SUPERSTAR MURDER MYSTERY an Interactive Drama Live Action Freeform Role Playing Scenario for 11 players (5 male and 6 female) written by Janice Chung and Tony Wang Written as an assignment in English Composition Two, an English as a Foreign Language course taught for juniors by Brian David Phillips in the Department of English at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, Spring Semester, 1996. Copyright 1996 by Janice Chung and Tony Wang. INTRODUCTION Mariah Carley, the famous star, was found dead in her own bed on the date of April 5 in the morning in the Hilton Hotel, Tokyo. She was there for her world tour in Tokyo on April 4 and 6. She and her staff arrived in Tokyo a couple days before the concert was held. According to the autopsy, she was murdered by some kind of poison. The time of death was about 2 to 4 o'clock in the morning on April 5. Before she was dead, there were eleven people who had been with her in the party held in Mariah's room during the night of April 4 - celebrating the great success of the first day of live performances. These people are all suspects in the murder of Mariah because each had the chance to poison her. All of them are now trying to figure out who the killer is in order to clear themselves. RULES Each of the players has to use the public background to introduce themselves in the beginning of the game, then follow the clues for each act to find answers and collect information by talking to one another. Players should not reveal their secret background information unless asked directly about it. All players must tell the truth when asked about their background - except for the killer, the killer may lie. The most important thing of all is that only the killer can lie. So the steps are as follows: read the introduction, pick up the character, introduce each other, Act One, Act Two, and find the killer. CHARACTER PUBLIC BACKGROUND: PUBLIC BACKGROUND: SIMON STONE: You are the husband of Mariah. You're 59 years old. You married Mariah three years ago. You are the boss of the record company, and you want to make Mariah the most popular star in the world. Although you're old, you're strong in your mind and very ambitious in the expansion of the company. You also take sleeping pills because of the pressure. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: TOM HENRY: You are 25 and the composer and good friend of the deceased. You two have known each other since high school. You used to have a band, and Mariah was the vocals. Also you are the boyfriend and high school classmate of Eve, the personal secretary. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: ANTONIO PEDROS: You are 24 and the bodyguard of the deceased. You are a handsome tall young guy. You immigrated from Italy to America when you were 20. And you want to go to college after you have saved some money. And you work with you partner, John, very well. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: JOHN MILLER: You're 23 and graduated from college a year ago. You've learned martial arts in high school and that's why you got the job as a bodyguard. You are looking for a better job. You are tall and attractive, and you really have a model's face that could grace the cover of a magazine. And you get along with Antonio very well. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: TIFFANY JONES: You are 23 and a pretty woman. You 're also a singer but you are not as famous as the deceased. You are in the same company with Mariah. You went to the concert because you want to learn how to be a superstar by watching Mariah. Amanda, the make-up artist is your closest friend. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: BOB CARTER: You are 28 and the coach of the deceased. You instruct her how to exercise. Although you are Annie's boyfriend, you adore Mariah very much. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: EVE MORE: You are 25 years old and Mariah's personal secretary. Tom Henry is your boyfriend. Mariah and Tom are both your former high school classmates. You deal with everything for Mariah. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: ANNIE LANE: You're Mariah's 25-year-old hairdresser and have worked for her about 5 years. Mariah is satisfied with your work and you're also satisfied with the salary. Bob Carter is your boyfriend. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: AMANDA DOVE: You're 26 and Mariah's make-up artist. Tiffany is your closest friend. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: CATHY FOSTER: You're a 20-year-old college student and Debbie is your elder sister. Because Debbie is Mariah's confidante, you have had the chance to meet Mariah and have become her loyal fan. PUBLIC BACKGROUND: DEBBIE FOSTER: You're 23 years old and Cathy is your younger sister. You are a confidante of Mariah. And you work in the record company. CHARACTER SECRET BACKGROUND: SECRET BACKGROUND: SIMON STONE: Actually you know Mariah and Tom have been having an affair and you've warned them to stop. You have even told Eve about their relationship. The reason why you still keep this marriage is because you simply don't love Mariah and just want to make use of her to make more money for the company. To tell the truth, you are a bisexual. You are crazy about John, and "pay" him a lot of money to have sex with you. A few days ago, you quarreled with John's lover, Antonio, just to harass him. And you warned him that you would fire him. SECRET BACKGROUND: TOM HENRY: Actually you have been having an affair with the deceased. Simon had told Eve about your affair with Mariah. You lied to Eve that you had already broken up with Mariah, but in fact the relationship still continued. SECRET BACKGROUND: ANTONIO PEDROS: You used to be a gangster in Italy, but you've changed You are a homosexual and are in love with John. The reason why you want to go to college is because you want to keep up with John, who has a college degree. You know your boss, Simon, is crazy about John, so you hate him very much. A few days ago you argued with him over John, and he threatened to fire you. SECRET BACKGROUND: JOHN MILLER: You are a homosexual and love Antonio very deeply, but you're a material boy - you love money more. And that's why you sleep with Simon who gives you a lot of money for your favors. You do not want this to be known, especially because it would hurt Antonio. SECRET BACKGROUND: TIFFANY JONES: Your father was killed accidentally by Mariah's father in a car accident because your father was drunk and jaywalked across the street. Mariah's father wanted to pay compensation, but your mother didn't accept his help as she wanted him to regret the accident for the rest of his life. You loved your father so much that you decided to get your revenge after you had grown up. Unfortunately, Mariah's father died a few years ago. So, in that case, you decided to wreak your revenge upon his daughter -- also because you are jealous for her great achievements. You told Amanda your father was killed in a car accident but did not mention that it is related to Mariah. SECRET BACKGROUND: EVE MORE: In fact, you are the killer. After Simon had told you about an affair between Mariah and Tom, your boyfriend, you became very upset and warned Tom to leave Mariah. Tom told you that they broke up, but later in the night before the first day of the concert, which was April 3, you saw Tom and Mariah in the bed naked. You became out of control because of this damned deception. So you took the chance of purchasing sleeping pills for Simon and Mariah before the party, you bought poison and that killed Mariah after she took the poison capsules as sleeping pills. SECRET BACKGROUND: BOB CARTER: You've written a love letter to Mariah and told her of your admiration. But the letter was sent back. Because of this, you felt insulted and had a quarrel with Mariah. Also, you are a peeping Tom. You used to peep on Mariah when she was with you or she was alone. SECRET BACKGROUND: ANNIE LANE: Although Bob never admits that he loves Mariah more than he loves you, you can tell his alienation from you. You didn't know the truth for certain until you saw Bob had written a love letter to Mariah. Of course, you were sad and upset about his treachery and felt jealous of Mariah, but you preferred to wait to see what would happen next. Finally, Mariah rebuffed Bob's intimate overtures. You accepted Bob back into your heart but a hatred of Mariah took root. SECRET BACKGROUND: AMANDA DOVE: Tiffany once told you that her father died in an car accident and she couldn't forgive the killer. She knew the killer and his family and wanted to take revenge for her father. But she never mentioned who they were. You are Tiffany's best friend. Tiffany helped you when you were in trouble before. So you are willing to do anything for her. SECRET BACKGROUND: CATHY FOSTER: You used to be crazy about Mariah until the celebration party. While the party was being held, Mariah came into the toilet and mistook you for your elder sister, Debbie, because of your similar voices. Mistaking your identity, Mariah started to complain about her fans. She said the coarseness of the fans made her sick and if she didn't have to keep a friendly image, she would throw all of her fans out of her sight. Also when Mariah was ready to leave, she asked you if you had some drugs to take because she was very tired. After hearing Mariah's secrets, you collapsed. What Mariah truly is was so different from what you had always thought she was like. You left the spot at once and returned to your hotel room. You destroyed everything you had regarding Mariah -- her records, her photos, etc.. Your out-of-control behavior was not only out of disappointment but also because of your inclination towards violent behavior. SECRET BACKGROUND: DEBBIE FOSTER: At the party on April 4, you saw Cathy leave rather hurriedly in tears. You knew there had to be something wrong with your sister and immediately followed her to the hotel room. In the room, Cathy tore all of Mariah's photos into pieces and threw her records onto the floor. You tried to find out why Cathy was so angry, but Cathy just told you that her ideal idol was "no more" and she cursed Mariah as a big liar. You don't know what happened between Cathy and Mariah. All you could do was to comfort her and calm her down. Then, you returned to the party. ACT ONE: ACT ONE: SIMON STONE: You asked Eve to buy some sleeping pills for you just before the party was going to be held. Reveal this. At the end of Act One, read Evidence One, Mariah's diary, which you have found in her room. ACT ONE: TOM HENRY: Just before the party, you saw Eve leaving the hotel. Reveal this. ACT ONE: ANTONIO PEDROS: You found out that there was a large deposit of money in John's account a few days ago. ACT ONE: JOHN MILLER: Simon once told you that he did not love Mariah, he only wanted to gain money from her. Reveal this. Simon gave you a lot of money which you put in your account, you don't have to admit to this now. You can just lie that it's the legacy from you uncle. ACT ONE: TIFFANY JONES: Cathy, the fan, kept telling you how much she adored Mariah, she's just like a goddess to her. Reveal this. After the end of Act One and Evidence One has been revealed, you must admit to the relationships between Mariah and yourself when you are asked. ACT ONE: EVE MORE: Mariah wanted you to hand back a letter from Bob, you read it, it's a love letter he wrote to Mariah which she refused. Reveal this interesting bit of information. Also you can't lie about buying pills for Simon because he asked you to buy them. ACT ONE: BOB CARTER: Mariah had told you that she thought Simon didn't love her anymore and she felt disappointed about their relationship. To keep the marriage was just for their cooperation in business. Both of them had learned to live their own individual lives. Why not reveal the message to others? ACT ONE: ANNIE LANE: Why don't you tell everyone that Bob is a Peeping Tom? You saw him peeping into Mariah's bedroom window on more than one occasion. Maybe this is involved with Mariah's death. ACT ONE: AMANDA DOVE: Tell everyone about the death of Tiffany's father and try to find out more details about this. ACT ONE: CATHY FOSTER: Tiffany had revealed her jealousy of Mariah to you and said " I will replace Mariah one day. " Tell others about this. ACT ONE: DEBBIE FOSTER: Tell others about Cathy's crazy behavior after leaving the celebration party. Why don't you ask Cathy the reasons for her changed attitudes toward Mariah? EVIDENCE ONE: MARIAH'S DIARY April 1, Wed. Although Father has been gone for two years, I think of him often. He was a good father and also a good person. The most pitiful thing that every happened to him was a car accident left a man dead. Although it wasn't his fault, he felt sorry for the death. He tried his best to compensate the wife and the daughter of the dead man, but they refused to accept any assistance from the "murderer" of their dear one, and wanted Father to suffer throughout the rest of his life. I know their curse really worked and Father's conscience tortured him until he died. I'll never forget what he told me just before dying, he asked me to find out whatever happened to that poor family and help them by any means. That's what he couldn't achieve when he was alive and I hope I do something for them to help him rest in peace. I've been looking for this family for two years and have gotten nowhere. All I know about them is that the daughter is about twenty years old now. I don't know if I can ever find them but I'll keep trying until I do. May God help me and my father. ACT TWO: ACT TWO: SIMON STONE: The night of April 3, you saw Eve from a distance - she stood in front of the door of Mariah's room, then a few seconds later she ran away with tears streaming down her face. ACT TWO: TOM HENRY: You spent all night with Mariah before the first day of the concert. ACT TWO: ANTONIO PEDROS: Annie, Bob's girlfriend, once told you that she hated Mariah because Bob was still crazy about her. And she said, " I wish she were dead!" ACT TWO: JOHN MILLER: Antonio told you that if Simon still harassed you or even smiled at you, he would do something bad to him. ACT TWO: TIFFANY JONES: A few days ago you saw Simon arguing with Antonio, Simon warned him that he would fire him. ACT TWO: EVE MORE: If someone asks you about "crying and leaving Mariah's room," this is because you saw Tom and Mariah in bed together. Answer truthfully. ACT TWO: BOB CARTER: You knew Mariah's physical condition was not good, she took drugs to keep her energy. Although you knew it did damage to Mariah's health, you could do nothing because of the approach of her live show. Also, because of the burden of work and pressure in the business and her personal life, Mariah often suffered from sleeplessness at night and had to take sleeping pills. ACT TWO: ANNIE LANE: You'd complaint to Antonio that you couldn't stand to work for Mariah any more because of jealousy. Tiffany had praised you that you were good at hairdressing and maybe someday you can work for her. ACT TWO: AMANDA DOVE: You found a letter which Simon wrote to John in John's room. Read the letter: Evidence Two. ACT TWO: CATHY FOSTER: Tell everyone Amanda had told you she would do anything for Tiffany. Try to find out what this means. ACT TWO: DEBBIE FOSTER: Tell others about Cathy's crazy behavior on the night of April 4. EVIDENCE 2: A LETTER The letter was sent from Simon to John. It was accidentally found by Amanda, the make-up artist, in the room of John Miller. Dear John: I really miss you. Have you received the money I remitted to you? If that's not enough, just go ahead and tell me. I know you love Antonio very much, but for money's sake, leave him! He's so poor that he can't give you everything you want, but I will try my best to please you. You are the only thing that's important to me. A few days ago, I quarreled with Antonio. How dare he threaten to do something bad to me? You may tell him that if he really does, I could make him pay dearly for what he has done to me. I told him the only reason he's still here is because of you. Oh my dear, I really miss the pleasure you gave me! We should get together more often. love, Simon April 2 SOLUTION: CONFESSION OF EVE When Simon told me Tom had an affair with Mariah, I couldn't believe it. Both of them are my former classmates and I didn't believe they would do this to me. So I went to ask Tom to try to get the truth. Tom regretted what he had done immediately and assured me he had broken up with Mariah. Because I love him very much, I forgave both of them. But on the evening of April 3, I saw both of them naked on the bed and talking about their coming success and Mariah's live show the next day. They decided to go public with their relationship after the show. I was totally devastated and ran away unnoticed by them. In my heart, a the seeds for murder had been sown. The next day after the successful show, Mariah asked me to remember to buy sleeping pills for her because her supply was running low. At the same time, Simon also asked me to buy some for him. Before the celebration party began, I went out to the drug store and bought two bottles of hypnotics and some fatal poison. I returned to the hotel and filled the medical capsules with the poison replacing the medical powder. Then I went to join the party and stealthily entered Mariah's room and exchanged the last two capsules left in Mariah's old medical bottle with the capsules which I had prepared for her. And two capsules was how much Mariah took every night. After finishing my work, I returned to the party and did what I would normally do. The party continued until midnight. After it ended, I apologized to Mariah for forgetting to buy hypnotics for her and expressed my relief after hearing that she still had some. Before I left, I promised again and again that I would surely remember tomorrow. Everything as I expected, Mariah took the last two capsules of " hypnotics " and slept forever. Finis.