Murder, mystery, and mayhem

Shocked gasps mingled with laughter as the witnesses began to understand the scene in front of them. Naomi Piper, an obnoxious, award-winning actress, had been bludgeoned to death before their eyes. Lying sideways with blood pooling on her forehead, the once glamorous Naomi became nothing more than a vulnerable human that had endured a terrible fate. And what did onlookers do in this situation? They fed their morbid curiosity by photographing the scene and taking group photos with the body. One young lady even knelt beside Naomi and took a shot of her doing the peace sign for her Instagram.

The lead detective on the case encouraged the commotion and told onlookers to take as many photos as they could. “I need photographs for evidence,” he said, “I need as many photos as we can get and as many angles as possible.”  

That’s when my journalistic instincts kicked in, and I shouldered my way through the crowd, dead set on snapping the best possible pictures. With my adrenaline at an all-time high, I snapped five photos in quick succession. I then looked at all the others that had gathered around the body and remembered something crucial: none of this was real.

I had fallen victim to the excitement of being the first to witness a crime scene and forgotten that this was all staged for my entertainment. There was something rather humorous in it. I had gathered to stare at an actress playing dead with a red jelly-like substance on her forehead. I was also snapping pictures as if I was about to put Jessica Fletcher to shame.

At the same time, there was also something quite eerie about it. Why was I taking pleasure in this fake murder? Why was I unable to look away from a situation that was so frightening? I was determined to find this out.  

Studying to become the perfect sleuth

--> As soon as my confirmation email came through, I set to work. I knew the event was themed around an awards show, and I would need to dress the part. I chose the most appropriate outfit that I could find: a sparkly silver dress that looked far too fancy for everyday wear. Then, I focused on the most important part, which was knowing my place within the mystery.

The email told me I would become a lower-ranking detective surrounded by actors playing suspects or the head detective. I was tasked with helping the head detective review the evidence, interview the suspects, and find the murderer. But that’s all I knew. The rest would become clear at the event.

I decided to document my experience from start to finish so I could see whether I got caught up in the mystery. Before heading to the hotel, I pulled out a camera and started a video diary that began with my expectations of the event:

I’ll admit that I was pretty clueless. I’d never been to one of these events before and I had no idea how involved I’d be in the narrative. I’d recently spoken to a behavioural scientist and author called Coltan Scrivner, and he'd given me a rough idea of what to expect but even he couldn’t fully prepare me.

He told me murder mysteries expose us to uncomfortable situations that make us learn about ourselves and the situations portrayed in a mystery. “You learn not only about how potentially dangerous situations might unfold, but also how you would deal with them if it happened to you,” he said.

He added that people like to enjoy murder mysteries from a distance as this “keeps the learning benefits high, but the potential danger or consequences low.” This told me I should be prepared to see people indulge in the mystery while also find comfort in not being in a real-life scenario. I was interested to see how this might play out and how far people would go to engage with what they were seeing around them. Despite this, I knew that there was no use in guessing; I just had to see it for myself.

A closed case

--> In the face of what we just witnessed, we knew there was one of two conclusions. Either Naomi staged her death to escape prison, or someone killed Naomi so they could keep her quiet. I wasn’t so sure, but the game was coming to an end and I had to make a prediction. I decided to opt for the first conclusion as my heart was set on her being the murderer.

Weirdly enough, I was kind of right, but there was a third conclusion I hadn’t considered. Naomi had murdered Julian, but she hadn’t staged her own death. According to Detective Sergeant John, it was Jeff who had murdered Naomi as he wanted to eliminate the competition for his daughter. I was shocked. I had actually grown quite fond of Jeff.

Who knew? For someone who couldn’t quite understand the obsession with The Traitors I had now become so emotionally invested in my own little murder mystery game. But I wasn’t the only one invested. The dramatic reveal had evoked cheers from the winners and a chorus of “awwws” from the losers.

Catherine McPhillips was the overall winner of the game as she submitted an answer that was closest to the plot. She was awarded a box of chocolates and a certificate that called her a “super sleuth.” When I approached her to ask how she figured it out she said: “I saw he had a bit of violence in him and it just sort of struck me that it was Jeff.”

She was all smiles as she told me that she loved true crime but had never been to an event like this before. “It’s been really good,” she said. "I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Sitting at her table was a family friend that had been to events multiple times. A few of the actors told me this was quite common. In fact, actor Morgan Jermain, who played Alison, said she joined Murder 57 after going to an event. She said she enjoyed interacting with the other actors so much that she applied to work with the company and has been attending events ever since. Max Dickinson, who played Pete, said people continue to engage with murder mystery events because they enjoy having control over the narrative and watching it develop. “A lot of the time, you rewatch a film hoping for an ending that isn’t going to happen,” he said “Events like these are so interactive that you can make a decision on how it’s going to end.” He related this to the Traitors live show by saying, “The live show might be more interactive even in a sense of the votes being counted and the crowd saying ‘oh my god!’ It’s about getting people riled up and getting people heard.”

All this had me thinking that maybe I might find myself returning. While I don’t envision myself becoming an actor any time soon, I think I could envision myself taking on another murder mystery or perhaps joining those around the round table in London this July.

 Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this story and you'd like to see some more of my work, please follow my Instagram @chloe.the.journo