DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

This didn't happen.

Among the special events advertised in the lead-up toOTFCC 2004was "Who Shot Optimus Prime?",meant to have been a live-action interactive murder mystery with aTransformerstheme. Promotional materials (see right) featuredNightbeat.

However, upon arrival at the venue (Monastero's, an Italian restaurant and catering hall) it turned out the event would be "DEATH BY CHOCOLATE,"a" normal "live-action murder mystery, with generic human characters and noTransformers-related content at all.

Malin Huffmanentered first to greet and prep guests—but he was suddenly distracted bygunshotsand fled the room in terror. Immediately, in rushed the well-knownDetective Harry Bottoms,who announced that famed chocolate magnateO. Henry Butterfinger,CEO of King Coco, had been murdered, that the catering hall was now a crime scene, and that all attendees would be his deputies and help solve the case. Bottoms split attendees into teams, produced evidence, witnesses, and suspects, and gave the teams opportunities to come to their own conclusions and share them with the rest of the audience.

In the end, the murderer was found to be the notorious vixen-like sociopathDarque Chocolatte.She vanished at the end of the event and her current whereabouts are unknown, though likely the mountainous"tribal" regionsbetween Afghanistan and Pakistan.

True to Detective Bottoms' word, the "reward" for solving the mystery was "worth well under $1000" (as he reminded participants throughout the evening) and turned out to be nothing more than a cheaply-printed certificate. Apparently, crimedoespay more than detective work.

Despite the night's shocking events, attendees tried to make the best of it and get on with normal life afterwards.

"A dear family friend had been invited to visit, a popular mystery writer from Bennett Cove, Vermont. She was not only here to visit, she was here to help O. Henry with a problem...and now, she and you can help solve the mystery of who O. Henry Buttterfinger in the mystery we'll call...DEATH BY CHOCOLATE"

SUSPECT LIST

Friends & Family

• Bits O. Honey Butterfinger — wife of deceased
• O. Henry Butterfinger Jr. — son
• Carmello Butterfinger — daughter
• Rebecca Snoop — family friend/mystery writer
• Dr. James Clarkbar — personal physician and golf partner
• Mrs. Lil Zagnut — personal assistant and confidante
• Patty "Pepper" Mintee — Junior's fiancee
• Fanny May Honey — sister-in-law
• Raisen Etta Goober — college sweetheart & lover

Employees

• NestléCrunse — Manager of Research & Development
• Tootsie Rolle' — Office Manager
• Darque Chocolatte — Director of Sales
• Goody Ann — twin spokesmodel
• Plenty Ann — twin spokesmodel
• Charleston Chew — Sales Manager
• JackSnickers— Candy packaging designer
• Jim Reeses — Candy packaging designer
• JohnHershey— Candy packaging designer

Collectively, the designers were known as "The Three Musketeers"

Notes

• Each table/team was asked to create a name for their agency. Among some of the more colorful names chosen were the "I Thought Optimus Was the Victim" Detective Agency, the "James X. Hooks Memorial" Detective Agency, the "Cold Pizza Inc." Detective Agency and the always-popular "I Did Your Mom" Detective Agency. Hey, we had to havesomefun that evening.
• Participants received posters ofOptimus PrimeandMegatronautographed by theirvoiceactors.
• According toGlen Hallit,the mystery was notTransformers-themed because the hosting entertainment company — Celebration Services, Inc — refused to change their format or script without "substantial remuneration" (i.e.: Big Bucks).
• At one point,3Hconsidered the idea of producing a few minutes of original animation with the proper voice-actors, but this too would have cost far, far more than their resources would allow.
• For the record, in the originalTransformers-themed mystery,Ratchetwould have been revealed to be the culprit after being infected with one ofBombshell'scerebro-shells.