Scoop R. Duper, a hard-working reporter, had a murder to investigate.
Along with a press pass hanging around his neck, a wire ran from his pocket to his ear. He stood apart from the adults in the room who were desperately trying to figure out who committed the crime. As he realized others weren’t quite grasping the investigation, Scoop got up on a chair and began to rattle off clues to the unsuspecting guests.
As it turns out, the sneaky wire was connected to an amplifier, and the 8-year old murder mystery participant was listening to everyone’s conversations for clues.
At Greenfield resident John Bailey’s weekend murder mysteries, eavesdropping is “absolutely encouraged.” This particular boy’s role is one of Bailey’s favorite memories from his approximately 20 years of hosting weekend murder mysteries at various inns around New England.
It was late 1998 and Bailey was stuck in a rut. He owned and operated the Austin Hill Inn in West Dover, Vt., but faced a problem: no one was making reservations.
Then, a rolled-up poster in the inn’s attic changed everything.
While he was cleaning the attic, he found the poster advertising a weekend murder mystery event.
“The previous owner had done murder mysteries but never mentioned it,” he said.
And the rest is history.
Bailey founded Deadly Fun Events, and thus began the murder and mayhem at the Austin Hill Inn. At first it seemed like a good way to fill rooms during the slow season, but Bailey fell in love with the weekends so much that he made them the main focus of the inn. Guests had the chance to become an actor for the weekend, and they loved the chance to escape.
Bailey, who now lives in Greenfield, owned and operated the inn for almost 15 years and hosted murder mystery weekends for 14 of those — averaging 20 weekends per year and attracting guests from down the coast and across the nation.
He doesn’t pen the scripts himself; he went online to find a script writer and coincidentally found the same writer who worked for the previous owner of the inn. This anonymous writer, who Bailey described as “very talented and reclusive,” explained how the arrangement worked, and from then on, Bailey began marketing his new gig.
The first call he received was from a previous guest who had participated in the mystery weekend with the former owner. Bailey asked the guest to stay an extra night so they could help Bailey learn how the previous owner held the events.
“They are a blast,” Bailey said excitedly about the events. “Just so much fun. It got to the point where we didn’t want to deal with regular guests; we wanted the abnormal, goofy ones.”
At this point, Bailey thinks he’s held a murder mystery weekend at around 100 inns in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.
When a reservation is made, some discreet notes will be made about the participant’s approximate age, gender, sense of humor, whether they are an introvert or extrovert, and any other information that could assist in assigning the best character to them.
Two weeks before a guest’s arrival, they receive a packet with information about their character. Guests aren’t allowed to discuss their packet with anyone else and they aren’t required to memorize any lines. Rather, they are asked to remember some general details and secrets to keep in mind about their character.
No one has to wear a costume, either, but most choose to. Bailey said costumes can be easily found by digging in an attic or going to a local thrift store.
Most importantly, the guests are the actors. There are no hired actors in the crowd, just regular people looking for a weekend of fun.
There are currently six themes ranging in difficulty for guests to choose from. So far, the script writer has penned scripts for a medieval theme, a 1927 gangster theme, a 1942 high society theme, a 1950s sock hop, a 1950s disco and a seasonal Christmas party for the fictional Law Offices of Lie, Cheat and Steal.
After some thought, Bailey determined that his favorite theme is probably the 1927 gangster theme. The gangster and high society themes are more for beginners, and the disco and medieval themes are the most difficult to solve. Guests can’t do the same theme twice.
Guests gather Friday night at a meet and greet to help break the ice.
“It’s a good time for them to bond,” Bailey said.
Saturday night, people gather around 5 p.m. in their costumes for a group photo. From 5:30 p.m. to around 7 p.m., guests do their best to blackmail and bribe each other into releasing their secrets.
“Everyone has skeletons in their closet,” Bailey said with a chuckle.
The goal is to find out everyone else’s secrets without releasing your own. Guests use play money which they disperse throughout the property.
Bailey remembered when he was walking from one room to the other and happened to glance under a table where a guest was crouched.
“I’m listening, go away!” she told him.
“Creative eavesdropping is good,” Bailey said. “(The event) is sinful and deceitful.”
After this period of bribery and eavesdropping, guests gather for dinner “at one big table so everyone can still yell and scream at each other.” In between courses, they have more conversation. After the main course is cleared, a round of toasts are given and the performance begins.
Depending on the theme, the performance could be a singer, a hypnotist, a dancer or similar.
“We’ve had some wonderful performances,” Bailey said. “It kind of sends a shiver up my spine.”
Last year, he gave a man the role of a singer. Bailey met with him before the event to discuss the song and whether or not he needed an aux cord so he could lip sync along. The man refused the cord and said he’d provide the singing a capella style.
“He did a rendition of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ like you’ve never even heard,” Bailey said. “Everyone was looking at me like ‘You knew this!’”
But the fun really begins after dinner.
“At some point there will be a murder or two,” Bailey said.
Also, at this point, guests can use the secrets they’ve uncovered about other guests to determine who has motives and who may have committed the murder.
“That’s when it gets really boisterous,” he said excitedly. “They all start spewing the things they’ve heard.”
A guest is chosen to play the investigator, which can sometimes be the most challenging role. Bailey likens it to “trying to corral a group of kangaroos that don’t want to be corralled.”
“It can be overwhelming,” he said. “Some handle it well, and others decide it’s not their thing.”
Sometimes another guest will jump in and take on the informal role of investigator, but if no one volunteers, Bailey will.
“I love doing it,” he said.
The mystery usually draws to an end around 10 p.m. Bailey hands out ballots for participants to vote who they think committed the murder. Then, Bailey reads the ballots out loud and eventually, the murderer is uncovered.
Lastly, a final round of ballots determines some awards, including “best dressed” and “best actor/actress.” On Sunday, gifts, prizes and “a really corny award certificate” are handed out.
“Then, there are hugs and kisses and we go on our merry way,” Bailey said.
While Bailey usually doesn’t participate in the event, he oversees the night and makes sure everything runs smoothly.
“I am just the facilitator,” he clarified.
Of course, there are some exceptions. One time, the guest who was supposed to play the murder victim canceled the day of the event.
“I stepped in and I got to die,” Bailey said. “It’s much different looking at it from the outside to actually having to be an actor and stay in the role.”
Bailey enjoys the facilitator role, especially since it allows him to intervene when he sees fit.
He remembered one of the 1950s-themed events, where an attendee playing a hypnotist asked if Bailey wanted to be “hypnotized.” He agreed, and the hypnotist swung the pendulum, telling Bailey “you will not charge us for this weekend.”
“Yeah, I snapped out of that one real quick,” he laughed.
Other duties in the facilitator role include making sure the murder happens “at the right time” and making sure that characters set to put on a performance do it at the proper time.
Bailey’s mystery weekends have also ended in happily-ever-afters, too. He fondly remembers one young couple who were dating at the time of their first murder mystery. Soon after, they got engaged. They decided to have their wedding in Vermont, but first the family gathered for a murder mystery instead of a regular rehearsal dinner.
The couple was relatively well-to-do and were able to afford professional photographers and costume designers.
“It was great because I wrote in a part for the future son-in-law to kill his future mother-in-law, just to add a little twist to things,” Bailey said.
The following day, the couple was married in a classic Vermont summer wedding.
“It could not have been more magical,” Bailey said proudly.