Written by Tom Fowler
Suspects: Juanita Wade, Mary Beth Sloan, Noel King, Roy Wade, Theresa King
There
are 5 clues in this mystery.
New Year’s Eve, 2012, was a night that Blake Sloan
had looked forward to for a long time.Tonight, he and his wife Mary Beth would
host a New Year’s mystery party.
Mary Beth had first thought of
this back in the summer, but it was Blake that had gotten excited about the
idea. He had planned and prepared for this night since
before Labor Day. The format was simple. There would be six
in attendance at the party and one of them would be “murdered. There would be
five clues, one pointing to each of the five “suspects”. Four of the clues
would be false. The fifth one would be true and tag the “murderer.”
All of their guests, which
consisted of the Kings and the Wades, had arrived at the Sloan home by 7:00
p.m. The party started out innocently enough, with dinner
and cocktails.Since it was New Year’s Eve, there was ample liquid refreshment
but the guests had been cautioned about drinking too much because Blake wanted
everyone to be able to participate fully in the murder mystery. It was understood
that the mystery would begin after dinner. Blake offered an
admonition, saying, “Pay close attention to everything that happens when we
leave the dining room.”
Mary Beth hosted an excellent
meal and then invited everyone to the den, carrying a tray of various
beverages. The Sloan home was a spacious two-story house with
large rooms and high ceilings. She and Blake agreed that the
floor plan of their home was perfect for a murder mystery party.
As the guests settled into the
comfortable seating in the den, the party appeared to proceed as normal. Hot coffee and
brandy were served by Mary Beth, who made it a point to keep the cap on the
brandy decanter, and soon everyone was in animated conversation. After about 15
minutes, the doorbell rang. Blake excused himself to
answer and see whom it was, leaving his tumbler of brandy on a lamp table by
where he was sitting. It was their next-door neighbors, the Perkins, wishing
them a Happy New Year.Blake yelled to the others that he would return to the
den in a few minutes.
Just as he said this, the
telephone rang. Mary Beth said, “Oh! That may be my
sister Jo! She lives out of state and her husband has been ill. I had better
answer in the kitchen.”In her haste, she tripped on the leg of the table where
Blake’s drink sat, spilling a small amount of it on the cherry wood finish.
Very quickly, The Wades and
Kings were left alone in the den. They smiled in amusement, for
they realized the game was underway. But, before they had an
opportunity to discuss it, a loud noise came from upstairs. Mary Beth poked
her head out of the kitchen and said, “That’s got to be the new mirror we installed
in the game room. I hope it’s not broken!Roy, can you go check on it?”
Roy, sitting right by the den
door to the hallway, quickly ran upstairs, knowing it was part of the setup but
still excited about what he may find in the game room. All he found was a
tape recorder set to loud volume which been activated by a timing device.
While Roy was upstairs
pondering the tape recording and timing device, Blake returned from the front
door just long enough to ask Juanita to join her husband upstairs. Juanita, excited
by the game, which was now in full swing, clasped both hands tightly to her
mouth as she ran out of the den to join Roy in the upper level game room.
At this moment, they heard a
scream coming from the kitchen. First Noel and then Theresa
King ran to see what had happened. Mary Beth had fainted and
fallen on the floor. The telephone was still in her hand. After a moment,
she was revived and said to Theresa, weakly, “Theresa, please get me a cold
wash cloth. They are in the bathroom, on the other side of the
house, opposite from the den.”
Now, it was only Mary Beth and
Noel King in the kitchen. Noel stood by her, not knowing
what to do. Mary Beth handed him the phone and said, “Please
redial the number and tell Jo I’m OK.”
As Noel did as Mary Beth
asked, Blake said goodbye to the neighbors, returned to the den and was now
alone. Seeing the splash on the table, he refreshed his drink
from the refreshment table decanter and took a sip. After a short
moment, he choked and lost consciousness. He was dead by
poison from the brandy. The cap had not been removed
from the brandy decanter since before Blake answered the doorbell.
Scarcely ten minutes had
passed. Blake lay “dead” on the floor of the den. Mary Beth had been
“revived” in the kitchen by the Kings. They returned to the den and
found the Wades just coming down from the upstairs. Once they had
gathered in the den, they examined the “body”. The brandy snifter
was still firmly in his grasp.
At this point, Blake arose and
told his guests, “I drank poisoned brandy. Who poisoned
it?The murder is solved when it is determined who did it, but if you can tell
me how it was done, you will be a super sleuth.” Smiling, he added,
“Everyone, please take a seat and rest assured the drinks are safe. Let’s discuss who
murdered me. The person who solves the mystery will receive a nice
door prize.”
Mary Beth and Blake’s guests
were savoring every moment of the New Year’s Eve mystery and seemed in no hurry
to bring it to conclusion. When Blake poured a second stiff
whisky and soda for Noel, he decided they had better solve the case before
further partying. He nodded at Mary Beth and she picked up on his cue,
asking for silence and saying, “OK, who killed my husband?”