MYSTERY IN TAMSHUI

an Interactive Drama Live Action Freeform Role Playing Scenario
for 11 players (7 male and 4 female)
written by
Irene Teo and Daphne Fung

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 Irene Teo and Daphne Fung.

PLEASE NOTE:
Those playing this game unfamiliar with Chinese naming conventions should take note that the Family name goes first followed by the generational and given names. Thus Lim Sweat Fong's family name is Lim.


RULES:
Each player has to use his or her public background to introduce himself or herself to the other players, that is you have to interact with each other. Keep your secret background unless you're asked. After that, you'll be given two acts, each act provides you with some additional clues, make use of them and reveal them to other players, at the same time, try to find out as much as possible from the other players in order to find out who the murderer is. Remember, only the murderer can lie, the rest must tell the truth. Do well and enjoy yourselves!

INTRODUCTION:
On May 14, a naked female body, mutilated beyond recognition was found lying in a garbage heap near the jetty of Tamshui in Taiwan by a fisherman. It was 4:30 when the fisherman went out fishing. The estimated time of death is May 13 1:00p.m. The dead girl was Jenny Lim, 18 years old, a high school student in Tamshui. An autopsy revealed that the death was due to blood loss and trauma , there were fifty-six knife wounds found on the body. The brain and the heart had been dug out. This abnormal murder is a great shock and cause of fear to the residents of Tamshui County. Police officers are giving high attention to the murder. A great investigation is underway, chief inspector Shu Guo Rong is in charge of the case.

Each of us is a suspect in the murder.

CHARACTERS:
LIM SWEAT FONG 48 MALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, LIM SWEAT FONG
You are the owner of a car repair shop. The father of the deceased and Yong Gian and husband of Mei Lan. You are 48 years old, tall and muscular. You put a lot of effort on your work and your family because you love your family so much that you want to give them the most comfortable life. You don't have an active social life. You had a conflict before with your neighbor, Teng Hui, since then your relationship with him has become worse.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, LIM SWEAT FONG
You fled to Taiwan from Shan Tong province 40 years ago with Shu Wen Wei during war time, that was when you were 8 years old, your parents died in the war. Wen Wei treat you like his son. He took care of you until you graduated from high school.

You underwent a gloomy childhood, you were being abused by your father constantly. This has always been a nightmare to you. After you graduated from high school, you started your business on a shoestring. You over-protect your family. You keep close tabs on your son and daughter all the time. You are so afraid of losing your family, you want to keep them comfortable. You despise yourself so as to mend your unhappy childhood but you want to be strong internally and externally. However, unfortunately your wife is a workaholic, you don't enjoy your sex life. Therefore, you tried several times to take an advantage of your maid.

You are the murderer. In fact, you developed schizophrenia some 25 years ago before you were married. You've turned to a doctor for short-term treatment. No one knows about this. You seem normal to others. One day, when you discovered from your daughter's diary that she had an affair with Tan Jian Ping and she hated to be restricted under your strict education, it was like a bolt from the blue to you, your potential schizophrenia was again excited. You lost your mind and killed Jenny in a store room of your shop.

ACT ONE, LIM SWEAT FONG
Your wife always comes home late. You followed her one evening and found that she has a close relationship with a man.

ACT TWO, LIM SWEAT FONG
One evening, you stayed at home alone. Suddenly, you saw Yong Gian went out from Teng Hui's house.

SHU MEI LAN 46 FEMALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, SHU MEI LAN
You are 46 years old. You are daughter of Shu Wen Wei, sister of Shu Guo Rong and wife of Lim Sweat Fong. You are the mother of deceased girl and Yong Gian. You are a very successful lawyer, you pay so much attention to your work that you neglect your family. You have an active social life.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, SHU MEI LAN
You're frigid. But once when your son told you to watch out against your maid, Mei Lan, for her secret relations with your husband, you then become suspicious of it. You secretly found out that the affair is real.

You were Jian Ping defense lawyer 6 years ago, but you lost the case. Jian Ping has been intimidating you not to interfere with his relationship with your daughter or he is going to unveil the truth that you embezzled money, because you always want to be rich, to have your own law firm. You are having an affair with Shui Yuan.

ACT ONE, SHU MEI LAN
A carved knife which you bought from a foreign country has disappeared. You suspected Wai Lan of the theft. You found your knife in her table's drawer after she left.

ACT TWO, SHU MEI LAN
You warned Wai Lan to stop her relationship with Sweat Fong - and said Wai Lan would get what she deserved someday.

LIM YONG GIAN 15 MALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, LIM YONG GIAN
You are 15 years old, the son of Sweat Fong and Mei Lan, and the brother of the deceased girl. You're studying in high school. You are introverted, you spent most of your time on your studies, therefore you are often called a "book-worm" by your classmates.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, LIM YONG GIAN
You are often laughed at by your classmates because you are over-protected by your father. They call you "the suckling child." You hate that. You want to do something different to prove your ability. Once you discovered the secret relations between your father and the maid. You told your mother to be aware of your father's behavior but you never revealed the truth. You felt ashamed of your own family, of your father and your mother who always neglect the family.

ACT ONE, LIM YONG GIAN
You borrowed a "V8" video cassette recorder from Chang Lu Ping. You put it on the refrigerator in the kitchen, but you forgot to turn the power off. After that, from this tape, you can't see the image, but you heard someone is washing their hands for quite a while and muttered . You can't hear very clearly. The date is May 13. Tell the group about this, this might be an important clue.

ACT TWO, LIM YONG GIAN
The second evening after Jenny' s death, you overheard Jian Ping telling Sweat Fong that he suspected Li Jin, his wife, had done something bad to Jenny.

TAN WAI LAN 56 FEMALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, TAN WAI LAN
You are 56 years old and single. You have a very poor family in Ping Tong County. You were introduced by a friend to work as a maid in Lim Sweat Fong's family two years ago. You're still attractive irrespective of your age.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, TAN WAI LAN
Sweat Fong molested you one year ago. You accepted him for you are highly paid, you don't want to lose the job, you have to support your old parent's living. Sometimes, you feel rather mentally imbalanced for keeping such a relationship with Sweat Fong. You feel like you are being humiliated morally but you dare not reveal it. You are oppressed. Once you had a conflict with Jenny, as she despised you. She shouted at you when she discovered your relationship with Sweat Fong. You begged her not to tell. You said, "I'm just a slave of reality, I have no choice." You have a strange hobby, you like to collect some carved knives and animal's bones.

ACT ONE, TAN WAI LAN
On May 12, the day before Jenny's death, you threatened Jenny not to tell Mei Lan about your relationship with Sweat Fong, but she didn't listen to you. You were so angry and said," I am just the slave of reality. I have no choice."

ACT TWO, TAN WAI LAN
You were afraid and hid in your room when Sweat Fong and Mei Lan had a quarrel one evening.

TAN JIAN PING 28 MALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, TAN JIAN PING
You are 28 years old, handsome and tall. You have been working in Lim Sweat Fong's firm for two years. You married Chen Li Jin one year ago - for her money.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, TAN JIAN PING
Six years ago, you were arrested for the crime of molestation. You lost the case and went to prison for four months. Therefore, you hate Shu Mei Lan as she was your lawyer, you think it was she that ruined your future. You want to take revenge. You know that she embezzles money from her firm, so you make use of her defect to intimidate her into not interfering with your relationship with her daughter, Jenny. You don't love your wife. You married her just because of the large sum of inheritance you'll get.

ACT ONE, TAN JIAN PING
You had a quarrel with Li Jin because you found that she employed a detective to follow you and sent men to warn Jenny to stay away from you.

ACT TWO, TAN JIAN PING
You found Li Jin look pale and gaze blankly after she read the newspaper article written about Jenny's death. Perhaps this is important information.

CHEN LI JIN 32 FEMALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, CHEN LI JIN
You are 32 years old, the daughter of the mayor of Tamshui County and the wife of Jian Ping. You're very fat. You took the initiative asking for marriage with Jian Ping. You love him very much.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, CHEN LI JIN
You know very well that you can't win your husband's heart though you've tried hard. You always try to get control of him because you're so afraid of losing him. Once, you employed a detective to follow your husband and you discovered the relationship between your husband and the deceased girl. You sent your man to warn the girl away.

ACT ONE, CHEN LI JIN
You overheard Jian Ping intimidate Mei Lan on the phone by saying that he is going to expose her embezzlement in the law firm if Mei Lan opposes his relationship with her daughter, Jenny.

ACT TWO, CHEN LI JIN
On May 13, you sent your man to beat Jenny. Confess this to the group.

HUANG TENG HUI 46 MALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, HUANG TENG HUI
You are 46 years old . You are a government employee, the husband of Chang Lu Ping and the neighbor of Lim Sweat Fong. You are a native Taiwanese. You're a bit of a chauvinist.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, HUANG TENG HUI
Your only son, Chee Kong died 6 months ago in a car accident. This is a fatal strike to you. You pin the blame on Jenny because your son was in love with her. When the accident happened, Jenny was in the same car with your son. You don't like Jenny or her family because they're from "another province" and not Taiwanese. You're very distressed because of your wife's sterility.

ACT ONE, HUANG TENG HUI
After your son's death you always go to the pub to release your distress. You sometimes meet with Hong Shui Yuan and Shu Wen Wei in the pub. Once, Wen Wei grumbled in the pub, saying that he was so dissatisfied with Sweat Fong. Why don't you go and ask him about that?

ACT TWO, HUANG TENG HUI
Once while in Shui Yuan's office, you noticed a patient file that Sweat Fong was diagnosed as a schizophrenic 25 years ago but that his condition was just very light and had already become stable.

CHANG LU PING 45 FEMALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, CHANG LU PING
You are 45 years old. You are the wife of Huang Teng Hui and you teach mathematics in a high school. You are sterile after giving birth to your son Chee Kong who died six months ago in a car accident. You're a good teacher and good housekeeper, you're very thoughtful and kind.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, CHANG LU PING
The discovery that you're sterile plus the sudden death of your son has resulted in a crisis in your marriage. Teng Hui has become indifferent . You blame yourself for your sterility, you feel regretful and also submissive to your husband. Yong Gian is one of your students. You like him very much and treat him like your own son. This angers your husband and you often quarrel with him over this.

ACT ONE, CHANG LU PING
You know that Yong Gian dislikes his father's over-protectiveness. He says that he doesn't have freedom like his other classmates do.

ACT TWO, CHANG LU PING
Teng Hui is so mad at you because you treat Yong Gian like your own son. He once shouted at you, "It was because of Jenny that our only son died in the accident, I forbid you from having anything to do with Lim's family!"

SHU WEN WEI 60 MALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, SHU WEN WEI
You are 60 years old, the father of Mei Lan and Guo Rong. You are a widower, your wife died in the war 40 years ago. You treat Sweat Fong like your own son and you were asked to help him in his shop five years ago after you retired from teaching in a primary school. You're an upright man and always helpful to others.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, SHU WEN WEI
You raised Sweat Fong after you fled to Taiwan together with him when he was just 8 years old. You were his father's lifelong friend, therefore you took the responsibility to take care of him after his parent's death.

You have become gradually dissatisfied with Sweat Fong because you think that he has changed, he is too particular about things and too demanding of his workers. You receive a low paid. Other workers are also dissatisfied with him. You once advised Sweat Fong over his self-centeredness but he won't listen to you. You feel really disappointed and angry over his attitude.

ACT ONE, SHU WEN WEI
On May 13, you were going to have lunch with Jenny at 12:30p.m. But Jenny didn't show up. So you called back to the shop to see if Jenny was still helping her father doing the accounts, but nobody answered the phone.

ACT TWO, SHU WEN WEI
You know that Sweat Fong had been abused by his father constantly when he was a child. So you took care of him after his parent's death because you love him. But now he seems to be taking no notice of you, you're quite angry about this.

HONG SHUI YUAN 55 MALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, HONG SHUI YUAN
You're 55 years old. You're a psychiatric doctor in Tai Da Hospital (Tai Da is National Taiwan University Hospital, one of the top hospitals in Asia). You made an acquaintance with Huang Teng Hui in a pub recently.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, HONG SHUI YUAN
You're conducting secret research into a process for absorbing one person's knowledge into another person. If your rather unorthodox research procedures are discovered, you will probably lose your license to practice and possibly be sent to prison..

ACT ONE, HONG SHUI YUAN
Once you visited Teng Hui. Unintentionally, you saw Sweat Fong and you recognized that he was one of your patients 25 years ago - you remembered his case as being quite mild but couldn't recall the specific details.

ACT TWO, HONG SHUI YUAN
You know that Teng Hui hates Sweat Fong's family because they come from another province - that is they are not Taiwanese. He opposed the relationship between his son and Jenny but his son Chee Kong was madly in love Jenny and paid not attention to his father, therefore they had a conflict. An accident happened 6 months ago while Chee Kong and Jenny secretly drove to Ken Ting. Chee Kong died in the accident but Jenny survived. Therefore Teng Hui pins most of the blame on Jenny. He thought it was Jenny that caused his son's death. Tell the group about this.

SHU GUO RONG 35 MALE
BACKGROUND : PUBLIC, SHU GUO RONG
You're 35 years old. You are the son of Shu Wen Wei and the brother of Shu Mei Lan. You were promoted to inspector a year ago due to your intelligence and aggressive attitude on your work.

BACKGROUND : SECRET, SHU GUO RONG
You have a great interest in mutilation and dismemberment cases of the type currently under investigation. You spent a lot of time investigating such cases. You have at times even become too immersed and obsessive.

ACT ONE, SHU GUO RONG
On May 12, you visited your sister. You overheard a quarrel between Jenny and Wai Lan in the kitchen.

ACT TWO, SHU GUO RONG
You overheard Mei Lan talking on the phone, saying that : "Things will be better if I got divorced."

SOLUTION:
Once Shu Guo Rong has made his arrest, Lim Sweat Fong should read this to the group so the players can know the solution - and we can all see if Justice has been served! Be sure to play this for all it's worth - this guy's a madman!

LIM SWEAT FONG'S CONFESSION OF THE MURDER
The day after I read the diary of Jenny, I almost had a breakdown. I couldn't believe that Jenny could say such thing, she said she couldn't endure the life under my restriction and she just couldn't wait for any opportunities to leave the house. It really hurts my heart, I love them so much, they all betrayed me! Mei Lan paid no attention to me, she's frigid! Yong Gian seemed to escape away from me every time I was in the house. He has grown up, yeah! He wanted to "fly," he has his own subjectivity! He always had an excuse to go out, I know he was always in Teng Hui's house together with Lu Ping.

On May 13, Saturday, I asked Jenny to help me do the accounts in my shop in the morning as she sometimes did. After work, all the workers left. I still kept her working though. I then pretended to ask her to go to the store room which is in the cellar to count the goods. I followed behind her with a knife in my hand. Without her noticing, I knocked her down from behind. She fainted, so I could cut her nicely and left a beautiful mark on her body. Then I dug out her heart and brain and put it inside a bottle of antiseptic. I wanted to keep her by my side FOREVER! I waited there until the sky was dark outside. I wrapped her up with a big plastic bag and drove her body to a garbage heap near the Tamshui jetty. I then hid the bottle with the heart and brain under the seat of my car.

My next goal will be to Mei Lan, my beloved wife, and... Yong Gian. THEY BELONG TO ME TOTALLY.

Finis.