Many fools came to Al’s party and they were all hiding something. In the end however, love makes a fool of us all. Unfortunately for Roland Pins, he fell in love with a woman he couldn’t have, Nadia Large. When Roland and Nadia snuck away during the party, Al noticed their absence. Upon looking for them, Al found Roland in his office “entertaining” his wife. When confronted, an altercation erupted between Al and Roland. Roland, never without his non-serrated juggling knives finished the fight, resulting in a laceration to Al’s neck. In Roland and Nadia’s hasty retreat from the office, they left behind some important evidence:
- Roland stepped in Al’s pool of blood leaving a bloody footprint in the office.
- Not the murder weapon, but one of the matching non-serrated juggling knives was accidentally left behind.
- A note setting up the rendezvous between Nadia and Roland in Al’s office had been carelessly thrown in the trash.
- During his struggle with Al, Roland lost a button that ended up at the crime scene.
So how did you do? Hopefully you were able to put the clues together and solve this mystery. If you answered the questions correctly, your answer sheet should look similar to the one below:
1. Who is the killer?
Roland Pins
2. What was the murder weapon?Non-serrated juggling knife
3. What was the killer’s motive?Lust. Roland was sleeping with Nadia Large. Al walked in on them. Roland killed him in a fit of passion.
4. List at least two pieces of physical evidence and how they tie to the murder.
a. P.E. #2, The non-serrated knife found at the crime scene matches the very clean cut to Al Mose Large's neck, shown in the coroner picture. These non-serrated knives are oddly shaped because they are juggling knives owned by Roland Pins.
b. P.E. #4, The trash contained pieces of a “meeting” note signed N. Nadia being the only N titled suspect is placed at the scene of the crime.
c. P.E. #6, The button found at the crime scene matches those on Roland’s shirt. He mentioned it being missing during his alibi speech.
d. P.E. #8, The size 11, men's, left, bloody footprint left at the crime scene matches the left shoe of Roland Pins. Additionally, his left shoe had dried blood still in the crevices.
e. P.E. #9, The juggling pin found at the crime scene was marked with Roland’s initials R.P. and indicated that Roland had been in the study.
5. Who was the killer’s accomplice?
Nadia Large, Al Mose Large’s wife
6. What was the accomplice’s motive?Protecting her lover (Roland Pins) and her inheritance.
See below for some of the trickier clues for Masquerade Madness:
The Break in the Case/Secret Website Page:
http://www.murdermysterymachine.com/secret.html
In the 4/29/09 Just the Facts …. blog the following url was posted: http://www.murdermysterymachine.com/ _ _ _ _ _ _.html
Without the missing letters this url doesn’t help much. But if you find the hidden letters in the images throughout the Masquerade Madness blog posts and the fill in the blanks, it leads to an additional set of clues.
Crossword/Word Find:
If you filled the crossword puzzle out correctly, it should like below:
If you then unscrambled the letters in the red squares, it spelled out CHEATING. In this case, it spells out the motive for the murder (Roland and Nadia’s affair).
THE WINNER IS.......
Thank you all for playing The Murder Mystery Machine’s sample mystery “Masquerade Madness.” We had some amazing answers and think that everyone that participated is a winner. Therefore, we will be sending all participants the most coveted item on earth, the Murder Mystery Machine prize shirt (See below).
One detective's answer stood out as particularly thorough and prosecutable. Congratulations Sheila O.! You were our super sleuth for "Masquerade Madness" and in additional to receiving the greatly coveted Murder Mystery Machine prize shirt you will receive the Super Sleuth Plaque. Great work!
We had a great time with this mystery and we hope you enjoyed it as well. If you liked the online version, we know you will love a live event. The puzzle boxes, live interrogations, and hands on sleuthing really bring the mystery to life and make it even more entertaining.
Our next public mystery is a weekend mystery entitled "Camp Conundrums." It will be held at Serenity Springs in LaPorte, IN during the weekend of June 26th - 28th.
You can book your spot in the mystery by calling Serenity Springs at (219) 861-0000. We look forward to seeing you there!
