal 47. London, 19 November. A telegraphist dead in the locked instrument room. Forty-seven messages received; the last was never sent. • CASE 05 — The Testament. London, 24 December. A solicitor dead in a strongroom that only opens at eight. At noon, a will is read.

HALLOWEEN EDITION • CASE H·01 — The Hollow Bell. London, 31 October. A séance, three strokes of a bell in the dark, a guest who never takes off his mask.

TEMPORARILY FREE ACCESS All five Season 1 cases are temporarily free. The Halloween edition also remains free. No purchase is required. Season cases open in story order once the previous case is solved. Previous purchases remain recognized and can be restored from Settings › Purchases.

• Five cases and a special edition, written by hand, in English and French • Free text understood on device, no connection needed • A Casebook, documents to read page by page and a reasoning graph to set statements against each other • Some cases run against the clock: every question, every journey costs minutes • One accusation per game • Step-by-step hints when you are stuck, like an escape-room game master • Dark and quiet: true-black OLED, careful typography, subtle sound and haptics • No ads, no account, no data collected