the town closed this case fifteen years ago. it shouldn't have.
THE ORPHEUM FILE
A printable cold-case mystery for 1–2 detectives. Seventeen real-feeling documents — police records, ledgers, witness statements, lab re-exams — and four answers to commit to. Solve it in one evening, printed at the kitchen table or entirely on screen.
Instant digital download · 4 PDFs · no app, no internet, nothing to assemble
"Everything you need is in these pages. Nothing is missing. Some of it is lying."
A murder mystery you read like a detective
No scripts, no host, no trivia. You get the documents from a fifteen-year-old small-town death that was ruled an accident — and the town never believed. The file contains an official answer. Your job is to check it.
Seventeen exhibits
Incident summaries, a coat-check ledger, evidence sign-out sheets, a bandstand set list, witness statements that change, and two modern forensic re-exams. Every document is either a clock, a contradiction, or a connection.
Some of it is lying
The file was assembled by people with something to protect. Cross-reference the paperwork against itself and catch the official story failing its own arithmetic.
Built for one evening
60–90 minutes for most tables. Play solo or argue it out with a partner. Graduated hints — three tiers per objective, one hint per page — mean nobody gets stuck for good.
What's in the download
Four PDFs, delivered instantly by Etsy the moment you buy.
START HERE
Spoiler-free setup: how to play, print tips, and the spoiler map that tells you what to open when.
THE CASE FILE
The seventeen exhibits, your four objectives, and a timeline worksheet that turns reading into detection.
GRADUATED HINTS
Three tiers per objective, one hint per page — you never see more than you ask for. Using hints is playing correctly.
SEALED SOLUTION
Behind a warning page. Commit your four answers in writing first, then score your solve: Juror, Investigator, Detective, or Archivist.
How it plays
Read the file
Two sittings works: Exhibits A–G with the worksheet beside you, then H–Q. Note every time you meet.
Work the objectives
When did she really die? What happened to her bag? Who was inside while the records said otherwise? Who was responsible — and who was the file built to protect?
Commit, then open the seal
Write your four answers down. Only then open the sealed solution and find out which of you the file fooled.
Good to know
Content note: a young woman's death and a police cover-up; no gore, no assault. Created with AI assistance under human design direction and review.
THE HUNDREDTH EPISODE
A full murder mystery party game for 8–20 players, set fifteen years later — in the same theater, on the worst night of a true-crime podcast's life. Solve the file first. Then attend the taping.
The file is waiting.
One evening. Seventeen documents. Four answers.
Get The Orpheum File — $6.99