This is a big embarrassing, but I seem to be stuck on this mission, trying to find out who did some naughty business. I'm just going round in circles. Can't get into the cemetary because it's closed, and can't get into the Dike because that is closed. I do think it's possible to open it through a bribe, but surely there should be another way? Due to this I've not been able to talk to Leuvarden, but I've talked to the others, and can't exactly say anyone is a prime suspect.

I've talked to very 'yellow' NPC I can think of, many times, but none are giving any more information or getting new stuff in the quest log.

Have been to the hospital and slayed the attacking mob, but the prisoner is gone now. Been going around in circles since and getting a bit frustrated in the process.

Not played the game for a few years, but last time I got to the cemetary somehow, though I don't recall how it was opened. Is there a bug in play here, or am I just being stupid?

Have you talked to the gravedigger? If you bribe him with dwarf wine (can't remember the brand) he will give you the cemetery key, another option is clear his debt with Thaler.

I've talked to him and given him all kinds of booze, including dwarf wine and probably spirits (and goat and cow milk, amongst other things), but nothing happens beyond him having a good time. I even tried giving him red gloves and so forth for a laugh, but he wasn't impressed. I've talked to Thaler too, but not gotten anything about a debt with the gravedigger.

I've gone from person to person, many times over, but nothing I do leads anywhere. The last thing I did was to talk to Vivaldi, which led to some quest update about "talk to Kalkstein". I did that, but nothing was changed, and neither conversation path with him led anywhere new. So I'm kind of stuck where I am right now.

Seems like I need to finish the contract quest with the gravedigger to get anywhere, but I can't do that because the Dike isn't opened.
Because the Dike isn't opened, I can't talk to Leuvarden.
I've tried talking to Vincent, in the hope of opening the cemetary of the Dike, but the only conversation option is for him to tell me there is a reward for killing some monster in the Swamp.

You do not need to open the cemetery to progress the game. I'll deal with that later. You have a much bigger problem if you cannot get to the Dike. There are three ways to get the guards to open the gate to the Dike.

1. If you stayed with Siegfried and fought the cockatrice together, Siegfried will vouch for you when you approach the gate.

2. If you clear Vincent Meis, he will give you the City Guard ring; show this to the guards at the gate. This is intricate: the easy way is to find Coleman on the Dike, but you can't get to the Dike. The other way is to tell Vincent he is innocent.

Finding the dialogue options to do this is obscure. You must not be suspicious of Vincent after that little dance at the warehouse. If Vincent blows you off, you need to talk to one of the guards in his area to reopen his Salamandra dialogue. I'm not sure which guard it is.

3. Failing either of the above, bribe the guards. Bribery is the lubricant of honest commerce. It should cost you 60 orens.

You need only one of the cemetery and the autopsy, not both, to advance the main quest. You can, and should, do both, however.

To get the gravedigger to give you the informant's corpse for the autopsy, you need to give him a jug of Mahakaman mead. Then he will talk to you about delivering the corpse to the hospital. This won't work until the informant is dead.

To get the gravedigger to let you into the cemetery, you have to get either Vincent Meis or Thaler to vouch for you. If you cleared Vincent Meis, there you go. Clearing Thaler is, fittingly, more obscure. The two ways are:

1. Go through with the autopsy and Shani's party. Shani will tell you a story that clears Thaler.

2. Find the "mysterious man" who loiters near Thaler's place at night. This will open a line of dialogue with Thaler that ends with you clearing him.

Thanks, this should be very useful. The Dike opening looks tough without a bribe though, which I didn't really want to do.

Coleman is dead due to an earlier choice. Didn't really want to do that, but was escorting Vesna at the time, and didn't want another 'firefight' on my hands with her around. Wanted the XP for myself, so didn't do the cockatrice with Siegfried (but he still let me into the hospital to try to chat to the prisoner).

I've not been able to clear Vincent. Think I've done the "innocent for now/I believe you" paths with all suspects so far, which didn't lead anywhere, so I also talked to at least some of them again and went with other options, to see what that did. Right now the only dialogue choice I have with Vincent is to ask about rewards, which for now is the echinops in the Swamp (which I can't get to yet).

Based on what you write and what I've done so far in the game, it looks like the best way forward is to locate that "myserious man" outside Thaler, and then give the right mead to the gravedigger.

Once the body is found, will everybody be cleared, allowing me to get into the Dike without a bribe, or will that door still be locked unless I'm able to go through the dialogue process of individually clearing Vincent?

They have their purpose of course, but I do fint the "impossible to open door, no matter what you do" mechanic silly in many games. We've got 'magic', swords, and whatever to throw at the gates in the sewer for instance, but you can't touch those darn things unless you have the specific key.

Once you find the body, all the suspects are cleared, Vincent will give you the City Guard ring, and the guards will let you out to the Dike.

In addition to clearing Thaler (or Vincent), these conditions must also obtain:

1. Raymond must have gone away and been replaced by false Raymond (the difference is pretty obvious).

2. The Gravedigger must be complaining about his debt to Thaler.

If you are not that far along, stop reading game guides and trying to figure out ways around the way the game actually works, bribe the damn guard and get on with it.

Looks like the mysterious man was the key to getting further. Looked him up and talked to Thaler, and was then able to clear him. This also re-opened the Salamandra option with Vincent Meis, and I was able to clear him too. Don't think there has been any actual evidence to do so yet, but that's another matter. This meant I finally got that ring to open up the Dike though, so it should be fine going forward now. Not heard any talk of a debt from the gravedigger yet, but maybe it'll come later.

The quest paths for this mission must be very complex. It can be done in so many different ways, the programmers must have had a headache sorting things out.