If you have been paying attention to West Winds, posters on the bathroom stalls, or our very own Glen Bard page, then you would know about one of Glenbard West Theatre’s most recent productions: Once Upon A Crime. This “whodunnit” is laced with comedy, mystery, and definitely a little chaos. If you weren’t able to make the show last week, you missed out on an exciting plot and characters that were, “all wacky and chaotic in their own unique way,” – expresses the show’s writer, Autumn White. From the name, it is given that a crime was committed. If you missed the show, you now have the chance to use hints and clues to uncover the whole truth of the mystery.

One night, an unsuspecting woman with an average name, Myra Maines (Kristen Vogel), is walking on the street on a phone call with a close friend, Miss Terry (Maggie Frigo). She claims that she hears a strange noise, so she momentarily drops her phone to see what is going on. The next thing we know, Detective Ima Crook (Bella Dicosola) and Detective Ricky D. Bones (Daniel Smith) are finding the actress’ limp body lying lifeless on the street – along with 5 potential suspects.

Winston Payne (Madeline Strawn) is notorious in the police station. He has been arrested for questioning seventeen different times, but has never been convicted. His argument is probably the most implausible, claiming that he was almost hit by a moped that collided with a fire hydrant and set it off, a tree almost fell on him, and that his most recent injuries are from a Cockatoo brawl. Insane bad luck, or a mastermind lie? You tell me.

Mrs. Eyemnalen (Chase Qualio) has a brief but wild explanation. While being interviewed, she keeps a very relaxed demeanor. However, her small sunglasses could have been shielding any possible guilty glimmer in her eyes. While watching Myra Maines’ new Halloween movie, a spider begins to crawl up her arm. She panics, then basically sets her apartment on fire and falls out of her first-story apartment building and into the crime scene. How much credibility do you think this alibi has?

Mr. Notasnitch (Griffith Albrecht) had slightly bigger problems than this case, like cleaning up his house after his Halloween decorations got egged. He ended up at the crime scene on his night stroll while getting more cleaning supplies. At least his garden gnome, Patricia, left the egg crime scene unscathed.

Miss Terry (Maggie Frigo), explains her side of the story with a thick New Jersey accent. She says that after hearing her dear friend in a lot of trouble on the phone, she rushed to the scene as soon as she could. However, by the time she got there, it was too late. The detectives ask her who she thinks committed the crime, and she did so with great, misunderstandable confusion. How could she have gotten to her friend so fast?

Our final suspect, (and the Detective’s last hope for any account of reliability), is Val Badgye (Katie Rath). Val has an obvious passion for cats. In fact, she found herself at the crime scene looking for her runaway cat, Muffins. She finds herself amongst the four other suspects, and the questioning picks off there.

While no major hints were given, hopefully you, as a reader, can take some inferences and make a good guess on who murdered the famous horror movie actress. Hopefully, this encourages you to see other Glenbard West Theatre productions, so you won’t be caught victim again to a cliff-hanger like Myra Maines was.