Skyrim Murder Mystery Quest Was Hiding a Clue Under Our Noses the Entire Time

One of Skyrim’s longest and most beloved quests can actually be solved almost before it even begins, although doing so won’t provide the outcome you were probably hoping for…

Outside of the main quest itself, I’d say the majority of the quests that Bethesda implemented in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim can be completed with relative ease. More importantly however, they can be finished pretty quickly– at least if you know what you’re doing.

One quest in the game is going to take you some time to polish off though, because even if you know exactly how to complete it, you still have to go through all of the steps required to capture the culprit in question.

Any season Skyrim player will of course already know that I’m referring to Blood on the Ice, the ridiculously lengthy, multi-step quest that has you investigating a series of murders in Windhelm.

Throughout the course of the quest, the story seems to be pointing you towards Helgird, the Nord priestess who oversees the burial of the deceased in the Hall of the Dead.

Helgird is pretty suspect for a number of reasons, but she mostly only drops herself in it because she says a bunch of weirdly incriminating stuff.

For instance, if you ask her about the murder weapon used on the victims, Helgird will outright state that it was a curved blade used by ancient Nords to help embalm their dead… and she also says “I don't know who in Windhelm would even have something like that. Other than me, of course.”

The funny thing is, while this throwaway line seems to want you to believe that Helgird is the murderer, it’s actually a clue for who the real killer is.

As spotted by user Sinistrait over on the r/skyrim subreddit, paying Calixto Corrium two gold pieces to take a tour of his shop, Calixto's House of Curiosities, will lead him to revealing that he just so happens to own a bunch of embalming tools that were pilfered from an ancient Nordic crypt.

Unsurprisingly, you find out that Calixto was the Butcher during the end of the quest. You can’t use any of the evidence you find to come to this conclusion earlier than the quest allows however, so it’s just a fun little clue.

Oh, and also, there’s a diary, signed by Calixto, titled “Butcher’s Diary” in his house. Come on, dude. Were you even trying to get away with it?