The annual murder mystery evening in aid of the Adel War Memorial Association is something much anticipated by our table – eight of us this year. We have a long record now of not winning the quiz nor solving the murder – though there are times we come close! Not this year! Is it getting harder or are we getting less competitive? I suspect the latter, though as only one table from both evenings came up with the answer, perhaps it is a bit of both. 

The curtains go up and the drama begins – a TV interview about a body found in Adel Woods – by the beck, near the Seven Arches. We all love the local touches! The widower, a consultant surgeon, is accusing the police of being slow to search for the body and ignoring information given by the victim’s close friend, Mary Compton, “the Dales Mystic”. The police felt they had zero cooperation from the doctor, who seemed to have had a remote relationship with his wife and comes over as an overbearing and unsympathetic character – the first suspect maybe? 

The Coroner had concluded that his late wife had died of natural causes – she had a long history of heart problems.  But Mary is not convinced – with her psychic powers, she would have expected to “feel” the presence of her friend where she died. Also, if the accepted story is true, where was the foraging basket and the medication she always carried in case on an angina attack? She now believed that her friend had died elsewhere and been dumped there. Part of a name of a drug which would disappear over time, but would look like the victim had died of a heart attack was something Mary could “see”.  Were we looking at a murder? 

Mary was to be interviewed a little later by the same radio interviewer, George Lazarus, at her home. This had been very much against the wishes of her manager, Marjorie, who did not wish to upset her old flame, the surgeon. We learned in an exchange after the first TV interview that Marjorie might well be hoping to reignite the affair now he was unattached. Conchita, the personal assistant, was the first to disabuse her of this notion and Mary’s husband did the same. It also became apparent in both scenes how capable Conchita was, she was also acting unofficially as Manager, as Marjorie was not up to the job.  As it turned out the interview did not take place, rather we were treated to an illustration of Mary’s exceptional skills and George Lazarus – not his real name, had a long-standing motive to harm both the deal person and Mary too. Another suspect? Marjorie’s absence from the scene was attributed to not wanting to be part of something of which she disapproved, so a radio announcement later that evening that she had been discovered, dead in her car in the Kirkstall Vue car park, was a shock. The empty blister pack next to her led to speculation that she had committed suicide. Mary did not believe this – nor, it would appear, did the police. Was it another murder? The body was immediately checked for the presence of the drug Mary felt was used in the first death and which, because the search was made immediately, was found. So yes, it was likely to have been another murder – was it linked to the original body though?

The last scene, prior to supper (and the audience being invited to say which deaths were murder decide on who did the murders and list their motives) took the form of an audience with the Dales Mystic in the Memorial Hall. Mary was handed a drink of elderflower cordial by Conchita, provided by the doctor. Mary started to show signs of not being well and after a question from the local police office (WPC Jemima Lightning) asking whether Mary believed that her friend, the surgeon’s wife, had died of foul play, she collapsed. The doctor was called to administer first aid, the ambulance was called. Were we looking at a third victim???

So, over our excellent supper, catered by the Badminton Section members, we pondered the questions. I must apologise to our table. I stated I did not believe the surgeon had murdered his wife as what did he have to gain? He was, if Conchita was to be believed leading a happy enough life, with a succession of mistresses at his Alwoodley house, whilst his wife lived mainly in their Wetherby home. Of course the final reveal showed that the collapse of Mary was staged, to trap the surgeon, who was the murderer, aided and abetted by Conchita. One of our table picked up on the fact that she thought there was something going on between those two, but we didn’t follow that up. If it’s any consolation – we’ve all been in that position before!! All in all, a thoroughly entertaining evening, thanks to Pat Riley for her hard work on an excellent script and the team at Adel Players – a dozen actually taking part on stage, and many more behind the scenes.