In 1994, we staged a murder! We'd been to a couple of the usual boxed-set murder parties, of which the most memorable left even the murderer totally bemused, and everyone totally disinterested. We thought that we could do better, and so we decided to stage our own. It began with the following invitation to four couples …
You are invited, together with three other couples, to Ossory Cottage on Saturday March 19th at 7.00 pm, for a 'Murder' evening. As you arrive, you will discover that your (fictional) hostess has been discovered dead. One of your fellow guests is the murderer, and it is up to you to find out which one.
You will be asked to play a part, described in a simple handbook which will arrive some time before the party. So that you find it easy to describe your background or respond to questions from the other guests, we have given you a part that, in some way, reflects your everyday life -- with some added bits of spice perhaps, to make the evening livelier. But your basic family background is your real one: in the fantasy, you live in the same house that you really live in, in the same place (this might be important: what time did you set out for the party?). In the plot, you are married, or at least partnered, by your spouse, you have the same children, of the same ages. And so on. In this way, you can disguise the added facts we give you in a believable background (believable, because itís true) -- the important clues will not stand out. So to work out 'whodunit', you will need to be especially alert to filter the inconsequential material from the crucial.
You may be the murderer, you may not -- in any event, you will know before you set out for the party. The murderer will obviously be seeking to throw off suspicion. They will almost certainly lie, but then so will everyone! We have added a few unsavoury facts to your character, which means that you have something to hide -- just like everyone else at the party. Catching somebody out in an untruth does not mean that they are necessarily the murderer: it is more difficult than that.
We want you to be in character all evening. As we said above, your characters are basically not very different from your real selves, so this should not be much of a hardship. John and Barbara have decided not to be suspects, but to facilitate the evening for your pleasure: in fact, Barbara will be playing the part of Inspector Morose (sorry!) and will question you during the evening, or introduce new evidence, to steer the proceedings along a sensible sort of path. John will hover as the butler -- who we promise you did not do it. We shall feed you a buffet, and there will be plenty of drink. But the main activity of the evening is solving the murder. The evening ends when you are invited to predict who the murderer is -- followed by 'the inspector explains....'.
We have chosen couples who, by and large, do not know each other, to make the discovery more of an adventure. Your only common factor in reality is that you know us, and in the plot that you know the late (fictional) hostess.
This is the last time that we shall write to you as a couple -- from now on, there will be some information which you should share with your partner (obvious things, like what your fantasy occupation is, and how you knew the hostess) and some information which you should not share (like the dark secret you have). The cloak-and-dagger nature of all this will be enhanced when you receive your next missive -- there will be two sealed envelopes, one for each of you. Don't cheat, please -- it will spoil all the fun!
To follow the next stage of the story, click here.
Vn 1.0 (27/11/96)