In their ongoing effort to engage Concordia University Chicago students who are split between hyflex and online-only schooling, the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement hosted a ‘Murder Mystery’ event via Zoom on February 9.

Similar to a traditional in-person murder mystery dinner, the participants all received roles to play. Each of us tried to investigate the other in order to identify the culprit in the murder of Delroy DeBubbles, the owner of the DeBubbles wine distillery. In my case, I played Ivan Gris, a marketing representative for the DeBubbles wine distillery. 

There were also other characters: the widowed Babette’s sister Kira Anti, as played by CUC freshman Juliette Lawson, the DeBubbles’ sommelier Dee Canting played by sophomore Hayley Wickesberg (sophomore), and heir to Delroy’s fortune, Destin DeBubbles by senior Terry Harris. 

Ashley Hernandez, a graduate student with OSLI, hosted the event, serving as the inspector or narrator.When needed, Hernandez also played Babette DeBubbles, the murdered man’s wife.

“We really want to make sure the students have fun, and it’s not all work, work, work,” said Hernandez.

Participants found themselves deeply enthralled by their roles. We all had to put on various accents, from deep French to light Southern drawls. We worked together and interrogated each other ruthlessly until the final round the killer was revealed. 

“This was like a dream come true,” said Harris. “It was like a French Scooby-Doo.”  

Much like an episode of Scooby-Doo, we were diving into all kinds of twists and turns, trying to unmask the killer. Everyone’s alibis seemed to line up, but  each suspect also seemed to have an equal motive to take Delroy out. 

We finally cornered her into a confession – it’d been Delroy’s sister Kira Anti the whole time! When Delroy wouldn’t put her in the will, she took him out with cyanide. 

We were taken a little aback.  Lawson played innocent so well the whole game that it didn’t seem right at first, but she went on to explain how and why her character did it. 

“I decided to take matters into my own hands,” said Lawson as Kira. . Kira knew Delroy was scamming people with fraudulent champagne and sabotaging his competition, even an affair, so she decided the man deserved to get whacked and delivered him to his end. 

“I thought it was a fun concept and I also thought it was led really well,” Lawson said.

OSLI will next host a virtual Escape Room on Wednesday, February 25, at 6 p.m. For information on more upcoming events, keep an eye out for new emails or follow the Campus Activities Board at @cuc_cab on Instagram.