Whodunit? IHS has – since 2017!

October 28, 2024

As Halloween looms closer, the IHS was abuzz with one of our favorite events of the year – Whodunit? This year was no exception as we celebrated the seventh live murder mystery event based on a real Indiana murder. We’ll share the details of the story on Halloween; for now, I wanted to share the magic behind the mystery and why we love this event. Don’t know what Whodunit? is? Imagine a game of Clue® where you play the detective and solve the mystery – that’s it!

Visitors interview a suspect during the 2017 Whodunit murder mystery event.

Whodunit? began in 2017 and has only grown each year. Planning for this annual event begins with the Education and Engagement team scouring newspaper records, court documents, and more to fit parameters for our murder: we always want to choose something that is out of contemporary living memory which had a conviction, for example. Once the murder has been selected, the team begins researching further into each of the people involved in the story. We dive into genealogical research, land plots, coroner reports, town records, court records and more to better understand the intricacies of the story.

Guests at the 2019 Whodunit? event analyze a map of Hancock County.

Because we are dealing with real people and not fabricated stories, we come across all sorts of challenges: there can be discrepancies in the timelines, misinformation unintentionally (or intentionally) reported from various sources, or lack of records. To help the event run smoothly and to ensure that there are enough suspects or information-sharers, we sometimes create composite people based on real people at the time. We also sometimes simplify the details of a murder; as you can imagine, the real mystery can get a bit complicated from time to time!

This event does not happen without assistance from multiple departments. As the research wraps up, we engage with our Exhibits, Visitor Experience, HR, and Marketing teams to start work on casting our characters, costuming, fabricating props and set pieces, recruiting volunteers, and advertising for the event. Teams across our organization help make sure that our guests feel welcome, that our guests can immerse themselves in the mystery, and even help test run the event with us at rehearsal so that we can see what needs to be changed for the real deal! It truly is a team effort that takes 10 months to prepare for.

Richard Stein and his group have attended multiple Whodunit? events – in 2024 they came as the grandparents of Mystery Incorporated.

But Whodunit? isn’t just a fun event that also reinforces historic thinking skills – it’s a way for visitors to connect meaningfully with Indiana’s history in unique ways. Take Rich and his friends, for example. They are avid Whodunit? fans (you may recall some of their memorable costumes and super sleuthing!) who happened to live near where our 2023 mystery took place. After attending the 2023 event, Rich visited St. Mary’s Cemetery in North Vernon, Indiana to visit the McQuaid gravesite and bridge the fun-filled night with the real people who made up the story.

The central figures of the 2023 Whodunit? mystery, the McQuaid family, are buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in North Vernon. Photo courtesy of Richard Stein.

Making connections to the past can look like reading a book, or watching a documentary, or attending a lecture. Making connections to the past can also look like running around a building to interview suspects and review evidence.

No matter how you prefer to make connections to the past and engage with history, we hope you join us in applauding the efforts of the many people who make Whodunit? happen each year – and we hope to see you at future events to continue forging your own connections to the past!

Bethany Hrachovec is the Director of Education and Engagement and has the fortunate job of shouting her team's praises for the amazing events that they run, which includes Whodunit?.

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