{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"tomb","version":1,"difficulty":"easy","level":4,"size":{"rows":8,"cols":8},"languages":["en","hu","de","fr","es","it","nl","pl","pt","ro","ca","cs","fi","vi","tr","el","ru","uk","ar","ko","ja","zh-Hans","zh-Hant"],"defaultLanguage":"en","title":"The Sealed Doorway","tagline":"Valley of the Kings · 28 November 1922 · the night before the official opening","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-10-11","story":"Valley of the Kings, night of 28 November 1922. Tomorrow the sealed doorway between the two statues will be opened – but tonight the excavation leader, his team, the cook and the patron's daughter crept down the stairs with electric lamps and climbed into the tomb. Vasilios, a Greek antiquities dealer who should not have been there, was found dead. Someone let him in, and someone silenced him.","rules":{"standard":["Every row and every column holds exactly one person. As soon as you place someone, cross out their whole row and column.","“Beside” = directly left, right, above or below, and in the same area. Squares with objects (the lamps, the chests, the great shrine, the jackal, the statues, the funerary couches, the chariot, the steps and the amphora) cannot be occupied.","Directions refer to rows and columns, not to the same line: “exactly one row north of him was a woman” = the person in the row directly above is a woman, in any column.","The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area."],"special":[],"notes":[],"example":{}},"roleNames":{"team":"member of the excavation","house":"member of the dig house","dealer":"antiquities dealer","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"excavation","name":"The excavation","persons":["A","B","C","D","E"]},{"id":"house","name":"The dig house","persons":["F","G"]},{"id":"dealer","name":"The dealer","persons":["V"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Burial Chamber","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[1,5],[2,1],[2,2],[2,3],[2,4],[2,5],[3,1],[3,2],[3,3],[3,4],[3,5],[3,6]],"fill":"#efdcb0","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[3,2],"name":"Burial Chamber"},{"id":"Treasury","cells":[[1,6],[1,7],[1,8],[2,6],[2,7],[2,8],[3,7],[3,8],[4,8]],"fill":"#e8d6b8","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[2,7],"name":"Treasury"},{"id":"Antechamber","cells":[[4,2],[4,3],[4,4],[4,5],[4,6],[4,7],[5,2],[5,3],[5,4],[5,5],[5,6],[6,3],[6,4],[6,5],[7,3],[7,4]],"fill":"#f1e4c8","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[5,4],"name":"Antechamber"},{"id":"Annex","cells":[[4,1],[5,1],[6,1],[6,2],[7,1],[7,2],[8,1],[8,2],[8,3]],"fill":"#e2d3bc","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[6,2],"name":"Annex"},{"id":"Corridor","cells":[[5,7],[5,8],[6,6],[6,7],[6,8],[7,5],[7,6],[8,4],[8,5]],"fill":"#e6dccb","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[6,7],"name":"Corridor"},{"id":"Staircase","cells":[[7,7],[7,8],[8,6],[8,7],[8,8]],"fill":"#dcd2c0","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[7,7],"name":"Staircase"}],"objectTypes":{"lamp":{"occupiable":false,"name":"lamp","icon":""},"chest":{"occupiable":false,"name":"chest","icon":""},"shrine":{"occupiable":false,"name":"great shrine","icon":""},"anubis":{"occupiable":false,"name":"jackal","icon":""},"statue":{"occupiable":false,"name":"statue","icon":""},"liocouch":{"occupiable":false,"name":"funerary couch","icon":""},"chariot":{"occupiable":false,"name":"chariot","icon":""},"stairs":{"occupiable":false,"name":"steps","icon":""},"amphora":{"occupiable":false,"name":"amphora","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,5],"type":"lamp"},{"cell":[1,8],"type":"chest"},{"cell":[2,3],"type":"shrine"},{"cell":[2,4],"type":"shrine"},{"cell":[3,7],"type":"anubis"},{"cell":[4,3],"type":"statue"},{"cell":[4,5],"type":"statue"},{"cell":[5,2],"type":"liocouch"},{"cell":[6,3],"type":"liocouch"},{"cell":[6,5],"type":"chariot"},{"cell":[6,7],"type":"lamp"},{"cell":[7,1],"type":"chest"},{"cell":[7,3],"type":"liocouch"},{"cell":[7,8],"type":"stairs"},{"cell":[8,1],"type":"amphora"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Alec","gender":"M","role":"team","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#7a4a2a","style":"short","shirt":"#d8c8a0","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#7a4a2a"},"clue":"He was beside the great shrine.","job":"Egyptologist, leader of the excavation","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"team","constraints":[{"type":"beside","obj":"shrine"}]},{"id":"B","name":"Betty","gender":"F","role":"team","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#6e2c4b","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"bun","shirt":"#f4efe6","glasses":true,"apron":true},"clue":"She was the only woman beside a funerary couch.","job":"chemist and conservator","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"team","constraints":[{"type":"only_beside","obj":"liocouch","gender":"F"}]},{"id":"C","name":"Charles","gender":"M","role":"team","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#1b2a33","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"short","shirt":"#2f3b4c","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#1c1a1a","bow":true},"clue":"A statue was somewhere in his row.","job":"expedition photographer","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"team","constraints":[{"type":"row_has","obj":"statue"}]},{"id":"D","name":"Daoud","gender":"M","role":"team","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#5d4037","skin":"#c99a6e","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"short","shirt":"#e8e0d0","turban":"#f4efe6","beard":true},"clue":"Exactly one row north of him was a man.","job":"reis, foreman of the workmen","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"team","constraints":[{"type":"rel_any","dir":"N","exact":1,"gender":"M"}]},{"id":"E","name":"Enid","gender":"F","role":"team","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#3d2a5a","skin":"#f0cdb0","hair":"#b7482c","style":"bob","shirt":"#6f8f2a","necklace":true},"clue":"She was in a corner of her area. The great shrine was somewhere in her row.","job":"artist copying the wall paintings","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"team","constraints":[{"type":"corner_of_area"},{"type":"row_has","obj":"shrine"}]},{"id":"F","name":"Fatima","gender":"F","role":"house","color":"#00838f","avatar":{"bg":"#00695c","skin":"#c99a6e","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"long","shirt":"#8b5a2b","turban":"#1f6fb2","earrings":true,"apron":true},"clue":"She was not beside a lamp. A lamp was somewhere in her area.","job":"cook of the dig house","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"house","constraints":[{"type":"not_beside","obj":"lamp"},{"type":"area_has","obj":"lamp"}]},{"id":"G","name":"Gillian","gender":"F","role":"house","color":"#ad1457","avatar":{"bg":"#ad1457","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#d9b464","style":"long","shirt":"#e26d8a","necklace":true,"earrings":true},"clue":"The chariot was somewhere in her column. Somebody else in her area was beside the great shrine.","job":"the patron's daughter","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"house","constraints":[{"type":"col_has","obj":"chariot"},{"type":"with_beside","obj":"shrine"}]},{"id":"V","name":"Vasilios","gender":"M","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#d9d4cc","style":"bald","shirt":"#1b1b1b","beard":true},"clue":"The victim. He was found in the Annex, beside a chest – alone with the murderer.","job":"Greek antiquities dealer from Luxor","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"dealer","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Annex"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"chest"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"C","solution":{"A":[1,3],"E":[2,6],"G":[3,5],"C":[4,1],"F":[5,8],"B":[6,4],"V":[7,2],"D":[8,7]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["E"],"cand":{"E":[[2,6]],"A":[[1,3],[1,4],[2,2],[2,5],[3,3],[3,4]],"B":[[4,2],[5,3],[6,4],[7,4]],"C":[[4,1],[4,2],[4,4],[4,6],[4,7],[4,8]],"G":[[2,5],[3,5],[5,5],[7,5],[8,5]]},"text":"Enid was in a corner of her area, and the great shrine (R2C3–R2C4) was in her row, so she is in row 2. Of the free squares of row 2 only R2C6 is a corner of its area (the Burial Chamber lies west and south of it): Enid is at R2C6. Both statues are in row 4, so row 4 is Charles's; the chariot (R6C5) is in column 5, so column 5 is Gillian's. Alec was beside the great shrine (R1C3, R1C4, R2C2, R2C5, R3C3, R3C4) and Betty beside a funerary couch (R4C2, R5C3, R6C4, R7C4); without row 2 and row 4 both are left in columns 3 and 4 only – those two columns belong to Alec and Betty."},{"place":["G"],"cand":{"G":[[3,5],[5,5],[7,5],[8,5]],"A":[[1,3],[1,4],[3,3],[3,4]],"B":[[5,3],[6,4],[7,4]],"C":[[4,1],[4,2],[4,7],[4,8]]},"text":"Gillian said that somebody else in her area was beside the great shrine. Every square beside the shrine lies in the Burial Chamber, so Gillian is in the Burial Chamber too – in column 5 that is R3C5. Row 3 is gone for Alec: he is at R1C3 or R1C4, row 1 is his."},{"place":["F"],"cand":{"F":[[5,8],[7,5],[7,6],[8,4],[8,5]],"A":[[1,3],[1,4]],"B":[[5,3],[6,4],[7,4]],"C":[[4,1],[4,2],[4,7],[4,8]]},"text":"Fatima had a lamp in her area: she is in the Burial Chamber (lamp R1C5) or in the Corridor (lamp R6C7). The Burial Chamber has rows 1–3 only, and those belong to Alec, Enid and Gillian – so Fatima is in the Corridor, and not beside its lamp: R5C8, R7C5, R7C6, R8C4 or R8C5. Columns 4, 5 and 6 are taken, so Fatima is at R5C8."},{"place":["A","B"],"cand":{"A":[[1,3],[1,4]],"B":[[6,4],[7,4]],"C":[[4,1],[4,2],[4,7]],"D":[[6,1],[6,2],[7,2],[7,7],[8,2],[8,7]]},"text":"Row 5 is Fatima's, so Betty is at R6C4 or R7C4: column 4 is hers and Alec takes R1C3. Rows 6, 7 and 8 are left for Betty, Daoud and Vasilios. Exactly one row north of Daoud there was a man: in row 6 he would have Fatima above him, in row 7 Betty would have to be in row 6 – a woman again. So Daoud is in row 8, the man in row 7 is Vasilios, and Betty is at R6C4."},{"place":["D","C","V"],"cand":{"D":[[8,2],[8,7]],"C":[[4,1],[4,2],[4,7]],"V":[[7,2],[7,7]]},"text":"Rows 4, 7 and 8 and columns 1, 2 and 7 are left: Charles in row 4, Vasilios in row 7, Daoud in row 8 (R8C2 or R8C7). If Daoud were at R8C2, Vasilios would be at R7C7 (R7C1 holds a chest) alone on the Staircase, with nobody to be alone with – but the murderer was alone with the victim. So Daoud is at R8C7, Charles at R4C1 and, last of all, Vasilios at R7C2 – beside the chest R7C1, just as he was found."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: Vasilios was alone in the Annex with the expedition photographer. Charles is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":[]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-10-11"},"score":6.1228}