Whodunit

Being my favourite subject both to read as well as watch, I have had the privilege to attend a different kind of party the other night. The pair of us got invited to a weekend party at my colleague’s place which had a theme to it. We were given invitations which had an introduction to the kind of night we would be entertained with, as well as the dress code. Normally, the dress code for a dinner party in an English household would be evening gown for ladies and dinner jacket with a bow tie for men but we were in for a surprise – my costume was a waitress gear from top to bottom with the half white apron and a colourful waistcoat with a punk hairdo for the dude.

Well, the story begins in such a way that guests are invited to an island named Isythia in Turkey and the timeline is of 1875 after the Crimean war for the grand opening of Thistledome Manor Hotel. The host Hector Sprocket had made sure that all the parties arrive in time for the opening of the hotel. The plot starts with the murders of the host Mr. Sprocket and one of the guests Lady Grey on the opening night of the hotel. Mysteriously all the guests and the employees had a motive to kill the host and the task of the cast and crew at hand is to find who had done it. The plot unfolds all the dark secrets being held by the guests and also the entangled relationship between the waitress and the host and the maid and one of the guest couples.

I commend the ingenious effort of my colleague in writing a ten scene script over a period of six months and also making sure of the flow of character from one to the other. I was surprised at the commitment of the guests as well. Even though it was supposed to be a weekend summer night, each of us was flared up with enthusiasm till the end of scene ten. The crowd enjoyed the spread and the punch kept flowing through the scenes to quench the thirst of the dialogue readers. None of us knew the script in advance but the flow was never compromised. When it was time to make educated guesses as to whodunit it was a classic tumble down the molehill. None of us could get the plot right for both the murders.

However, I won the prize for getting close to exposing the murderer; there were two other prizes for the best costume and best orator. It was a fun filled night with a group of audience to encourage the protagonists and an overall success for my colleague. I think it takes immense attention to detail and loads of skill to succeed in an act like this. This experience gave an impression to my colleagues that I could rightly guess any murder plot, but I myself know the truth that any average reader of Agatha Christie could do what I had done.