The star of the show dies in a three-minute blackout. Was it an accident, or did someone cut the rope?
The Grand Palace Theatre has been packed for six weeks. Tonight, before a full house, Julian Rooke, the most celebrated actor in the city, played the doomed hero of The Last Duel for the hundred-and-twentieth time. Everyone agrees he was magnificent. Everyone also agrees he was impossible: a man who made enemies as easily as he made audiences weep.
The final scene calls for a three-minute blackout, with a single spotlight on Rooke at center stage. At 10:15 the lights fell. At 10:17 there was a groan of rope, a terrible crash and a scream from the dark. When the lights came back at 10:18, the great lighting rig lay across the stage, and Julian Rooke lay beneath it.
The police call it a tragic accident. But a stagehand has just noticed something about the rope. Backstage, four people are waiting for you: the director who needed Rooke's name to fill the seats, the actress who played opposite him, the stagehand who worked the rig and the prompter who watches everything from the wings. The doors are locked and the show is over. Somebody here is still acting.
You can ask six questions in total, to anyone you like. Choose wisely, collect the clues on your board and name the killer. Fewer questions means a higher rank.
You have 6 questions in total. Every answer uses one.
A cut rope, a three-minute blackout, and a cast who all say they were somewhere else. Question them and find the one who was not. You have six questions for twelve possible answers, so you cannot hear everything. Choose the questions that matter, and watch for the clue that does not fit.
This mystery is original fiction, and every character is invented. Try the other cases on the games page, or find out what kind of detective you are.