EMU students joined forces upon returning from fall break to crack a murder case presented by Campus Activities Council (CAC). Held in the Seminary building, participants enjoyed a spread of hors d’oeuvres whilst looking for clues hidden throughout the first and second floors. In order to add more ambiance to the event, those in attendance were asked to dress up in cocktail attire along with the actors. After spending the evening discovering clues and learning about twists in the plot, the true murderer was revealed and promptly restrained after a bit of a skirmish. The first event of its kind here at EMU, CAC’s Murder Mystery Party was a hit among those who attended.
“Everyone in the cast had really entertaining characters, so I had a lot of fun watching the guests interact with the other actors or hearing the guest’s preliminary assessments of who was trustworthy,” said Senior Emma Nord. Nord played the role of Archibold McGee’s (Senior Brandon Ewing, the primary murder victim) private chef, and was one of the main suspects before she too was murdered in a plot twist later on in the night.
“I loved how all the actors were so passionate in their roles,” noted Sophomore Rosa Martin Fonseca. These roles were developed by the actors themselves in collaboration with CAC’s Mike Ramer, ranging from their personality to what made them a suspect for the murder. In addition to building the characters beforehand, those involved did know the backstory of the setting and a very basic premise of the story’s plot. “However,” Nord says, “most of the plot points, including the identity of the killer, were a surprise.”
“I found it very interesting and engaging the experience of solving a murder,” commented Fonseca. “I wasn’t as competitive as others who were participating, but it was very nice to see many groups join together towards the end to share clues and their suspects.” The event really was about collaborating with the other ‘detectives’ to crack the case because of how many clues and red herrings were hidden throughout the building. After almost two hours of building suspense and hunting for clues, the chief detective (Senior Sarah Peak) outlined the plot in detail for attendees and announced the guilty character.
“The story was put together well, and I liked the little twist at the end when the culprit Earl Edwards (Senior Doran Kennedy) ran away,” remarked First-year Luke Buckwalter. It is safe to say that due to both the fake clues and the unnoticed ones, the majority of the first time detectives did not solve the mystery or accuse the correct character. Despite the shortcomings of some recently developed detecting skills, the overwhelming consensus by both the people acting and people participating is that events like this should definitely return in the future, especially during Halloween season.
