Residents Channel Inner Detectives in ‘Clue’-Inspired Mystery at Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne

Mystery was in the air at Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne senior living community, as residents took part in a week-long fun and tantalizing whodunit organized by the activity staff. Similar to the board game Clue, it challenged residents to use all their wits and sleuthing skills to discover who was responsible for a pretend crime that had occurred.

For the mystery event, staffers dressed in costumes like characters from the game throughout the week. There was Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum, Miss White, and Colonel Mustard, to name a few.

“Our receptionist played Mrs. Peacock and she really got into it,” says Amber Hadley, activity director. “She wore a peacock-colored poncho, peacock earrings and a headpiece with feathers.”

Every day, Hadley played a podcast during lunch in the dining room, which offered clues into the alleged ‘crime’ so residents could begin guessing what the event in question was and which of the cast of characters was responsible for it.

The podcast was played again at dinner as different characters were eliminated as suspects.

“We recorded a fake podcast and every day I’d interview a staff member who played the butler to ask if he’d seen anything about this concerning event that had occurred,” Hadley says. “But he’d always say he couldn’t answer because it would violate the butler code.”

The podcast, which was part of game package that the community used, included introductory music and sound effects, such as doors closing or opening, making it sound realistic.

“Each podcast gave them a clue or something they could work on for the next day or night,” Hadley says.

She could tell the residents were engaged and curious because “they’d come up and tell me what the clues were or what they thought had happened,” she says.

The staff, who didn’t want to portray a gruesome crime like a murder, became the story tellers and came up with a different “concerning event,” Hadley says.

As the mystery moved toward a conclusion, residents were given sheets of papers on which they wrote what they suspected had happened, with one resident even writing a story in great detail.

The crime? As it turned out, it was the butler himself who was the perpetrator. He pushed Mrs. Peacock toward a cauldron which caused her to singe her feathers.

And why did he do it?

“He was afraid Mrs. Peacock was going to turn him in for not following the community’s policies and procedures,” Hadley says.