They were celebrities, foreign leaders and Capitol Hill high class.
At least for a night.
They had come to Scholar’s, 717 N. College Avenue, to try something new: an interactive murder mystery. The game is the brainchild of Bloomington residents Josh Johnson and Stephanie Cook.
Cook said the idea came to them after they had played a murder mystery box game.
“We liked the idea of having something deductive and interactive,” Cook said.
When asked who had the original idea, both of them had to think.
“I think he actually mentioned it first,” Cook said.
Regardless of who thought of it first, the idea has been successful, Johnson said.
“We’ve had groups as large as 60,” he said. “And there’s been a broad age range from 21 to mid-80s.”
Susan Montgomery and her husband were first-timers who decided to come after reading about it in an email from Scholar’s.
“It just sounded like fun,” Montgomery said.
She wasn’t alone. Carly Patterson said she was a first-timer, too.
“We’ve been trying to do date night for a while,” she said. “This sounded fun.”
After a time of sipping cocktails and enjoying hors d’oeuvres, the game started.
Johnson set the scene.
“The problem is,” he said, looking around. “One of you is a murderer.”
With that, the game began.
People tore open envelopes with their character information, reading up on who they were for the evening. They had names like Tex Hamilton and Brooks Ravensdale. Teams talked strategy.
Then people began to mingle. Some adopted accents. Some couldn’t refrain themselves from giggling at their lines.
Jake Yablonowski was part of the Russian mob. He spoke to another man.
“I’m looking to get a gun,” he said.
Then he laughed.
“I’m really bad at this. What’s your real name?”
After two more rounds of information and strategic mingling, the murderer would be revealed. So would the winner.
Cook said a points system was in place to add some friendly competition.
Johnson said he and Cook felt lucky to be able to do this.
“We’ve actually seen people meet and be friends outside of this setting just because they both came to this,” ?Johnson said.
The mysteries happen once a month, and the theme is subject to change. The next one will take place Feb. 22.
