Serious Moonlight(50)

“Welcome to the Boddy mansion. I’m Mr. Wadsworth,” he said, nodding politely. His dark gray tuxedo looked like something out of Downton Abbey. He gestured with white gloves. “Are you here for the dinner?”

“I have a reservation,” Daniel said. “Aoki.”

The man checked a tablet and smiled. “Ah, the Plums. Of course. You’re assigned to my group. Let me just get your name tags and envelope.”

Boddy. Plums. Why did this all sound wildly familiar? While the man bent behind the desk, Daniel retrieved a dark purple clip-on bow tie from his pocket and fastened it to his collar. “Is it straight?”

I nodded dumbly, and when Mr. Wadsworth stood up, he said approvingly of Daniel’s bow tie, “That’s more like it. Now, what names should I write on your name tags? Professor and Mrs.? Professor and Mr.? Both professors?”

“Professor Nick Plum and Professor Nora Plum,” Daniel said.

I stared at him.

“Is this . . . ?”

Daniel bit his lower lip and squinted at me before saying, “Live-action Clue game.”

“We’re . . . ?”

“About to solve a murder mystery,” Daniel said. “And eat dinner. Hopefully before the murder, because I’m famished.”





“What are you afraid of, a fate worse than death?”

—Professor Plum, Clue (1985)





16




* * *



“Clue for Couples,” the butler elaborated, handing me a stick-on name tag, on which he’d written Professor Nora Plum in neat script. And after giving Daniel his name tag and asking if he’d been to one of these events before—Daniel had not—Mr. Wadsworth informed both of us, “Tonight’s killer has already been chosen randomly. It will be up to you to figure out whodunit,” he said dramatically. “This is your character envelope. It’s crucial that you don’t open it until instructed during dinner, and absolutely do not show the contents to other players. Now, please feel free to join the other guests to your left in the ballroom.”

“The ballroom,” I repeated, thinking of the board game. “Is there a billiards room, too?”

“Absolutely. Mr. Boddy’s mansion is here in its entirety, and you’ll be free to explore later. For now, please confine yourselves to the ballroom. Dinner will be served in . . . let’s see . . . fifteen minutes. I look forward to being your guide tonight, Plums. Enjoy!”

Daniel and I shuffled across the foyer toward an open door. He nudged my shoulder with his and spoke close to my ear. “Is this okay? Did I totally blow it? You’re not saying anything, and—”

“I’m so excited,” I whispered.

“You are?”

I nodded.

“Whew! I was worried there for a second. Like, maybe you hate surprises. Maybe you hate Clue or you’ve never played it.”

“I love Clue! I used to play with Mom and Aunt Mona all the time.”

“Well, this is kind of like a dinner murder-mystery thing? U-Dub’s drama department does them to raise money. Lots of people from my high school used to go to these all the time. It’s like Rocky Horror, you know? People cosplay and get into it.”

God. Aunt Mona will die with excitement when I tell her. “That’s why the purple,” I said. “Professor Plum’s color in the game.”

He grinned. “Yeah.”

“I like your bow tie.”

“It smells gross. I couldn’t find a purple one, so my mom dyed one of my grandfather’s. Does it make me look smart and studious?”

“A-plus. Superhot,” I confirmed.

His eyes flicked down my dress. “Not so bad yourself, Plum. I’m damn lucky to be married to you.”

“Now we’re married? This wasn’t supposed to even be a date.”

“Let this be a lesson. This is what happens when you believe a magician,” he said. “You think it’s not a date, and the next thing you know, abracadabra! You’re married to a professor suspected of murder.”

I snapped my fingers. “Misdirection.”

“Gets you every time,” he answered with a grin.

We walked into a small ballroom to find several other couples mingling. Most were adults, but there was another teen couple. A middle-aged man wearing a khaki uniform and a pith helmet was the first to greet us.

“The Plums have arrived,” he said, toasting us with a glass of champagne.

“Colonel Mustard, I presume,” Daniel said.

“Freshly returned from Africa, old boy. Big game, that’s what I like to hunt. The bigger the better,” he said, utterly committed to his character. He held up a hand to someone across the room. “You must excuse me. Miss Scarlet is trying to seduce my wife. Be seeing you.”

A bearded, burly college-aged boy in a campy French maid’s outfit circled the room with a tray of hors d’oeuvres, and after informing us that his name was Apollo, he then introduced several of us to each other, all in character. Many guests were repeat attendees, so when we met others who were first-timers, I was thankful to find we weren’t the only ones who weren’t in full-on cosplay. A few characters had been added—Dr. Orchid, Miss Peach, Prince Azure—to make a total of nine couples. We’d barely had time to meet everyone, when a young man in a black suit entered the room carrying two giant shopping bags.