{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"bikeshop","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 Bicycle Workshop","tagline":"A bicycle workshop · a spring Saturday · the owner never came back from the storeroom","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-10-06","story":"On the first warm Saturday of spring the Bicycle Workshop was full from the moment it opened: everybody wanted their bike ready for the season. Veerle, the owner, ran between the counter and the workshop, while her three employees patched tyres, adjusted gears and sold bells. Four customers were waiting their turn, some of them for the second hour. At some point Veerle went into the storeroom to fetch a spare part – and when Anneke went looking for her half an hour later, she found her dead among the crates. The police questioned the three employees and the four customers; each of them said where they had been when the owner disappeared.","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 bicycles, the counter, the trees, the desk, the shelf, the crates, the stepladder, the coat rack, the handcart and the planter) cannot be occupied; the stools and the bench can.","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":[]},"roleNames":{"staff":"member of staff","customer":"customer","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"staff","name":"Staff","persons":["A","B","C"]},{"id":"customers","name":"Customers","persons":["D","E","F","G"]},{"id":"owner","name":"The owner","persons":["V"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Shop","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[2,1],[2,2],[2,3],[2,4],[3,1],[3,2]],"fill":"#f1dfcc","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[2,2],"name":"Shop"},{"id":"Office","cells":[[1,5],[1,6],[2,5],[2,6],[3,6]],"fill":"#e2d6c4","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[2,6],"name":"Office"},{"id":"Workshop","cells":[[3,3],[3,4],[3,5],[4,3],[4,4],[4,5],[4,6],[5,3],[5,4],[5,5],[5,6],[6,2],[6,3],[6,4],[6,5],[7,2],[7,3],[7,4]],"fill":"#dcdad4","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[5,3],"name":"Workshop"},{"id":"Storeroom","cells":[[4,1],[4,2],[5,1],[5,2],[6,1],[7,1],[8,1],[8,2],[8,3]],"fill":"#e6dcc8","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[6,1],"name":"Storeroom"},{"id":"Yard","cells":[[1,7],[1,8],[2,7],[2,8],[3,7],[3,8],[4,7],[4,8],[5,7],[5,8],[6,6],[6,7],[6,8],[7,5],[7,6],[7,7],[7,8],[8,4],[8,5],[8,6],[8,7],[8,8]],"fill":"#dce8d0","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[5,7],"name":"Yard"}],"objectTypes":{"bench":{"occupiable":true,"name":"bench","icon":""},"stool":{"occupiable":true,"name":"stool","icon":""},"bicycle":{"occupiable":false,"name":"bicycle","icon":""},"cart":{"occupiable":false,"name":"handcart","icon":""},"counter":{"occupiable":false,"name":"counter","icon":""},"crate":{"occupiable":false,"name":"crate","icon":""},"desk":{"occupiable":false,"name":"desk","icon":""},"planter":{"occupiable":false,"name":"planter","icon":""},"rack":{"occupiable":false,"name":"coat rack","icon":""},"shelf":{"occupiable":false,"name":"shelf","icon":""},"stepladder":{"occupiable":false,"name":"stepladder","icon":""},"tree":{"occupiable":false,"name":"tree","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,2],"type":"bicycle"},{"cell":[1,4],"type":"counter"},{"cell":[1,7],"type":"tree"},{"cell":[2,5],"type":"desk"},{"cell":[3,1],"type":"shelf"},{"cell":[3,4],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[3,8],"type":"bicycle"},{"cell":[4,2],"type":"crate"},{"cell":[4,5],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[5,4],"type":"bicycle"},{"cell":[5,8],"type":"tree"},{"cell":[6,8],"type":"stepladder"},{"cell":[7,1],"type":"crate"},{"cell":[7,4],"type":"rack"},{"cell":[7,7],"type":"bench"},{"cell":[8,6],"type":"cart"},{"cell":[8,8],"type":"planter"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Anneke","gender":"F","role":"staff","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#7a4a2a","style":"ponytail","shirt":"#f2a53a","apron":true},"clue":"She was in the Office. Exactly one row south of her was a woman.","job":"shop assistant","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Office"]},{"type":"rel_any","dir":"S","exact":1,"gender":"F"}]},{"id":"B","name":"Boudewijn","gender":"M","role":"staff","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#5d4037","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"short","shirt":"#2f3b4c","beard":true,"apron":true},"clue":"He was the only man sitting on a stool.","job":"mechanic","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[{"type":"only_on","obj":"stool","gender":"M"}]},{"id":"C","name":"Carlijn","gender":"F","role":"staff","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#6e2c4b","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#b7482c","style":"bob","shirt":"#2e7d32","cap":true,"apron":true},"clue":"She was in the first column.","job":"apprentice mechanic","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[{"type":"col","cols":[1]}]},{"id":"D","name":"Dirk","gender":"M","role":"customer","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#1b2a33","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"short","shirt":"#c62828","beard":true,"cap":true},"clue":"He was not with Floris.","job":"a courier collecting his bike","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"not_with","q":"F"}]},{"id":"E","name":"Esmee","gender":"F","role":"customer","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#ad1457","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#d9b464","style":"long","shirt":"#4a5a7a","glasses":true},"clue":"She was not alone in her area.","job":"a student with a flat tyre","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"not_alone"}]},{"id":"F","name":"Floris","gender":"M","role":"customer","color":"#00838f","avatar":{"bg":"#00695c","skin":"#e7b98f","hair":"#8a8278","style":"slick","shirt":"#e26d8a","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#8a8278"},"clue":"The handcart was somewhere in his column. Another man in his area was sitting on the bench.","job":"a racing cyclist","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"col_has","obj":"cart"},{"type":"with_on","obj":"bench","gender":"M"}]},{"id":"G","name":"Gijs","gender":"M","role":"customer","color":"#ad1457","avatar":{"bg":"#2f4858","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#d9d4cc","style":"bald","shirt":"#8b7a5a","glasses":true,"mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#d9d4cc"},"clue":"Somebody else in his area was beside a tree. A crate was somewhere in his row.","job":"a pensioner buying a new bell","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"with_beside","obj":"tree"},{"type":"row_has","obj":"crate"}]},{"id":"V","name":"Veerle","gender":"F","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#f0cdb0","hair":"#7a4a2a","style":"bun","shirt":"#1b1b1b","earrings":true,"apron":true},"clue":"The victim. She was found in the Storeroom, beside a crate – alone with the murderer.","job":"owner of the workshop","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"owner","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Storeroom"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"crate"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"D","solution":{"A":[1,5],"C":[2,1],"B":[3,4],"E":[4,8],"V":[5,2],"F":[6,6],"G":[7,7],"D":[8,3]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["V","A","B"],"cand":{"C":[[2,1],[4,1],[6,1],[8,1]],"D":[[2,3],[2,7],[2,8],[4,3],[4,7],[4,8],[6,3],[6,7],[7,3],[7,7],[7,8],[8,3],[8,7]],"E":[[2,3],[2,7],[2,8],[4,3],[4,7],[4,8],[6,3],[6,7],[7,3],[7,7],[7,8],[8,3],[8,7]],"F":[[2,6],[4,6],[6,6],[7,6]],"G":[[4,3],[4,7],[4,8],[7,3],[7,7],[7,8]]},"text":"Veerle was found in the Storeroom, beside a crate. The crates are at R4C2 and R7C1, and the Storeroom squares beside them are R4C1, R5C2, R6C1 and R8C1. Carlijn was in the first column, so nobody else is in column 1: Veerle is at R5C2, and the murderer is the one other person in the Storeroom. The handcart (R8C6) was in Floris’s column, so Floris is in column 6. Anneke was in the Office, whose free squares are R1C5, R1C6, R2C6 and R3C6 – three of them lie in Floris’s column: Anneke is at R1C5. Boudewijn was sitting on a stool, at R3C4 or R4C5; R4C5 lies in Anneke’s column, so Boudewijn is at R3C4. Gijs had a crate in his row, so he is in row 4 or row 7."},{"place":["G","F"],"cand":{"C":[[2,1],[4,1],[8,1]],"D":[[2,3],[4,3],[8,3]],"E":[[2,3],[2,8],[4,3],[4,8],[8,3]]},"text":"Floris said that another man in his area was sitting on the bench. The only bench is at R7C7, in the Yard, so Floris himself is in the Yard – at R6C6 or R7C6 in his column – and so is the man on the bench. Who can that man be? Boudewijn is sitting on a stool in the Workshop; Dirk was not with Floris, so he is not in the Yard at all; and Floris speaks of another man, not of himself. Only Gijs remains: Gijs is at R7C7, sitting on the bench – and a crate (R7C1) does lie in his row. Row 7 is now Gijs’s, so Floris is at R6C6. Keep in mind that Dirk is nowhere in the Yard."},{"place":["E"],"cand":{"C":[[2,1],[8,1]],"D":[[2,3],[8,3]]},"text":"Gijs said that somebody else in his area, the Yard, was beside a tree. The trees are at R1C7 and R5C8, and the Yard squares beside them are R1C8, R2C7, R4C8 and R5C7. R1C8 lies in Anneke’s row, R2C7 and R5C7 in Gijs’s column, so this person is at R4C8. Who can it be? Carlijn is in column 1 and Dirk is not in the Yard, so only Esmee is left: Esmee is at R4C8. (She was indeed not alone in her area: Floris and Gijs are in the Yard with her.)"},{"place":["D","C"],"text":"Only rows 2 and 8 and columns 1 and 3 are left, for Carlijn and Dirk. Who was alone with Veerle in the Storeroom? R2C1 and R2C3 lie in the Shop, R8C1 and R8C3 in the Storeroom, so the murderer is the one in row 8 – Carlijn at R8C1 or Dirk at R8C3. Anneke also said that exactly one row south of her, in row 2, was a woman. Dirk is a man, so he is not in row 2: Dirk is at R8C3, in the Storeroom, and Carlijn is at R2C1, in the Shop. The Storeroom holds Veerle and Dirk and nobody else: Dirk is the murderer. Everyone is placed."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: Veerle was alone in the Storeroom with the courier who came to collect his bike. Dirk is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["bench","stool"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-10-06"},"score":6.1233}