By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Tweens and teens were in for a treat as Big Ryan’s Traveling Mystery Room visited the Medfield Public Library (MPL). This interactive murder mystery experience, titled “The Unfortunate Passing of Pliant McTwist,” challenged attendees to solve the mystery of who, what, where, and why Pliant McTwist was murdered.
Participants gathered in the MPL Meeting Room and formed teams to race against the clock in solving the case. They had six suspects to interrogate and seven challenges to complete before analyzing the evidence and uncovering the truth. Teams could tackle the tasks in any order, checking in with either Big Ryan or his assistant Elijah after each challenge to ensure they were on the right track.
At Jackson Frankson’s interrogation station, detectives had to stack three sets of three cubes to total 30 on three sides, revealing the crucial number needed to proceed. At Thomas Edifice’s station, they decoded messages that guided them in the right direction.
Samantha Peregrinate’s station required detectives to follow three maps and create their own to determine what they needed to search for. Adage Clause’s station presented one of the trickiest challenges, where detectives had to repeat three grammatically correct phrases to either Ryan or Elijah, unlocking the evidence they needed to focus on. These phrases included “That that is, is that that is. Not is not. Is that it? It is,” and “That that exists exists in that that that that exists exists in.”
Scout and Hunter’s interrogation stations were combined. At Hunter’s station, detectives tackled a complex word search, while at Scout’s, they engaged in a search-and-find worksheet. The seventh challenge involved a yoga activity, which granted access to McTwist’s autopsy report, a crucial piece in solving his murder.
The first team to crack the case earned real detective badges and received a celebratory photo in a custom frame crafted by Ryan. By incorporating elements of mathematics, geography, and grammar, the detectives honed valuable academic skills while having a great time.
When discussing the inspiration behind the murder mystery game, Ryan explained, “I’m a huge fan of Survivor and Amazing Race, those challenging kinds of shows. So I got a lot of inspiration from the games that they got to play. I thought to myself that I could really do something like that and simplify it to make it more kid friendly. Putting this together, I had to think about the end first and work my way backward.”
Everyone who attended the murder mystery event enjoyed a fantastic time unraveling the mystery of McTwist’s murder. For more information about upcoming Big Ryan’s Traveling Mystery Room events, visit his website at www.bigryanstalltales.com.
