S7E9 A Head For Murder

Mysteries to Die For

Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.

I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.

This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.

This is Episode 9, Headbands is the featured game. This is A Head for Murder by Rick Ollerman

PRE-ROLL

Rick Ollerman is the author of four novels, Turnabout, Shallow Secrets, Truth Always Kills, and Mad Dog Barked, as well as the non-fiction collection, Hardboiled, Noir and Gold Medals. He was also the editor of Down & Out: The Magazine and has written numerous short stories and edited several crime fiction anthologies.

DELIBERATION

Detectives Spencer and Flores have a club house classic on their hands to figure out who strangled Lindsay Strauss. Let’s pull out our caddy skills and read this green. Here are the suspect by couples:

• Jeff Actone, Lindsay’s boyfriend who flew in from their home in Milwaukee

• Chad Willette, flew to the party from a business trip

• Nancy Willette, flew to the party from their Chicago home

• William ‘Trip’ Marten, flew in from Worcester, MA

• Jill Marten, flew in with her husband from Worcester, MA

Here is what we know:

• Lindsay Strauss was expected to arrive at the golf resort around 8pm. Her boyfriend, Jeff, and her friends repeatedly tried to reach her with no luck.

• Hotel staff report Lindsay did arrive around 8pm, but instead of going to the room she shared with Jeff, she opted to stow her bags and go to the bar to find her friends.

• The next morning, her body was discovered in the golf cart barn. She had been strangled and was somewhat hidden behind fallen bags of mulch. Despite the rain, her hair and clothes were dry. No umbrella was found.

• While waiting for Lindsay, a game of headbands was played. Trip was the leader. Jill, Jeff, and Nancy played throughout. Chad went to the buffet for snacks and played after he returned.

• On Jill’s first turn, ‘Jeff’ had been written on the Post-It. In guessing, Jill revealed that she saw Jeff at the cart barn the previous night. He had been soaking wet from the rain.

• On the evening in question, Jill had walked along the paths using a golf umbrella. Nancy stayed inside the resort, first going to her room with Chad, then going to the bar without him. Trip went to the pro shop and talked with the staff. Jeff wandered without a destination or umbrella.

• Nancy thought something was “off” about Jeff, suspecting he was dealing with something personal.

• Jill reported during their last conversation, Lindsay indicated this wasn’t going to be a happy trip for two of the couples.

Whose story is soaking wet?

PRINT & E-BOOKs

A reminder to mystery readers, check out our print and e-books. The companion book for Seasons 4, 5 and 6 are available in e-book and trade paperback from online retailers. This season’s book is being released in two parts. Part one released in March 2024 and Part two in September. Buy one for you and one for a mystery lover you love. The dimes and quarters from books sales do support the podcast and keep Jack in pomegranate seeds.

Season Anthologies on Amazon

ABOUT Headbands

Our story today is take on the Fandom game, Hedbanz, which is pronounced the same but spelled differently. The game in many variations is published by Spin Master Games and was first released in 1991, making it over 30 years old. Rick gave us an excellent description of the game in the story. It seems like a cross between twenty questions and Indian Poker, which was the featured game in Episode 5. We gave the background of the poker game there, so lets dive into twenty questions.

According to Wikipedia, twenty questions originated in the US and was a popular parlor game in the 1800s. It got a modern reboot in the late 1940s when it became the basis for a weekly radio quiz show. It later made the jump to television. All in all, the game was in front of American audiences from 1946 through 1954. Versions are the game were on radios and televisions for audiences in Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Poland, and the UK. Speaking of the UK Jack, do you remember the version of the game that was in the original 101 Dalmations?

Guess who loves Headbands? Teachers! In searching for the roots of headbands, I found many posts on educator sites of ways to use the bones of the game the way Trip did. Well, not to entertain friends but as a way to review materials for tests.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_questions#:~:text=Twenty%20questions%20is%20a%20spoken,successful%20weekly%20radio%20quiz%20program.

ABOUT Rick Ollerman

Rick Ollerman is the author of four novels, Turnabout, Shallow Secrets, Truth Always Kills and Mad Dog Barked as well as the non-fiction collection Hardboiled, Noir and Gold Medals. He was also the editor of Down & Out: The Magazine and has written numerous short stories and edited several crime fiction anthologies.

http://www.rickollerman.com/

WRAP UP

That wraps this episode of Mysteries to Die For. Support our show by subscribing, telling a mystery lover about us, and giving us a five-star review. Check out our website TGWolff.com/Podcast for links to this season’s authors.

Mysteries to Die For is hosted by TG Wolff and Jack Wolff. A Head for Murder was written by Rick Ollerman. Music and production are by Jack Wolff. Episode art is by TG Wolff. Join us next week for a Toe Tag, which is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, or thriller genre. Then come back in two weeks for our next original story, Hunting for Clues by Nick Andreychuk where a scavenger hunt is the featured game.