Turn to him and point out that perhaps he is, in fact, a better candidate to have been the murderer.  Point out that jealousy is a common reason to kill.  Have Professor Plum reveal the brain in all its splendor and show how the candlestick in Mustard’s room perfectly fits the hole in it.  Accuse him of the murder. 

• Isn’t it true, Colonel Mustard, that you are a fraud? You drank and gambled your way through University and bribed your professors to pass you with a degree in foreign languages.  In reality –as the letters in your room prove --you are barely literate in English. 

  Your personal history is no less seedy. During your youth, you cavorted through a series of harems in Persia, always sneaking out under cover of darkness when your debts became too great.  Most of your actual cash went to bribes so that you could quickly rise through the military ranks.  

  Since reaching the age of forty, you have become the picture of respectability.  But it’s all a front, isn’t it?  Admit it.  You are the killer! 

Turn to Empress Ebony.  Ask her if it’s true that this piece of parchment (hold it up) came out of her room.  Then hold it over a candle flame to reveal the note agreeing to pay the maid for killing him.  Ask her why she would do such a thing:  “Empress Ebony… or should I say… EGBERT EBONY!” 

• Isn’t it true, Egbert, that you have devoted your adult life to carefully disguising the fact that you are a man?  That you are a skillful cross-dresser who has never let your polite affairs progress to a point where your identity may be discovered?  It would be the end of your social standing – and your career – if your secret came out.  That’s why, when Mr. White began blackmailing you, you arranged with the maid to have him killed. 

Observe that this is a pretty flimsy story.  Suggest that you’d better consult Madam Rose for a psychic opinion on whether the maid could have done the killing.  She (having paid the housekeeper to find out that the maid didn’t do it) will reveal that the maid didn’t do it.  She will also reveal that Miss Peach had an improper past life – she was the madam of a brothel, and one of the women who worked for her was Mrs. White.  White left the house under mysterious circumstances, with a dead client behind her! 

Turn to Miss Peach. 

• It’s interesting, isn’t it, Miss Peach, that you didn’t reveal something that was so relevant to the current investigation.   And it’s also interesting, isn’t it, that you were the only other person who was present at both murders?  And that you were asking all kinds of questions to Professor Plum about the autopsy?  And that you and Empress Ebony are serving as each other’s alibi?  It’s all very convenient, isn’t it?  Is this a group murder, with you, Ebony and White all in on it together? 

So what’s the story here?  Was the head assault a coverup of the poisoning?  If so, why bother with the poison at all?  Unless… there was somehow a mistake made.  What if the target of the murder attempt wasn’t really Mr. White at all? 

The first step in this new line of inquiry was to think about two things: motive – who had a reason to kill someone else at the party? and method – who had the ability to do it?  Turn the floor back over to Professor Plum, who will describe the poison as having been distilled from cactus juice.  Who would be most likely to have access to a cactus? 

Sketch in what was found in the various rooms.  Miss Peacock had lots of plants and flowers, but no cactus.  The Colonel had seven herbs and spices, but all were finger lickin’ good.  The only person who, predictably, had a cactus in his room was… 

Turn to Burt Sienna.  Produce the cactus. 

• Isn’t it true, Mr. Sienna, that this cactus came out of your room?  And that you have not been entirely honest with us?  Were you and Miss Shell really together on the night of the murder? 

When the surprise of this dies down, state that this was as you suspected from a discussion with the butler, who had seen Green and Shell in a compromising position together.  This certainly would create motive for Burt Sienna to do the killing, if he thought that the man in the chair was Mr. Green.  Once and for all: did Miss Shell’s betrayal drive Sienna to commit the murder? 

In order to protect himself, Sienna will cave.  He’ll tell you that this isn’t a possible reason, since he’s not really involved with Miss Shell.  She’s an American spy, and he brought her along to help him find out about Prince Maroon.  He knows that Maroon is not what he seems to be; none of the sheiks of the Middle East will admit to having him as a son.  However, something strange is obviously going on with Miss Shell, so he’ll come clean.  He and Miss Shell weren’t together during the murder.  He was reading in his own room the whole time. 

Turn to Miss Shell.  State that Sienna’s story matches the evidence: a telegraph and coded messages were found in Miss Shell’s closet.  As Sienna’s fake girlfriend, she had access to the cactus; as a trained spy, she would know how to make poison out of it.  Come clean: did she have some reason to kill someone at the party?   Does she have additional knowledge about Maroon? 

• Mr. Sienna’s story adds up, Miss Shell.   A telegraph machine and coded messages were found in your closet.  As Sienna’s partner, you had access to the cactus; with your spy training, you would have known how to make poison out of it.  Come, come, Miss Shell!  Was there someone at the party whom you had reason to kill?  Did you learn something incriminating about Prince Maroon? 

Turn to Mr. Green. 

• Miss Shell’s story also matches the evidence, Mr. Green.  Isn’t it true that you are an international jewel thief and one of the most wanted men in Europe?  Photography is the perfect cover; it brings you into contact with wealthy, socially prominent people who always wear their best jewels for their portraits.  The photos give you the opportunity to plan the perfect crime, and no one is suspicious (or even notices) when you leave early.  

  The fingerprints found on the items in this bag match the prints at some of the most notorious thefts in England.  Admit it!  Had Mr. White learned of your identity?  Was he blackmailing you, too?  Are you the killer? 

Turn to Prince Maroon. 

• Now that we have cleared Burt Sienna, let’s go back to what he said about your history.  Isn’t it true, Prince Maroon, that you are not a prince at all?  (Let him deny it.)  Oh? Witness this disinheritance decree, which was discovered in your oil lamp.  It states that you are, in fact, Colonel Mustard's illegitimate son! Your mother was a member of a king’s harem, but Mustard abandoned her.  She was executed when their infidelity was discovered.  You spent your childhood as a street rat and hate the Colonel with a passion.  You had very good reason to kill him. 

Consult Madam Rose.  She will, in her third and last “psychic vision,” tell what she saw on the night of the murder: Maroon and Scarlet naked, leaving the barn, and then returning covered in blood. 

Maroon, who has been scoffing at the psychic all night, will bluff.  He’ll ask whether there’s any good reason to believe that her visions are valid.  Tell him the truth: now that Madam Rose has served her purpose, there’s no need to pretend. 

• Of course Madam Rose is a fake.  But that doesn’t mean her information can’t be trusted.   She’s an excellent snoop, and she pays the staff, who see and hear everything that goes on, to tell her things that they wouldn’t necessarily admit for free.  She was spying on you the night of the murder.  The cook – whom she paid to be her alibi --saw her spying, because she was doing the same thing!  I would feel more loyalty to protecting her secret if she hadn’t lied to me as well.  However, she has been a most helpful resource in unmasking the murderer… or one of them. 

• Isn’t it true, Miss Scarlet, that  you are having an affair with Prince Maroon?  That he confessed the murder to you, and that you helped him hide this handkerchief in the barn?  Do you really think that you stand a chance of continuing this relationship?  The man is going to jail?  And even if he is not convicted, he is denying in front of this whole roomful of people that he has feelings for you.  Are you prepared to go to jail yourself for a man who has spent the whole night in the loving arms of another woman? 

Think aloud. We now know that Maroon beat White’s skull in, believing that he was Mustard.  But where is the murder weapon?  Mustard’s candlestick shows no traces of blood.  Where is the candlestick? 

Turn to Countess Emerald. 

• Isn’t it true, sweet shy Countess Emerald, you are wildly jealous where Prince Maroon is concerned?  You knew, didn’t you, that he was having this affair?  The butler saw you three nights ago, in the conservatory, watching in fury as your fiance was locked in Miss Scarlet’s arms?  

  Admit it.  Last night the cook saw you in the window of the attic.  You saw Prince Maroon leaving the barn.  You could not contain your fury, so you crept up silently behind him and smashed in his skull with the candlestick.  However, you’re no professional… which is why you left the candlestick hidden under the floorboards of your room. 

At this point, recreate the murder from the poisoning onward. 

• That leaves just one question: who did the poisoning, and why?  Was it another case of mistaken identity?  Was it a jealous rage?  Prevention of blackmail?  Contract work?  Or was it… perhaps… revenge? 

• The woman within was the first victim of Jack the Ripper, and when compared with police sketches and witness accounts, it was confirmed.  Mr. White was Jack the Ripper.  The famous prostitute killer who chose whores as targets because of his hatred of his wife.  The man who killed Miss Peacock’s sister.  Miss Peacock  -- a botanist who would have intimate knowledge of plants and their natural poisons.  Miss Peacock – who, now that Emerald has confessed, has no corroborated alibi.  The woman who kept a small stuffed peacock in her room…  to conceal the capsules of poison that did her sister’s killer in.