Oldtimer said:A) No, since you can't use the diagonal (can't move diagonally past a blocked square), it is 3 away from the origin.
B) Page 280: "When you make an area attack or a close attack, a target has cover if there is an obstruction between the origin square and the target" I take that as an indication that they care about obstacles.
A) point, but point B still holds (and if that statue is adequately big, the argument holds for the top right corner, too)
B) top right corner also has cover and is still getting hit.