2016 Mystery Weekend Winners!
Congratulations to all the sleuths out there that solved the mystery this year. The three grand prizes at the 2016 Mystery Weekend event went to:
Sophie Morrell, Corinna Edens, and Josh Tocheny
Our other prizes went to the following lucky winners:
Laila Gmerek, Else Jensen, Erik Richardson, Kate Rosson, Annie from Tacoma, Drew Dunning, Nathaniel Kwak, Christina Chiu, Mark Roughsedge, Jim Shepard, Leslie Simons, Chance McMarrow, Emma Lavin, Fiona Hess, Jacob Weidert, Austin Adams, Ailis Palmer, Lorene Blakely, Bri Braverman, Gail Watts, Rebekah Pameroy, Lloyd Hill, & Kristen Decker.
Anyone that was not present to receive their prize will be contacted by email if more information is needed and/or mailed their prize.
Thanks to everyone that participated. We hope to see you again next year!
To view the complete solution, click here.
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Read More2016 Mystery Weekend Solution
We are sad to announce that the person arrested for the murder of British Shakespearean actor Sir Laurence Burton was carpenter, general contractor, and 49er, Joe Curr.
According to Detective I.B. Fuzz, these were the clues which lead her to her solution.
Joe Curr had been hired by Sir Laurence as carpenter/general contractor for construction of the Hare Haven rabbit rescue. CLUE #2
Joe Curr was told by Sir Laurence that funds for construction were short and rabbits which had been delivered were being kept in cages. CLUE #32
Joe was running out of money for construction of Hare Haven. CLUE #23
Joe cared about the rabbits having good homes at Hare Haven and did not like what he saw happening at Hare Haven. He shared his suspicions with Roger Babbit and told Roger he was considering joining in the Free Range Rabbit movement. CLUE #13
The money Joe Curr was getting from Sir Laurence was getting so tight that Joe had resorted to buying carrots to feed them out of his own money. He told people, “something is off there” and that he might start doing some “rabbit rescue” of his own. CLUE #21
Joe told the 49ers that. “Something fishy is going on at Hare Haven and I intend to find out what.” CLUE #22
Joe found out Gustaf Hausen had suddenly found a source for local rabbit for his Hasenpfeffer Incorporated Restaurant. CLUE #10
Joe was seen driving into Langley early Friday morning. CLUE #12
C.S.I. determined that the unusual knife found at the crime scene was actually a stage dagger belonging to the victim, Sir Laurence.
The Coroner determined in his complete autopsy that the cause of death was a deep and narrow stab wound.
Officer Graph was asked to reexamine the scene of the crime and she discovered an awl hidden under a bush. She had missed it in her earlier investigation. The awl was covered in blood.
Joe Curr is a carpenter.
Carpenters use awls.
Joe was a rabbit lover and suspected Sir Laurence was planning to sell the rabbits to Hausenpfeffer Incorporated to make money for himself.
Joe called Sir Laurence to confront him and whatever Sir Laurence said to him made Joe so angry he stabbed Sir Laurence Burton with the carpenter’s awl as Burton was leaving The Inn at Langley after signing the final contract with Gustaf Hausen.
To …
Read MoreMystery Weekend 2016 Coroner’s Report
PRELIMINARY CORONER’S REPORT
Submitted by: Dr. Gus Gruesome, City Coroner
Date: February 27, 2016
Regarding: The unattended death of Sir Laurence Burton, a British citizen and resident of Freeland, WA
At 7AM on Friday February 26th, the body of a man was discovered by Dr. Hagetha Kisstea in McLeod alley near its intersection with First Street in Langley. Dr. Kisstea checked for a pulse. Finding none, she was about to call 911 when her cousin, I.B. Fuzz arrived on the scene. Detective Fuzz agreed with Dr. Kisstea’s identification of the body as that of Sir Laurence Burton. Fuzz offered to secure the crime scene while Hagetha went to alert the police officer on duty at City Hall.
By 7:15 Officer Trainee Polly Graph and I.B. Fuzz had strung police tape around the scene. Officer Graph then told Hagetha Kisstea she could go after her hound, Baskerville, but that she would need to return later for questioning. Graph then called the Langley Coroner’s Office.
Coroner Gus Gruesome, that’s me, and my assistant and driver Gussy Gruesome, arrived on the scene at 7:30 AM. After I verified that Sir Laurence was indeed deceased, Gussy Gruesome photographed the crime scene and Officer Graph started bagging evidence, under my supervision.
I gave Detective Fuzz time to examine the scene. Then, at 8AM, I asked Gussy Gruesome to remove the body to the Langley City Morgue on Dead Goat Road.
With the assistance of Detective Fuzz and Officer Graph, I then set about cataloguing the crime scene. Officer Graph noted shoe and boot prints in blood on the dirt of the alley and took her own measured photos. She said that the sole patterns and sizes suggested two different sets of shoes.
I.B. Fuzz found an odd looking knife near the location of the body. Though it had no visible blood on it, Officer Graph bagged it for fingerprints.
Within the pool of blood was a set of keys, an opened letter addressed to the victim in care of the Island Shakespeare Festival, a wool scarf, and a large carrot which looked as if it had been nibbled by one of Langley’s abundant bunnies.
At that point I.B. told me that she had all the information she needed from the crime scene and she would like to go with me to the morgue to examine the body. We left the scene in the …
Read MoreMystery Weekend 2016: The Characters
Detective I.B. Fuzz
Detective I.B. Fuzz is the world’s shortest retired Texas Ranger and volunteer Langley detective.
Hagetha Kisstea
Hagetha Kisstea is a retired veterinarian and mystery writer (British cousin of I.B. Fuzz).
Gus and Gussie Gruesome
Gus and Gussie Gruesome are dynamic duo: Langley Coroner (and sausage maker) and Coroner’s Assistant.
Donald & Max Tramp
Donald is running for mayor of Langley. He feels “these alien rabbits” should be “deported to their native lands or states” but definitely not allowed to live in Langley and cause all this trouble by eating the food of native island bunnies or digging holes and creating homes in the soil of the island. He is all for the trapping the 49ers are doing but he wants them to deliver the rabbits to him for exportation, not to Sir Laurence’s “Hare Haven.” Trouble is that Donald is not offering to pay the 49ers for the rabbits. He feels it is their patriotic duty as citizens of Langley to deliver the “alien” rabbits for deportation by him.
Max Tramp is a miniature version of his grandfather Donald and is helping in his mayoral campaign. He passes out his grandfather’s campaign flyers and tells all who will listen that the non-native (mutant) rabbits need to be deported.
Velma T. Bunie
Velma T. Bunie owns the local bookstore and has a contract with the Shakespeare Festival as the exclusive provider of scripts and books to the Festival and as the only book booth vender at the festival grounds. She is the sister of “Free Range Bunnies” activist, Ester Bunie.

Portia & Julius Cesaro (husband & wife)
Portia and Julius Cesaro are “culture snobs” and VERY wealthy patrons of the Shakespeare Festival. They were instrumental in convincing Sir Lawrence Burton to relocate to Whidbey Island and work with the Festival. They also agreed to pay his salary for the first five years and co-sign a loan so Sir Laurence could purchase his farm house and land. They fully expect to land leading roles in future Festival productions because they brought him here.
Juliet Romero
Juliet is a sickly sweet ingénue who is always out to get the leading female part in every Shakespeare Festival play. She will (almost?) literally stab someone in the back to get a good role but she is all sweet innocence on the surface. She loves to “sweetly” gossip about all the other festival …
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