Murder Mystery at The Met

"Who wants to pay $46 to play a murder mystery game at the Met?!"

That's the text my friend Kristine sent me a week before the event. My mind immediately calculated the number of things I could purchase with $46:
- 3 movie tickets
- 23 iTunes tracks
- dinner
- cab fare...

Obviously, I was trying to talk myself out of it. But everyone I ran it past, thought it sounded like fun. I actually thought it sounded hard. I was afraid they were going to make me act out a persona, like a live action Clue or that wonky day at Dunder Mifflin. I also thought there would be pressure to contribute from my fellow teammates. I mean, I haven't "solved" anything in 7 years, having finished all mathematical and deductive problems in high school, so I was pretty sure I was going to suck at this. Ultimately, my mom and my bff convinced me to go, and the Met pried 46 pesos out of my tightly-gripped fingers. As for the pressure, I figured I would just be the comic relief slash cheerleader if nothing else.

When I first arrived, Kristine introduced me to her college buddies, Steph and Yedi. Our first task was to name our team. Steph wanted The Fantastic Four, but then squealed when she heard Yedi's suggestion, Rockapella. I suck at naming things, which you might agree with if you find this blog's name to be lame, so I was happy with whatever. But by the suggestions that these ladies were churning out, I knew I already liked them.

Once we were all branded and united under a common goofy name, the event coordinator from Watson Adventures, the company who runs the game, gathered us for mystery orientation. She gave us clues, waivers, and team sheets. Uhhh, signing a waiver that says the Met is not responsible for anything that happens to you during a murder mystery game is a little unnerving. There were muttered jokes about the likelihood that one of us would be the actual victim. I was happy she was going over the mystery details and games instructions, because I'm an unbelievably slow reader and it was hard to concentrate among all the excited chatter. The giant number on the front of our clue sheets denoted the question number to start with. Ours was 6. Afraid I was going to screw this up, I immediately started pounding her with questions--one of which being "What about questions 1-5?" Turns out, to prevent cheating, overlapping, or overhearing, they start each group at different numbers and then you have to circle back to finish off the ones you "skipped." Seems easy enough.

After the Q&A portion was over, we all playfully bolted towards our respective starting lines. Each clue starts with directions on how to get to the piece of artwork where the answer is hidden. Our first question brought us to a room with religious paintings and statues. The clue asked something like "There are 12 of these men and one is not like the other." So I thought, What religious painting involves 12 men? Thankfully, my mom's Roman Catholic and I immediately thought of The Last Supper. Calling the girls over so we could examine the painting, we realized that one man didn't have a crown, Judas. But Yedi corrected me and called it a halo. Later, we discovered that being exact would be crucial to finding the murderer. My favorite clues were the ones that involved cool paintings/sculptures, like the memento mori (left). The clues I hated were the ones we couldn't find because of confusing directions. At the end, we went over our clues and discovered an anagram. Once we were triumphant, we had to figure out a motive. Duh! Power! Every villain's kryptonite/Achilles heel/Rosebud.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, we raced towards the finish line to discover the events coordinator sitting all alone near an Egyptian temple. We were 1st! I'm not a natural born gloater, but these girls were. They were ready to crown themselves and take a victory lap. We spent the rest of the time taking pictures in front of a temple and filling out opinion surveys.

Once the other groups arrived, the events coordinator calculated each of the groups' points and with an implied drumroll announced that two groups won: Womp! There It Is (the new name Steph and Yedi came up with while we waited, lol) and Asian Invasion. We were tied! Eager to win the mysterious prize, we waited with baited breath for the tie-breaking question: "How many possible endings are there to the game of Clue?" WHAAAAT??!! Who the ffff..?" Only two members of my group had ever played Clue, so we were at a disadvantage. Not to mention, I was never any good at probability. In the end, the group that guessed closest to the number won. And that group was...Asian Invasion. Their prize? T-shirts with modern hieroglyphics spelling out "Watson." Bummer, I know. But still, the most fun I've ever had at a birthday party.

Photos courtesy of Karrie Anne Ducusin and DanielMitsui.com (memento mori)