Manor Hints: Clarence IV (Clark Merivale)

Clarence IV, also known as Clark, is the son of Margaret and Clarence III. He was previously in a relationship with Astrid. However, during the 4th of July party, Astrid ended their relationship, causing Clark to become extremely upset and angry. This emotional distress could potentially serve as a motive for Clark to commit murder. Create a timeline that details the significant events involving Clark leading up to the time of the murder.

Check the magazine interview.

In the magazine interview, Matthew Lodge says, “Clark liked going out on the lake and dipping his bare feet in the water. When Astrid ended things, he immediately rode back to shore – and was in such a rush to get away that he leaped straight into the mud and strode straight into the house.” Couple this with another piece of evidence to track his movements.

Fitch’s notepad provides a diagram of muddy footprints leading through the house, and we know the notepad belongs to Fitch because in his statement, he said, “First thing of note was a trail of muddy footprints. I made a note of their path through the house.” It’s worth comparing the hand-drawn diagram to the blueprints of the house in the Merivale Manor Guide to familiarise yourself with the movements of this person… How can we be sure these prints belonged to Clarence IV?                                                                                                                             

The Merivale Manor guide states: “We know it was him because the prints only have nine toes: as a boy, Clarence IV was playing on the frozen Lake Portence one winter when he fell through the ice and had to have the little toe on his left foot amputated.” Now take a look at the notepad; the diagram of the footprints shows that the person only had 9 toes. So, we have hard evidence that Clark was upstairs, and his footprints went into the study/balcony area. We need to ascertain what happened between the time of Clark’s arrival upstairs, and the time he was detained by Fitch in the library.

In his statement, Clarence III said that Clark and Astrid were arguing in the study, then Clark left the study and came into the library. According to Clarence III’s statement, he (Clarence III) was in the library with Bernard when this argument was taking place. Turn to the clues for Bernard Ross before moving any further with these hints.

The muddy shoe prints leading down the stairs to the guest bedroom on the east wing belonged to Bernard, but Bernard was heard on the wax recording at 5 pm. Why is this relevant?

We know it was Bernard who made his way downstairs, and we know that Bernard was heard on the wax recording at 5 pm. When we pair this with the claim made by Clarence III that Bernard left the library as Clark entered it, we can be fairly sure that the footprints from the study to the library were made before 5 pm (which was the time of the murder).

No footprints were leading back from the library to the study, so we can be confident that Clark stayed in the library after entering it. 

After the murder, Horace ran straight up the stairs and didn’t see anyone coming down the stairs, which means that Clarence III had also left the library before 5 pm, leaving Clark as the only person found upstairs at the time of the murder. 

But there was one piece of evidence that saved Clark. In the police chief’s statement, he says, “I attempted to access the study, but it had been wedged shut from the inside.” It goes on to say, “Together [Clarence IV and Horace] barged through the door, breaking the tilted chair that had been propped up against the door as a wedge.”

It would have been impossible for Clark to have wedged the door shut with a chair from the outside of the study. As such, Clark has an alibi.

If you’ve covered all bases and you’re still stuck, please follow the hint section for “The final hints” to gradually reveal the answer to this case.