Murder Mystery Part of Homecoming Festivities

Photo+by+Marissa+Ray%0A%0AMr.+David+Holze+%28left%29%2C+one+of+the+senior+class+advisers+and+an+architect+of+the+Homecoming+murder+mystery%2C+reveals+the+guilty+party%2C+the+murder+weapon+and+the+location+during+the+Homecoming+dance+on+Oct.+16.

Photo by Marissa Ray Mr. David Holze (left), one of the senior class advisers and an architect of the Homecoming murder mystery, reveals the guilty party, the murder weapon and the location during the Homecoming dance on Oct. 16.

Hale Miron

Who killed Vlad R. Vyke? Was it Madame Keski with the DVD case in the auditorium? Or perhaps it was Coach Bey with the dodgeball in the greenhouse?

These are the questions CHS students and staff asked themselves all of Homecoming Week. Murder mystery clues were littered around the school and school-related events, both digitally and physically, Oct. 8-16.

     Riddles and puzzles were sent to students’ emails. And pictures of possible locations, suspects and weapons were posted around Homecoming-related events.

Mr. David Holze, a math teacher and senior class adviser, gave out the clues, such as room numbers, hints at what weapon was used and descriptions of suspects.

“When the seniors voted for it, I figured that if the Homecoming theme is ‘Murder Mystery,’ there may as well be a mystery,” Mr. Holze said. “Everyone knows ‘Clue,’ so I decided that we could do something similar to that and have suspects, locations and wacky weapons.”

While likely a one-off event, Mr. Holze later said that he wouldn’t rule it out for later years.

Christina Albiter, a freshman, said, “My favorite part of the whodunit was finding the clues, figuring out who did it and just generally having fun. It was kinda hard, but in an enjoyable way. And, yeah, I would like to do a whodunit again in future years.”

The sleuthing officially came to an end on Oct. 16, with nine students and two staff members successfully piecing together the cryptic clues.

“My favorite part (of this Homecoming) is deciphering and solving the clues that are sent out,” choir teacher Ms. Josephine Annelin said. “This is so much fun for me. I’ve always been a big mystery fan, so now that I get to solve my own, it’s just as exciting as reading a book. I’d completely want another whodunit in the future.”

For deciphering that it was Professor Platt who murdered Vlad with the tape measure in the gymnasium, senior Haylee Mueller and junior Kesia Osman each earned a grand prize of a $25 Walmart gift card. And junior Brianna Ott earned the runner-up prize of a $10 Walmart gift card.