The town closed this case fifteen years ago. It shouldn't have.
THE ORPHEUM FILE
A 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 in the new digital edition on your phone.
Printable: instant download, 4 PDFs, nothing to assemble · Digital edition: opens in your browser, nothing to install
Two Cold Ledger games in one purchase: The Hundredth Episode + The Orpheum File, $37.99, printable or digital.
Refundable within 14 days until you download the files or open the case; after that the sale is final unless something is faulty (refund policy).
"Everything you need is in these pages. Nothing is missing. Some of it is lying."
Inside the file
The printable's four PDFs and the digital edition on a phone, each led by its video.
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, opened one at a time — mean nobody gets stuck for good.
Two ways to play, one case
The same seventeen exhibits, the same four objectives and the same sealed solution. Pick the table you play at.
Printable
Four PDFs to print at home or read on screen: the case file with its timeline worksheet, a hints booklet with one hint per page, and the sealed solution behind a warning page. Spread the exhibits across the table and argue.
- Instant download, 29 pages of US Letter
- Yours to keep and print again
- Also sold on Etsy
Digital edition
The case in your browser, on a phone, tablet or computer. Read the exhibits on paper-styled pages, fill in a worksheet that saves as you type, open hints one tier at a time, then lock in your answers and the sealed solution opens.
- Nothing to print or install
- Play together: send your link and you both work the same file
- Stop any time and pick up where you left off
What's in the printable
Four PDFs, delivered the moment you buy: a download page opens right after checkout, and the same link lands in your email.
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, or lock them in on the digital edition. 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 sexual assault.
Every edition of this game, and what changed in each: the Cold Ledger changelog.
Common questions
How many people can play The Orpheum File?
One or two. Work the case solo, or argue it out with a partner over a date night. Our guide to a cold case date night for two walks through the evening.
How long does it take?
60 to 90 minutes for most tables. Two sittings work well: Exhibits A–G with the timeline worksheet beside you, then H–Q.
Do I have to print it?
No. The printable edition prints at home on US Letter, one-sided, black and white is fine, or reads entirely on screen: four files, 29 pages, no app and nothing to assemble. The digital edition needs no printing at all: it plays in your browser.
What is the digital edition?
The same case, played in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install. The worksheet saves as you type, hints open one tier at a time, and the sealed solution opens once you commit your answers. Playing with someone? Send them your link and you both work the same file.
What do you have to solve?
Four objectives: when she really died, what happened to her bag, who was inside the building while the records placed them somewhere else, and who was responsible, including who the file was built to protect. Write your four answers down (the digital edition has you lock them in), then open the sealed solution and score your solve as Juror, Investigator, Detective or Archivist.
What if we get stuck?
Turn to the graduated hints: three tiers for each objective, one hint per page in the printable and one tap at a time in the digital edition, so you never see more than you ask for. Using hints is playing correctly.
What ages is it for?
Ages 16 and up. Content note: a young woman's death and a police cover-up; no gore, no sexual assault.
Is it connected to The Hundredth Episode?
Same town, fifteen years earlier: this is the night that started everything, and The Hundredth Episode is the party game set at the podcast taping years later. Each stands entirely on its own, and neither spoils the other's answer.
How do I get it?
Instantly. The printable: a download page opens right after checkout and the same link arrives by email, four PDFs, nothing to install. The digital edition: a page with your case link opens right after checkout, and the same link arrives by email so you can come back to it.
Is there a bundle with The Hundredth Episode?
Yes. The Season 1 bundle has The Hundredth Episode and The Orpheum File together, printable or as both digital editions. It is regularly $37.99, against $41.98 bought separately. Each game arrives exactly as it does when bought alone. See the bundle.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, within 14 days of buying, as long as you haven't downloaded the files or, for the digital edition, opened the case. After that the sale is final, unless something is faulty: if a file won't open, pages are missing or the case won't load, reply to your purchase email and we'll fix it or refund you. Details are in the refund policy.
THE HUNDREDTH EPISODE
The 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. Four possible killers ship sealed in the file, and a picker keeps even the host in the dark. Solve the file, then attend the taping: neither game spoils the other's answer.
Another cold case from the same podcast's archive: Accident, Drink Involved, a death on a frozen lake ten winters ago, $6.99.
And a party game from the same archive: The Tenth Winter, a toast at a distillery's tenth year-end party, for 8 to 20 players where the host plays too, $34.99.
Both of those together: the Season 2 bundle, $37.99.
The file is waiting.
One evening. Seventeen documents. Four answers.
Refundable within 14 days until you download the files or open the case; after that the sale is final unless something is faulty (refund policy).
Not sure yet? Try a 90-second case first, free in your browser.