Reedshadow Passage: A Complete Netherguard Deduction

NETHERGUARD CASE WALKTHROUGH

Standard Investigation 002, “Reedshadow Passage,” is an eight-card case arranged as four rows of two. Two heroes are hidden among the residents. This walkthrough follows the current case data and shows why A2 and B3 are the infiltrators.

The board before deduction

Row	Left card	Right card
1	A1 · Hookfin	B1 · Zen Panda
2	A2 · Hexshade	B2 · Moss Paw — initially confirmed resident
3	A3 · Asp Queen	B3 · Troll
4	A4 · Minotaur	B4 · Oarscale

The initial reveal marks B2 as a resident. That fact is useful, but it does not by itself expose either hero. The case becomes solvable when the direct clues are combined with row and group constraints.

Step 1: lock the two direct statements

“With a settled breath, Mage Hexshade (A2) is no doubt an infiltrator.”

Zen Panda’s statement identifies A2 directly. This is the strongest kind of early clue because it names one slot and one status. Mark A2 as an infiltrator.

“Smells plain enough: Demon Troll (B3) is no doubt an infiltrator.”

Moss Paw’s statement identifies B3 directly. Mark B3 as the second infiltrator candidate. The remaining clues now act as cross-checks: they should agree with these two marks rather than force a third infiltrator.

Step 2: use exact row counts to close entire rows

Clue	Consequence
Row 3 has exactly one infiltrator.	Because B3 is already marked as an infiltrator, A3 must be a resident.
Row 4 has no infiltrators.	A4 and B4 are both residents.
Row 1 has no infiltrators.	A1 and B1 are both residents.

Exact-zero clues are especially valuable because they settle every card in the named group at once. Exact-one clues become decisive as soon as one member of the group is known.

Step 3: verify the trait clues

Asp Queen states that the Beast group contains at least one infiltrator. Troll is both a Beast and the already identified B3 infiltrator, so this condition is satisfied without changing another card.

Troll states that the Aquatic group contains no infiltrators. Hookfin and Oarscale are the Aquatic cards in this case, and both have already been settled as residents through the row clues. The trait statement agrees with the row result.

Step 4: verify the neighbor clue

“Judgment falls thus: the ring around Moss Paw (B2) holds at least 2 infiltrators.”

The two confirmed infiltrators, A2 and B3, are within the neighboring ring around B2 in the case layout. The neighbor condition therefore has the required two infiltrators. This clue does not create a new suspect; it confirms that the direct statements fit the board geometry.

Final state

Slot	Result	Why
A1 Hookfin	Resident	Row 1 has zero infiltrators; Aquatic group has zero infiltrators.
B1 Zen Panda	Resident	Row 1 has zero infiltrators.
A2 Hexshade	Infiltrator	Direct target-status clue.
B2 Moss Paw	Resident	Initial reveal.
A3 Asp Queen	Resident	Row 3 has exactly one infiltrator and B3 fills it.
B3 Troll	Infiltrator	Direct target-status clue; also satisfies the Beast minimum.
A4 Minotaur	Resident	Row 4 has zero infiltrators.
B4 Oarscale	Resident	Row 4 and Aquatic clues both settle it.

What this case teaches

1. Resolve direct named-card clues first.
2. Use exact-zero groups to clear several cards at once.
3. When an exact-one group already contains a confirmed infiltrator, settle the remaining members as residents.
4. Use trait and neighbor clues as consistency checks before confirming the board.

The important point is not memorizing A2 and B3. Other cases use different cards and relationships. The reusable skill is turning each sentence into a board constraint and checking that every constraint agrees with the final state.