Case 0023 · November 1, 2026

The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga

Every night at ten he drew the new cider himself. Someone had been down in the cellar first.

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

The briefing

Iñaki Etxeberria made cider in Astigarraga, in the hills above San Sebastián, in the same stone cider house as his great-grandfather. Every night at ten he went down among the giant chestnut barrels and switched on the pump to move the new cider.

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

The victim

Iñaki Etxeberria, age 64Cider makerIñaki pressed apples from the family orchards every autumn and filled the old chestnut barrels himself. He was generous with loans to neighbours, hard with anyone who broke a promise, and had not set foot in a restaurant kitchen in his life.

The suspects

Amaia EtxeberriaChef · Daughter
Jon LarrañagaCellar hand · Worked for Iñaki for fifteen years
Maite ZubizarretaNight nurse · Wife, living apart
Koldo UrrutiaCider maker · Neighbour

How to play this case

DifficultyHard (4/5)
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 0023, “The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga”, opened on November 1, 2026. Difficulty: Hard (4/5). It puts 4 suspects and 16 pieces of evidence in front of you, all connected to Iñaki Etxeberria. 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

The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga takes you to a stone cider house in the hills above San Sebastián, where Iñaki Etxeberria, sixty-four, made cider in the same building as his great-grandfather. Each autumn he pressed apples from the family orchards and filled the giant chestnut barrels himself, and every night at ten he went down among them to switch on the pump that moved the new cider. On Saturday night, his heart stopped beside that pump.

Four people had reason to be angry with him: his daughter Amaia, a chef; Jon, his cellar hand of fifteen years; Maite, his wife, a night nurse living apart from him; and Koldo, the neighbouring cider maker who owed him money. With sixteen pieces of evidence to sort through, you will weigh the timings of that evening, a man generous with loans yet hard on broken promises, who knew his nightly routine, and one paper that may not be what it appears.

Rated four out of six, this is a case for players who keep careful notes and enjoy a quiet rural puzzle with real bite.

Questions about this case

Is “The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga” 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 “The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga”?

“The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga” is rated Hard (4/5) 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 “The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga”?

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 “The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga”?

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 “The Chestnut Barrels of Astigarraga” 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.