When the Clock Strikes Murder

Johanna, aka Jamie Bond, is ready for the party

       We have now survived our second birthday party in Geneva, and are home free until September (I guess unless Eric or I decide we want a party). This one was relatively easy, because early-teen girls are really pretty cooperative. It was also quite fun, even for me as a spectator. I had suggested to Johanna that she might consider a murder mystery party, and she jumped on the idea. For the uninitiated, one can purchase kits for these parties online and they include characters (usually with goofy names like Yuna Vers -- the astronaut -- and Cheque Penne -- the banker), clues, and directions for hosting a party. While setting up such a party (particularly a dinner party, as we had) requires some effort, it is nowhere near as challenging as, say, coming up with a complex treasure hunt. Johanna liked this particular kit because it required the guests to come dressed for a masquerade ball.

Roxy Rich (5 times a widow -- her wealthy husbands all died in mysterious circumstances), Mag Niffie (thinks she's the greatest), and Jacky T. Pressen (dry cleaner) en masque

Yuna Vers

Pepper Keegrip (TV producer) with Jamie Bond. Jamie/Johanna is eating a deviled egg, which I learned how to make  especially for the party. Johanna loves deviled eggs. I do not. At least they are pretty simple to make.

      We opened with appetizers and punch in the carnotzet. I was delighted to be able to use the room as it is intended. We even had the guests enter thorough the carnotzet door, and Eric played bartender. They opened their first clues, chatted, and played human bingo, rewarded by the Migros version of Starburst. Then came what was, for me, the highlight of the evening -- the dance competition. The kit suggested this game; we never would have thought of it, since, except for Luc, we're not big into dancing. It was hilarious, though. I put the guests into four groups and gave each group a style of dance (they drew country, 80s, and ballet). They then had 10 minutes to prepare a routine to Taylor Swift's, "Tell Me Why." Everyone was focused, competitive, and sporting about the whole thing.

The Ballet Team

The Country Dance Team

The 80s Dance Team

       I think Eric declared the 80s team the winner  (rewarded by sour gummies). We then moved to the dining table, where guests were served salad, bread, spaetzle, and their next clues. Drew (having -- characteristically -- opted to attend the party in a more casual and behind-the-scenes fashion than his brother and sister) had made a movie quotes quiz to amuse the party goers between discussion of clues and bites of spaetzle. Again, the winners received gummy candy. It's a good thing they weren't a few years younger, or they would have been growing rambunctious from sugar consumption by this point. Halfway through dinner, Lucas (Sherlock Tracy) left the room, as instructed on his clue. He came back, his face white with paint, a paper sparking cider bottle (complete with bloodstain) taped to his head and a sign that read, "Someone at this party is wretched and killed me!" That's when the fun really started. Armed with another round of clues and "fingerprint results" the guests tried to figure out who was the culprit.

Everyone is growing suspicious. The one on the right is Cha Cha Merengue (dance teacher, of course).

The guests study their clues. That's Bameril Lacrosse (chef), Dolly Dee Seiner (doll designer), Cheque Penne, and Yuna Vers.

Lucas (Sherlock Tracy) in his "victim" attire. The detective turned out to be the victim!

      In the end, over bowls of trifle, the murderer finally confessed. DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE END! Bameril Lacrosse, the famous chef, had killed Sherlock to stop him from telling about Bameril's early disastrous attempts at cooking and his neglect of his pet hamster. Roxy Rich told everyone that, while she hadn't hit Sherlock with the cider bottle, she had accidentally spilled the fast-acting poison from the secret compartment in her ring into the ice drawer, so she hoped that no one had ice in their drink. We rewarded those who had guessed correctly with -- that's right -- more gummy candy. After all, how often does one's daughter celebrate her 14th birthday?
      The party was a success and I think everyone had fun. After a weekend of cooking, cleaning, decorating, cleaning, and entertaining, however,  I was really ready for a break. I miss many things about the U.S. (mostly people, actually), but what I really missed by the end of the weekend was Penn Station Subs -- a place to eat out with casual food that tastes good and doesn't set us back more than 100 chf an outing. It was, however, not to be. Maybe this summer.