Love and Murder: A Mystery Game

Created by Sarah Donahue

elcome to Love and Murder. This will be an experience unlike anything you’ve had before. It’s like reading a murder-mystery novel, playing a game of Clue, and watching a play at the theatre- except you get to act as one of the characters while the story unfolds around you. You will know your own perspective and backstory but you won’t know anything about the other characters at the beginning of the story. To play, you must recruit a total of seven people, and count off to choose your numbers 1-7. Below, you can see seven numbered characters. You must only click on the character that corresponds with your number DO NOT READ ANY OF THE OTHER CHARACTER STORIES. Once you click on your character, you will learn who your character is. You might be the detective, a suspect, or the murderer. You cannot have fewer than seven players or the game will not work, but if you have more than seven players, the extras can be silent spectators who can read any of the characters’ stories but must not say anything to ruin the fun. If you are an actor, you must not break character. Imagine you have transformed into that character and don’t do anything that they would not do until the game is over. The game begins when one player announces that they are the detective, and they start the timer which gives them ten minutes to question the suspects and try to determine who the murderer is. The detective will lead the conversation by questioning the rest of the group, who are all murder suspects. If the detective solves the murder before time is up, they win. If not, the murderer wins.

A Mystery Game

Love &

Murder

Jules Viridis

You are a garden curator at the New York Botanical Garden and you’ve been called in for questioning today after a Senator was murdered in his office. You will need to answer any questions the detective asks you if you wish to clear your name and prove your innocence. You have no idea why you’ve been called in today because you do not know the senator and you’ve only read about him once or twice in the news, when he made headlines for a racial gerrymandering case, and again for passing a bill that would allow politicians to pay for the silence of sexual assault victims with taxpayer money. You may have protested the guy on social media, but you’d never go as far as murder. Both of your parents were green thumbs: your mother ran an exotic flower shop with a greenhouse on the second floor, and your father did landscaping for all the ritzy New York city country clubs. You worked with your father for a while as a country club gardener, before developing a friendship with a researcher at the Botanical Gardens who shared your passion for plants. This friend invited you to spend two years in the Amazon rainforest to help create the first comprehensive catalog of Amazon plant species. You jumped at the chance for a change of scenery because your girlfriend at the time had just left to go back to medical school, and two years in the heart of the rainforest offered a refreshing escape from every little thing that reminded you of her and how she broke your heart. Living in the rainforest may have turned you into a bit of a recluse, because you live alone by choice, but you have close friendships with your coworkers and you spend time with your parents every weekend. You are proud of your life’s work so far and happy to be known as a rainforest adventurer and as the curator of a magical green oasis in the middle of the city. Now you just need to help this detective see that your life’s work is about growing things…not killing them.

Quinn Shepard

You are the murderer, but you really don’t want to get caught (obviously). You’ve been called in for questioning along with six other suspects, and this fresh, cocky young detective wants to nail someone just to close a big case. You have to cooperate and answer the detective’s questions honestly, without incriminating yourself or getting caught in an obvious lie. If the detective questions you, you’ll need to disclose some information about your background. You studied botany in school and you love historical books, movies and shows. You live with your two cats in an apartment in New York City where you have your own rooftop greenhouse to grow vegetables, flowers, and your collection of exotic and rare plants. That’s where you grew the deadly nightshade plant that you used to poison the corrupt politician, Senator Scumbey. He had formerly been caught for racial gerrymandering and was about to block a bill that would require politicians to pay for their own sexual assault settlements rather than using taxpayer money. Your little sister was assaulted by a politician when she was working for the senator as a college intern. You work at a gourmet restaurant in New York City where you source fresh organic food from local farms. Your sister told you how Senator Scumbey always drank a blueberry smoothie every morning for breakfast. So, on Monday morning you sent the senator an anonymous gift package of fresh farm food, including a bag of organic blueberries mixed with the poisonous deadly nightshade berries. From all your historical knowledge, you know that deadly nightshade was used for cosmetic purposes in the middle ages, such as blush and pupil dilation, but it also caused many young ladies to go blind for the sake of beauty. You chose the deadly nightshade plant, also known as belladonna, meaning “beautiful lady” in Italian as your murder weapon because you loved the poetic justice of this being the Senator’s downfall.

You are a convicted felon who was just released from a ten-year sentence last month, and you’ve just been called in for questioning because a senator was murdered in your borough of New York City. You know the drill: the detective will ask you a bunch of questions and you’ll have to answer them to prove you didn’t do it- this time. Your prison sentence was for poisoning three members of a high-profile drug ring after they killed three of your precious cats. Because the feds had been trying to get these heroin dealers off the streets anyway, they only gave you a sentence of ten years. Both of your parents had been dealers, running their operation out of the small New York City apartment where you grew up. You were a neglected only child, but you found your purpose as a small child: rescuing homeless cats. By the time you were a teenager, you had taken in fourteen homeless cats and you cared for them with all the tender loving care your parents never gave you. When your cats starting bringing you dead birds and rats as gifts, you found a way to train them to bring you food from the street carts instead. Since your parents rarely remembered to feed you, your cats helped you survive by bringing you hot dogs, meat skewers, and pretzels. When your parents discovered this operation, they threatened to throw your cats out the window of your 18th-story apartment if you didn’t train the cats to smuggle drugs for them. That’s why three of your precious kitties got intercepted by rival dealers, who force-fed the cats with poisonous plants and made you watch as they died a slow and painful death. That’s why you hunted the dealers down at a nightclub one weekend and slipped a lethal poison into the bottle of vodka that they ordered. Your parents were killed on the streets while you were in prison, but you inherited all of their drug money and their little apartment, where you plan to live out your days rescuing cats and avoiding humans. You never leave your apartment during the day; you only go out to wander the city streets at 4am every morning, because it’s the best time of night to find homeless cats.

Frankie Fogelstein

You are the spouse of a senator who has just been murdered and today you’ve been called in for questioning. When the detective asks you questions, your goal is to answer them as quickly and honestly as possible to prove your innocence. You don’t expect there will be any problems with clearing your case because you have a consistent daily routine and an unblemished reputation. Every weekday morning you wake up at 6:00am, swim laps at the indoor pool at your house, then drive to the hospital where you work as a heart surgeon. On the day of the murder you were at work, except during your lunch break when you left to have a salad and a coffee at your favorite café. This is your first time stepping foot outside your Suburban home since the murder. You were mobbed by the media all the way through Manhattan and now you’re thinking about the photos that will appear in tomorrow’s paper. Being married to a senator means you are always worrying about appearances and how people will judge you for the clothes you wear, the places you go, the things you do, and even the expressions on your face. From the time your parents sent you away to an elite boarding school as a child, you’ve been trained to worry about appearances and the proper way to behave, but there is no etiquette guide for dealing with murder. Although you were married to the murdered senator, you both were so consumed by your careers that you often felt like strangers. You married him three years ago because he was exactly what your parents pictured for you: suave, successful and well-connected. You didn’t believe in true love because in your experience life had a way of making sure that you fell in love with the only the most impractical, unsuitable person- like one dreamy summer when you were in love with the gardener who worked at your parents’ country club. Pressed between the pages of your favorite book, you still have the forget-me-not flowers the gardener gave you on the day you left to go back to medical school.

Dr. Lane Livingston

Billie Pennington

You are the owner of a successful cleaning company in New York City and you’ve been called in for questioning today because a Senator has just been murdered in his office which you cleaned on the morning of the murder. When the detective asks you questions, your goal is to answer them as quickly and honestly as possible to prove your innocence. You don’t care about politics, you never vote, and you actively avoid reading the news because you prefer focusing on the little problems, not the big ones. You started your own cleaning company because cleaning is like therapy to you. You notice every little speck of dirt and dust wherever you go and you feel an obsessive compulsion to clean everything, all the time. You take joy in the sight of crystal clear windows, shiny floors, and sparking countertops. You would never murder anyone because blood and dead bodies are terribly annoying to clean up. Just the thought of all those bodily fluids everywhere gives you anxiety. You happily live alone in a beautiful top-floor apartment, which you take great pride in decorating in a minimalist, bright, and modern style. Your prized possessions include a beautiful collection of tropical fish in a large tank which you clean every other day, and a grand piano which you use to practice classical music in your spare time. On the day that the senator was murdered, you cleaned his office at 6:00am, just like you did on Monday and Thursday every week. As usual, you left before the senator arrived for his workday but that day you noticed that someone had just left a gift basket of fresh produce outside the office door.

Ready?

He was poisoned with toxic chemicals solanine, hyoscine, and atropine, which are found in a plant called deadly nightshade. The plant is also called “Bella Donna”- meaning beautiful lady, because it was used for blush and pupil dilation in the middle ages. Juice from at least a dozen berries was found in the victim’s stomach.

The victim was a politician: Senator Scumbey, infamous for his involvement in a thwarted attempt at racial gerrymandering and for recently upholding a bill which allows politicians to pay for sexual assault settlements with taxpayer money.

You are a New York City detective. You are in your mid-twenties and this is the first murder case that you’ve ever been assigned to. Since you were a little kid you dreamed of solving mysteries and catching bad guys, and this is your big moment- don’t screw it up. You are in the room with six suspects, one of whom is the murderer. You will need to question them to figure out who the murderer is before time runs out. Click on each clue below to discover information you will need to solve the case.

A clump of dirt from the murderer’s shoe was found at the scene, which didn’t come from within the New York city streets, but from somewhere with more nutrient-rich soil.

A few cat hairs were also found at the scene, and no cats or cat owners are known to visit there.

The senator’s office had been cleaned Monday morning at 6:00am, just before he arrived for the day, and he did not leave his office before being murdered early Monday afternoon.

The office has its own private bathroom, locked storage closet, and kitchenette area with a fridge and sink. Residue from the deadly nightshade berries was also found in a smoothie blender left dirty in the sink, and in a bag of frozen blueberries in the freezer.

Announce to everyone that you are the detective, then start the timer and being questioning your suspects.

Drew Novak

Jordan Shepard

You were the former intern of a senator who was just murdered and you’ve been called in today for questioning. You are fresh college graduate, a political science and history major, living in New York City with your roommate and your dog. You are not exactly feeling sad that the senator has died, because he was known for his involvement in racial gerrymandering and for upholding a bill to allows politicians to pay for their own sexual assault settlements with taxpayer money. You quit being his intern when he grabbed your ass in his office one day, but you didn’t tell anyone except your older sibling because you doubted anyone would believe you and you didn’t want to deal with the hassle of publicity and pressing charges. You really don’t want to be here today because you are missing an important day at your new job. You are now working as the lead assistant for a rival senator, whose political values and morals align much better with your own. You have one older sibling who also lives in NYC and works at an upscale Farm-to-Table Restaurant. In your free time you love binge-watching Netflix comedy series with your roommate and hiking with your Golden Retriever, Stella. Every morning around 6am you and Stella go running in Central Park. You are definitely a dog person, and definitely NOT a murderer. When the detective asks you questions, your goal is to answer them as quickly and honestly as possible to prove your innocence and get out of here.