2014 MURDER MYSTERY – FRIENDS OF ROUND ROCK LIBRARY (5 April
2014)
The first year I went to the
“Murder Mystery” put on by Friends of Round Rock Public Library was back in
2012, when the CenTex Writer’s Group had mentioned it. Turns out these plays had been going on for a
decade now, and I don’t recall hearing about them. It’s possible that I read about them, but
couldn’t get anyone interested in going with so ended up passing on them. On the other hand, not living in Round Rock,
I probably paid no attention to what went on there (whether or not it was
reported on Channel 8 or in a Community
Impact-type of publication).
The 2012 presentation was called
“Dangerous Habits.” I’d made
arrangements to go the Friday night dinner showing with my parents, and then
would be at the Sunday afternoon showing with my writer’s group. That plan worked out well, because as I was
suckered by every red-herring the play had, I needed to watch it a second time
in order to see what I missed. I admit
the main problem was having a nun that knew too much about forensics and police
procedure. That didn’t make me think of
“Sister Steve” from Father Dowling
Mysteries, but more like “Suite Sister Mary” from Operation: Mindcrime. Turned
out the nun was more of the Scooby-Doo type of amateur sleuth, not someone with a shady past. I don’t remember what the rest of the play
was about as I frakked it up so bad.
When I came back on Sunday, the
cast remembered me from the prior showing.
I was very upfront to point that I was seeing another show to catch what
I missed and no amount of bribery from my peeps would make me divulge any info. One thing I noticed between the two shows was
something that appeared to be a massive goof ended up a “part-of-the-act.” The sound girl has missed a cue (as it
appeared that she was texting at the time), and was chewed out by the actor on
stage. None of the audience realized it
was a put-on, and I think it deflated the room a little. Once I saw them do the exact same thing on
the subsequent showing, I them figured out what was going on.
The 2013 presentation was called
“Curl Up and Dye,” and was set in a salon (obviously). I went to
see that on the Sunday afternoon show with the writer’s group, even though we
all filled our sheets independent of each other. Turned out that myself and two people who sat
near me all got the answer, and we weren’t even sharing information. The prize was a free book from the library’s
sell pile. That worked out good for me,
as I found a Jimmy Buffet autobiography which had been on my Amazon list. I also bought one of the available shirts,
which had the titles of the plays for the past decade.
The 2014 presentation was “An OPun
and Shut Case.” I went with the writer’s
group again (but most ended up bailing at the last minute, leaving Mike with
some extra tickets that he’d previously paid for). When we came in this time, there was nothing
on the tables to give a hint as to what was going on like there had been in
previous years (autopsy reports, background evidence, and such).
The story focused on a police
department’s murder investigation, and when there was a second murder, it
appeared the Police Chief was behind it.
To me, the Chief was clearly innocent, so who was the real culprit? Without spoiling it here (in case you ever
get a chance to see this), I figured out who the killer of the first victim was,
complete with all the gory aspects (because that’s how my brain operates). “Person A did it this way, because that’s how
I’d do it.”
On the fill-out sheet, I noted
who I thought did the second murder, and then crossed it out in favor of
another person. I had the "how" figured,
but the "why" wasn’t completely worked out.
I tried to weigh all the facts, but in the end I didn’t add anything
else except for a quick note about “Person A” was working under the direction
of “Person B.”
Keep in mind there was a major
prize on the line for this one: A
ride-along with an officer of Round Rock Police Department. The
winner would be given the officer’s personal card, so he could be called to
have the arrangements made. At the beginning
of the play when this announced by the Library Associate she said the
ride-along would be in the front seat. I
commented that I’ve never ridden in the “front of the police car.” The Library Associate smiled, and said she
didn’t want to know about that. (Mike
quipped in that I’d ridden in the trunk a couple times.)
Now it is true I did ride in the back of a
cop car (not counting the Public Safety pick-up at Plattsburgh for my drunken stumbling
around). When Mum still worked for the
insurance company in Fort
Edward
The third act of the play
happened, and all was revealed. “Person
A” did everything independently, not under anyone’s direction. Ah, so close!
Mike joked that perhaps I’d get an honorable mention. When it was time to announce who’d gotten it
correct, the Library people said it was a hard decision and they considered
doing two winners and letting them fight over who gets the ride-along, but in
the end there could be only one. (Since
there were other puns used through the play, no surprise for that one.)
In second place, they announced my name. First place went a lady at the next table
over. I got handed a certificate (as
well as the copy of the sheet I’d filled out initially). They needed the sheet back, but I was able to
glance at it and see the underlined part about “Person B.” Yup, that’s what sunk me. No matter, as I had fun doing this. If the cops were still hanging about, I would’ve
asked to see if I could’ve gotten a ride-along anyway as a consolation prize.
Since I’ve had so much fun doing
these, I made the comment to Mike that how I missed going to these since it
started around the time I arrived in Austin . Going forward, I hope to be able to hit all
subsequent years as long as I’m in the area.
Informational Links:
Friends of Round Rock Public
Library: http://roundtherocktx.com/2014/03/friends-round-rock-public-library-meeting-april-14-2014.html
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