New Years Eve Murder at Belle Grove Plantation

January 2, 2015

View our video on YouTube – http://youtu.be/q30xl5P3DgY

KING GEORGE, VIRGINIA – New Year’s Eve started off as a peaceful day as we prepared for the coming the New Year. We had hoped 2014 would quietly slip away and 2015 would herald a great beginning. Sadly this wasn’t to be for us. By the time the ball dropped and 2015 arrived, we would experience a “murder” at Belle Grove Plantation.

At 7:00pm on Wednesday, December 31, 2014, Belle Grove Plantation turned into Devonshire Manor in the quiet town of Pinehorn. Like Belle Grove, Devonshire Manor is an 18th century mansion on the outskirts of town. It had been owned by the wealthy Devonshire family and is a legendary estate to the citizens of Pinehorn. In their day, the Devonshires were beloved, and treated as royalty, as they owned more than half of the businesses in town.

The Devonshire Manor, like Belle Grove’s mansion, has exquisite architectural features, albeit weathered throughout the years. Weeds and high grass have long since replaced the flowering shrubs and ornamental trees that adorned the property in its day. The remaining Devonshire lineage passed away in the early 1900’s, leaving their estate in the hands of the town of Pinehorn. The townspeople have neglected to keep up with the place, mostly due to the legend that the Devonshires still roam the corridors at night.

The mayor of Pinehorn has made it her quest to remodel and reinstate the Devonshire Manor as a historical bed and breakfast. She believes that the old estate can generate tourism and an income for the town of Pinehorn. Most of the townspeople stand behind her, although a few people are adamantly against her pursuit – stating that the place is haunted and should be left alone.

The mayor cleaned up the dusty cobwebs and hosted a fundraiser bash for the townspeople of Pinehorn. She had hoped to raise enough funds for her remodeling endeavors.

The list of guests saw many of the prominent people of Pinehorn. By the nights end, one of these guests would lay dead on the floor of the library and the rest of the townspeople would all fall under suspicion.

Dakota Green, a college student arrived first along with Parker Tankus, a guitarist with the band, Armpit Anguish. Dakota is a nerdy math major at Pinehorn University. You can find Dakota spending most of her time at the library reading or tutoring students to earn a living.

Parker is a bit antisocial and has been known to have some severe anger management issues. He tends to be extremely judgmental of others and is somewhat of a germaphobe. Rumor also has it that he is considering a break with the band to start his own solo career.

Ashton and Reese Harvery arrived next at the manor. Ashton is a web designer and Reese is a muscle bound personal training. Ashton has created many of the websites for the businesses in Pinehorn. He is a dedicated friend and is ready to lend a hand. Reese, on the other hand is a recovering school bully. She spent most of her time in school scaring the student body. But she has recently seen the error of her ways and has been working hard to change. Ashton and Reese live together and spend most of their time playing video games.

While we aren’t sure when she arrived, Peyton Crownly must have split in behind our backs. Peyton is the peculiar receptionist at the Pinehorn Dental Office. The only way we knew she was here was her ear bending whistling. As a constant whistler, you always know she is around. And even if she isn’t whistling, you can still sense her being there by her uncomfortable stares. Though her periods of silence can make her seem unfriendly, she has surprised many of the townspeople with sculptures of her own making.

Last to arrive were Jackie Bean and Dr. Furen Feathers. Jackie is the Chief Financial Officer at the largest corporation in town, Greeto Lay Potato Chips, Inc. Jackie is a very friendly kind of fellow however you have to be a little concerned by his continuing rants about governmental conspiracies. Jackie believes the government is always watching and listening. He has discovered that putting tin foil on certain items will block the listening devices used by the government.

Dr. Feathers is the newest person in Pinehorn and certainly the most annoying. She has to always “one up” anyone else’s experiences. As the town’s new veterinarian, Dr. Feather has already made an enemy of Reese Harvey. Reese took her beloved sick snake to Dr. Feathers only hours later to have that snake die under the doctor’s care.

Just as the cocktail hour started, Officer Nelson of the Pinehorn Police Department arrived. This crabby, introverted police officer is the most highly decorated officer of the police department though most think he achieved this through intimidation. Lucky for us he was at the party this evening. Who knew that would need his services, for what they are worth, by the evenings end.

After cocktails, Officer Nelson took the townspeople around the manor to show off his knowledge of Devonshire. Moving room from room and deep into the explanation of the architectural features, little did he or others notice the coming and going of some of the townspeople. While upstairs with most of the group, Parker could be heard screaming down in the library for everyone.

As everyone came into the library, gasps could be heard as Peyton lay on the floor…. Dead.

Explanations started flying as each of the guest told of what they knew and where they were. None claimed to be anywhere near Peyton. Arriving on the scene were several detectives, who all started questioning the guests. While questioning went on, Officer Nelson received a preliminary forensic report from one of his officers. This report, while helpful in some ways, pointed the finger of suspense at several of the guests.

The group retired to the formal dining room for a break and time to question each other. Who knew that Peyton was spying on everyone in town? Who was sending out the blackmail notes? All the questions were interrupted by the appearance of Peyton’s ghost. Devonshire Manor really is haunted!

After much questioning, finally the guest list came clean. Each stood up and explained their reasoning for not liking Peyton as well as their regrets of actions they had committed.

Finally, the guilty party stood up and confessed to the crime.

The guilty party was …..

Now I can’t tell you the answer! Who knows we might want to play this murder mystery again!

Thank you to all who attended our first Murder Mystery. It was a lot of fun as each of our guests brought their great acting skills. And we can’t leave out of group of detectives! They would make any Law and Order detective look bad with their very detailed questions!
If you missed out on this Murder Mystery, don’t worry. With the success of this event, we have decided to have more throughout 2015! Watch our website and facebook page for coming Murder Mystery events!