Finished listening?

That’s right, Puzzler, as the lights flickered back to life, multiple shocked voices said in unison, “The critic?!?”

A man in a suit was standing next to the light switch with a big smile on his face. He greeted the group and asked jovially if everyone was out of character now. Then, he noticed Muriel and exclaimed how it was so nice to see her and that he always enjoyed her work. Muriel looked confused as to why he was in the room with them, but accepted the compliment. She quickly ushered him into the hall, motioning for everyone else to sort out the chaos that had just happened while she kept him busy.

Della walked over to Kip who was sprawled on the floor after running headfirst into a closed door. She told him that wanting to pin his crime on Tilly wouldn’t have worked since Tilly did not have the motive Kip thought she did. Ronan may have wanted his best friend to join him in being an actor, but Tilly had been studying to become the sound effect manager. In fact, Tilly had been training to take over for Muriel once Muriel retired. Kip looked at Tilly who nodded and said that she has been spending every spare moment she has in the sound effects room or studying on the scaffolding.

Della gave Kip a pitying look and said that they should go talk to the director together. Kip looked like he was going to get up and run for the door again, but instead sagged inwardly and allowed himself to be helped to his feet. As he stood, he announced loudly that he was going to tell the director that Ronan’s personality was the real crime.

Della led Kip away and the rest of the group looked around, trying to get their bearings. Tilly suddenly gasped, remembering they had left Ronan tied up downstairs. With that, she rushed out of the room to go untie him.

Baxter and Shelby realized they needed to go get ready, since it seemed like they were both going to be needed on stage for the evening performance. They left the room agreeing that the show must go on.

Ells and Ernie started to clean up the bookshelf that Kip tipped over, as Muriel peeked back in to see if the chaos had cleared. The critic walked back in and shook Ells and Ernie’s hands vigorously, bouncing up and down on his toes. He asked Ells and Ernie how they thought his performance was and joyously told them that he LOVED immersive theater.

The critic told them he hadn’t known that it was an immersive show, but as soon as he walked in the front door and heard the loud, “Quick, everyone, downstairs!” he knew the show had begun. He said he felt good about how he followed the group but stayed out of the fray since he figured he wasn’t one of the main characters. He told them that turning off the light in that moment felt organic to what he decided his character would do and asked Ells and Ernie how they felt about his performance.

Ernie and Ells stared blankly at each other, so the man rattled on, undeterred, and told them that their performances had been brilliant. He had felt the tension as they revealed the plot and the best part was that it felt like there was real danger! In his opinion, they were going to like the review article on this production very much! As he started to walk away, he noted that he wasn’t sure about the title. It didn’t really seem to him like it was about stealing money, but no show is perfect, he admitted with a shrug.

Just before he exited the room, he turned, suddenly remembering that he wanted to know who was responsible for the abstract set pieces in that downstairs prop room, because they were exquisite. Ells shook her head to clear it and told him that Hardy the stagehand was responsible for the abstract set pieces. The critic replied that this ‘Hardy’ was going to be “booked and busy” as he walked out of the room.

Ells, Ernie, and Muriel stared with furrowed brows at each other, stunned for a long moment. Then Ells and Ernie ran to follow the critic to try and clear up the confusion. As they reached the front of the theater, they saw him out a window, driving off in his car, apparently thinking the show was over. Ells and Ernie looked at each other, shrugged, high fived about another case well solved, and headed to the auditorium to enjoy the evening performance. They had just enough time to stop by the popcorn stand first.


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