"And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy."- F Scott Fitzgerald. Despite the fact that their study group was already small, and had continued to shrink in size, there still would be no privacy at this Greendale 5 party that was occurring late that night. Annie and Abed had invited over their friends for a 1920s themed murder dinner mystery party, entitled "The Murder at Absinthe Fairy." Annie had requested for the group to dress up as their characters and bring over food and decorations. Begrudgingly, Annie told Britta she could control the music because she wouldn't stop talking about her new iPod mini. Annie assumed it would just be one long playlist of Roxanne on repeat. The apartment was decorated like a 1920s speakeasy; Annie had set up the kitchen counter like a bar, the lighting was dim, and jazz music was playing, until Britta swapped in her iPod. At approximately 9:05 pm, the group arrived. "Hi guys!" Annie squealed, dressed in a Sheriff's outfit with a big mustache. "I'm so happy you are all here. The apartment has been kind of lonely since Troy has left. Snacks are on the table and you can leave your food and decorations over there!" The group settled in and gathered around the table. A week earlier, they had each received a letter with a short description of their character. At their place settings, they each had an envelope. Inside, there were in-depth character descriptions and their alibis. "Dean-a-ling-ling" the Dean exclaimed as he threw open the door, dressed in a flapper dress. "I've always felt like I should've lived in the 20s." "O-kay, what are you doing here, Craig," Jeff asked cynically. "Are you following us?" " I invited him to moderate the event," Annie explained. "He'll open the different 'sudden twist of fate' cards and will reveal the murderer. He also will state all of the characters motives. Let's get started!" All of a sudden, the Dean threw the case file down dramatically. With a tear streaming down his face, he somberly stated, "Your dear friend, Johnny, has been found dead. The body was found in the alleyway by the infamous speakeasy, Absinthe Fairy. You are all here today as suspects. You each have motive for killing Johnny and today, we are getting to the bottom of this." Annie interrupted the Dean, trying to take control of the situation. "Okay guys, so we're going to go around and introduce your characters and make sure to stay in character from here on out." "Annie, I am in control here," the dean interrupted. He snapped back into character. "I will be conducting the interviews today. One of you is guilty. Guilty for MURDER. And we will be getting to the bottom of this. Albert Ball, you're up first." "Cool. Cool Cool Cool," Abed stated nonchalantly. "Abed! I mean 'Albert,' you need to be in character!" Annie exclaimed. "Right." Abed said as he snapped into character. With a New York mobster accent, Abed explained his character. "My name is Albert Ball. I worked with Johnny for five years. He was the bee's knees, that kid. Hardest worker I've ever seen in our biz." The Dean interrupted, "What biz would that be, Albert?" "We helped supplied some services that are a little hush hush, seeing how we have a cop over here." Abed glared at Annie. The Dean quickly jotted down notes, while Annie jumped in and said, "Your business as a bootlegger is pretty clear, Albert." Before Abed could reply, the Dean picked up an envelope and read the following: "Albert's motives are pretty clear. We know that Johnny, his long time partner, threatened to leave the biz and work with our cop, Ralph, to help bust the Absinthe Fairy. You're job and lifestyle would be at risk if he did that, so you went and killed him before he squealed. Didn't you, Albert? DIDN'T YOU?!" "Dean," Annie interrupted as she broke character. "This is just the description part! Don't interrogate them just yet, although I like your enthusiasm." "Alright, Alright. Jeffrey, I mean, Edgar, oh I like that name, you're up next." Jeff leaned back in his chair and without any effort to play his part, read off his card. "My name is Edgar, I'm a mafia man. I worked with Abed…I mean Albert and Johnny. They were my middlemen. I secured the juice for them and they supplied the juice to Absinthe Fairy. Pretty simple." "Hmm, clear motives once again," the Dean stated. "If Johnny ratted himself and Absinthe Fairy out, you'd be in jail in a hot second. Similarly, you used to date Flo, Johnny's ex girlfriend and you wanted to win her back, didn't you? And you especially didn't like how Johnny treated her. Let's keep this moving, everyone go down the line and quickly give your description." "Florence Hester, but I go by Flo. I run the Absinthe Fairy Laundromat. There are no illegal activities that occur there. I met Johnny at a Women's suffrage protest and afterwards, we started dating. We ended on fine terms." "I beg to differ, Flo," The Dean interrupted. "Our sources tell us that he dumped you and you took it pretty poorly. You could eventually get over the breakup but if he busted the only other thing in your life that you cared about, Absinthe Fairy, then you wouldn't be able to handle that. Very clear motive, Flo." "Ralph Williams," Annie said in a low voice. "I'm the local cop. My job is to bring justice to this society and illegal activities, mobsters, and bootleggers are instead hurting our society. So I have been working to bust the Absinthe Fairy for some time. I met Johnny while scoping out this 'laundromat,'" Annie said with air quotes. The Dean read off his card, "Busting the Absinthe Fairy would've been your largest bust. In fact, your reputation as a cop was on the line since you've flopped on most of your cases. So you told Johnny you'd make sure he wouldn't be put in jail if he worked with you. But he started questioning busting the Absinthe Fairy, due to his prior relationship with Flo and his friendship with his partner. And he was the only way you'd bust them. Our sources tell us that they saw you two get into a big fight in the alley the night of his death. You got mad and out of anger, which we know you have anger problems, you could've attacked him…Who's next?" "Okay," Shirley said in her sweet voice. " My name is Ethel and I am Johnny's aunt." She paused, "Oh that's not nice, why I am I always the old and not fun character?" "You seem, pardon my French, badass according to your alibi," the Dean interrupted. "Johnny had a large inheritance and you really needed the money since you spent most of your money helping Flo start Absinthe Fairy. And if Johnny busted you, you're entire career and life would be in shambles. But if he died, well you'd be rich and successful." "With that," the Dean said, "we can now begin the fun part. Let the games begin, folks. Lets start with our first sudden fate of twist card." The Dean pulled out the envelope as the group eagerly waited to hear their fate. END OF CHAPTER 1.