Mad Hatter’s Sweet 16 Party Theme: Planning Alice’s Murder

Last week I introduced the Mad Hatter sweet sixteen birthday party theme and this week I am supplying you with more ideas on plotting the actual murder aspect of the game.

You will need to have assigned seating with placement cards on the tea party table and at each seat have an envelope that is enclosed with details for your guests regarding their role during the tea party game.

You will need to do some research on the characters from the book, “The Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll and expect that your guests may have little to no knowledge of the looking glass but are more than likely familiar with Disney’s Alice and Wonderland. So, you will need to give them more information about their character and their relationship with Alice.

You can create your own murder storyline with a different motive, murder and weapon if you choose or you can use this example.

Dormouse – When you met Alice that day at tea you thought she was quite lovely until Mad Hatter and March Hare began to have some fun at your expense. You had tea poured on your nose and then were rudely stuffed inside a teapot; although you may not even remember this since you were most likely in an unconscious state. Alice didn’t actually do these things to you but Mad Hatter and March Hare seemed to have only mistreated you in front of Alice. Perhaps they were showing off for her. They certainly paid her more attention than they did to you. You were slightly jealous of Alice but after being stuffed in the teapot everything became a blur. This is certainly not reason enough to harm her and certainly not kill her. You have an alibi because you were long asleep in the teapot at the time of the murder. You are innocent.

Queen of Hearts – Deep down you did not like Alice. You only slightly liked her if she followed your rules and did things YOUR way. Alice stumbled upon your croquet match after leaving Mad Hatter’s tea party. You took one look at her and knew she was no match for your croquet skills but that was not the case. Alice actually won the match. Immediately following the match, The Knaves of Hearts informed you that Alice had cheated during the match. You were outraged and screamed “Off with her head”! Alice was thrown into an immediate trial and was found innocent by The King and The Executioner. Your hot temper and quick judgment towards everyone makes you an easy target as a suspect. You would have loved nothing more than to have all of the people in Looking Glass witness your ruthlessness and power by beheading Alice; and because of your showy personality, you would never have had Alice killed in secret. No, oh no, you would have made it a huge spectacle for all to see with you shouting your famous words; “Off with her head”! You have an alibi; you didn’t have time to go chasing after her since you had to attend the next trial in your court which was “Who Stole the Tarts”. You are innocent

Duchess – You have a split personality and because of this; you haven’t been able to make up your mind on whether or not you like Alice. She entered your home and started giving you parenting tips as you nursed your baby whom was screaming the entire afternoon. You handed your baby off to Alice and she went outside with him. You went upstairs to your bedroom window and saw Alice talking to your baby and then she somehow turned him into a pig and set him free into the woods. You are angry that Alice stole your baby and did some sort of witchcraft on him that transformed him into a pig. But at the same time you are thankful that Alice rescued your baby because if the cook didn’t kill the baby with all the pots and pans he was tossing at him, you were likely to kill him by beating him to death every time he sneezed. You hated his constant sneezing which Alice said was only because the cook was using too much pepper. You also felt Alice was nosey with her cooking advice. You had arrived late to the Queen’s croquet match and upon Alice winning, you quickly congratulated her. You were then pulled aside by the Queen and asked to attend the trial of “Who Stole the Tarts”. Right after the trial, the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon had informed you that Alice had told everyone that YOU were the one to help her cheat in the croquet match and that it was your master plan all along. When the Queen heard this she yelled “Off with her head” in which you were whisked away by the guards to a prison cell. You were in prison waiting for your trial during the time Alice was murdered. You are innocent.

March Hare – To be honest you have had many more moments in which you did not like Alice versus the times that you can say that you liked her. Just as Alice was leaving the tea party you saw her steal some tea and put it in her pocket. That was quite rude of her to steal the tea. Minutes later Mad Hatter noticed his precious and most favored Mint Tea was gone. The Mad Hatter accused you of stealing the tea and banned you from ever attending his tea parties again. This angered you and you wanted Alice to set the record straight to clear your name so that you would be welcomed back into Mad Hatter’s lovely tea parties. You tracked down Alice and told her that you saw her steal the tea and now the mad hatter thinks you did. Alice felt remorse and explained she only wanted to give some tea to Dinah, her cat. She apologized and gave you her word that she would tell mad hatter the truth behind the missing tea. You arranged a meeting with the Mad Hatter and Alice to give her the opportunity to tell the truth but Alice denied she stole the tea and even went as far as to say she witnessed YOU stealing the tea. Mad Hatter thanked Alice for her honesty and banned you from not only his tea parties but he contacted his local tea supplier and told him to never allow you to purchase any mint tea….ever. You are the murderer. During the trial of “Who stole the tart” you went to Mad Hatter’s tea party which was empty and noticed his cane sitting by his chair. You stole the cane and you went for a walk in the Queen’s garden. As you approached the white roses, you heard Alice singing. You noticed she was alone and quietly came from behind her and beat her to death with a cane. Seconds after killing Alice, you look around to make sure there were no witnesses. You begin to make your way out of the garden but you hear footsteps running away from you and in the direction of the Queen’s court. You are unable to see who it is since the Queen has so many rose bushes blocking your view. You head into the opposite directions and disappear into the woods with the bloody cane in your hand. As you run into the woods you throw the cane over some bushes. While everyone is trying to figure out who the murder is, you must find out who the witness is and threaten them to keep quiet before everyone finds out that you did it.

Cheshire Cat – You have very fond memories of Alice and you possibly the only one in all of Looking Glass that actually liked her. Perhaps it was because she had a liking for cats or because she was a good sport for your bantering. You would never have killed Alice. That would have only ended your daily amusement which was to see how far you could push her buttons. You have an alibi. After Alice’s trial for cheating against the Queen in the croquet match, Alice left the court and you decided to stay in the court to see what trouble you could cause during the next trial. You are innocent.

White Rabbit – You’ve never really liked Alice; she ruined your house and made you very late on various occasions. After Alice attended the Mad Hatters Tea Party, she beat the Queen at the croquet match leaving you to attend to the angered Queen and an unpleasant Duchess. Not only did she make your evening worst she also blamed you for the reason she fell down the rabbit hole. Accused with this ridiculous crime you very angrily storm off to look for her. But wait! You quickly look at your clock and realize you’re very late and Alice’s nonsense will have to waste another day’s time. You quickly run off to the trial of Who Stole the Tarts, which was when the time of the murder took place. Therefore; you have an alibi. You are Innocent

Caterpillar – You have never cared much for Alice. Her non-consideration towards other made you see her as quite rude. She visited you the day of the murder; she explained that she by accident had drank a bottle that had a note attached that said, Drink Me. Like always she ended up being 3 inches, again. She asked you to give her some of the mushroom you were sitting on. So she could grow taller. She started to complain that being 3 inches was a horrible size to be. You being quite sensitive to your size grew quite angry and told her you wouldn’t give her any of your mushroom till she apologized to you and promise to think before she speaks. Alice did no such thing. She grabbed a piece of the mushroom and ran off to the Mad Hatter’s tea party. Very mad and discouraged you continued smoking your pipe on the mushroom. Thanks a lot to your nonchalant attitude you wouldn’t have found any merit in going after her or even killing her. You are innocent.

Ace of Hearts – You never really knew Alice. Hell, you didn’t even know anyone hated her let alone that the March Hare would kill her. Since you caught the March Hare in the act hopefully he didn’t recognize you. But just in case I’d keep my distances from him. You are the Witness. Although you know who the murderer is you need to make sure no one; especially the March Hare discovers that you know who the murderer is. You also need to find out what weapon was used.

Mad Hatter Alice was a friend of yours or well, so you thought. As long as you are stuck in teatime nothing could really faze you. You were angry when you found that there was missing tea, and thought it was the tea addictive March Hare. You stayed at the teatime till it was time for the trial. When you were sent for by the Queen and was a witness in the trial. After being quiet nervous, you ended up running out of the trial when you where done. But you did not stay at the trial, you ran straight home. You and the Dormouse resumed your tea party just like every other day. You are innocent

Read next week’s post about starting and ending the game.

Tagged as: alice in wonderland, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Mad Hatter, mad hatter's murder mystery, murder mystery