Case 0021 · November 1, 2026

Smoke over the Regnitz

Every Saturday the old brewer drank one mug beside his beechwood fire. This Saturday, someone had seasoned it.

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No graphic violence, no jump scares: a fair whodunit puzzle, about ten minutes a night.

The briefing

Georg Hollfelder brewed smoke beer on the Regnitz in Bamberg for fifty years, and every Saturday night he climbed to the kiln loft to feed the beechwood fire under the malt and drink one mug of his own beer. At 23:40 his grandson found him in his chair beside the kiln, his heart stopped and the empty mug at his feet.

The rest of the briefing is waiting in the case file.

The victim

Georg Hollfelder, age 71BrewmasterGeorg ran the small family brewery and tavern his great-grandfather opened beside the river. He still smoked the malt himself over beechwood, took a heart pill every morning, and refused every offer to sell the old recipe.

The suspects

Sabine HollfelderCook · Daughter-in-law
Florian WeißApprentice brewer
Dr Thomas BrandlSales director of a brewing group · Business rival
Ingrid KunzBookkeeper for twenty years

How to play this case

DifficultyMedium (3/5)
The suspects4
TimeAbout ten minutes

4 suspects and 16 pieces of evidence wait in the file. Sweep your flashlight across the scene, listen to every voiced statement and pin what doesn't add up. You have three accusations to name the killer, the method and the motive; after that, the morning paper tells the whole story.

About this case

Case 0021, “Smoke over the Regnitz”, opened on November 1, 2026. Difficulty: Medium (3/5). It puts 4 suspects and 16 pieces of evidence in front of you, all connected to Georg Hollfelder. Like every Midnight Casebook file, it is a fair puzzle: there is no trick ending and no outside knowledge needed — everything that points to the answer is somewhere in the scene, the evidence or the statements.

Case notes

Smoke over the Regnitz is set in Bamberg, in a small family brewery and tavern beside the river, where the malt is still smoked over beechwood. Georg Hollfelder, seventy-one, had brewed smoke beer there for half a century and kept a Saturday night ritual: a climb to the kiln loft, a fire to tend and a single mug of his own beer. Shortly before midnight his grandson found him in his chair by the kiln, his heart stilled, the mug empty beside him.

Four people had dealings with Georg that evening: his daughter-in-law Sabine, a cook; Florian Weiß, his young apprentice; Dr Thomas Brandl, sales director of a large brewing group; and Ingrid Kunz, who has kept the books for twenty years. Sixteen pieces of evidence ask you to weigh who was where and when, who knew the old man's routines, and what each stood to gain or lose over a family recipe he refused to sell.

At three of six, this is a mid-weight case that asks for careful notes and a little patience, a good fit for players who like a warm, smoky setting and a tidy chain of reasoning.

Questions about this case

Is “Smoke over the Regnitz” free to play?

This case is now in the archive, which is part of Casebook Pro; how far back you can go depends on your plan. Tonight's case and the first three cases are always free.

How hard is “Smoke over the Regnitz”?

“Smoke over the Regnitz” is rated Medium (3/5) on the Midnight Casebook scale. Difficulty follows the week: Monday's case is the gentlest and the weekend's files are the toughest, and most players close a daily case in about ten minutes.

What if I get stuck on “Smoke over the Regnitz”?

Hints open one at a time: the first points to evidence worth a closer look, the second to a contradiction, the third explains one part of the puzzle. Free players get one hint per case, plus an extra one on hard cases during their first seven solves; Casebook Pro unlocks all three. Each hint costs 10 points and each wrong accusation 20, but time never counts against you.

Do I need to download anything to play “Smoke over the Regnitz”?

No. Like every Midnight Casebook case, it plays in any modern browser at midnightcasebook.com/play, and there is also an Android app. Sign in with Apple or Google when you want to keep your streak, scores and badges on every device.

Does my score on “Smoke over the Regnitz” count on the leaderboard?

Midnight Casebook leaderboards count only cases solved on their publish day, so tonight's case is the one to play for points. You can still solve this one for the story and the practice.

Can you name the killer, the method and the motive?

Play this case

No spoilers here: the statements, the evidence and the solution stay inside the case file.