True Detective - The Secrets of Clue

I can sense the question burning on the tip of your tongue: "Can you walk through closed doors in Clue?" This was the debate that has plagued my brain and peeved my friends. 

Let me make this completely clear…I am CERTAIN that you can walk through any door that is placed on the board. Mr. Whatshisface who owns the Clue mansion does not walk around at night locking half of the doors and leaving half of them open, and he shouldn't be obligated to prop every door open either (that wastes energy right?). 

After a heated exchange with some of my friends, I decided to do some research into the history of Clue as a board game. Clue was originally "Cluedo", and on the first board game, there were actually no doors whatsoever. Unfortunately, the original Cluedo was revamped with new graphics to sell more, as almost all board games are. 

the 1949 original Cluedo…without doors

Newer versions with trendy graphics showed the same game with the same rules. Some versions even depicted the rooms with every door shut. If shut doors prevent the characters from entering rooms, this particular version might result in a dull game where no one is ever able to investigate the murder unless it was committed in the hallways.

My version of Clue…with all closed doors

I understand that everyone has different ways of playing board games, but I decided to dive deeper into the mystery of the mystery board game's doors. I looked into online forums where people discussed what they thought of the closed doors. People claimed the doors were "just the artist's choice" and "a doorway is a doorway." My position is heavily supported, and on Cluedofan.com/FAQ, it is stated, "You can go through any of the doorways…whether the door is open or shut." 

So I think I've done sufficient research to please my own curiosity, but unfortunately I doubt I will ever be able to convince my friends. They read some tiny rule in the only rulebook we have, in Spanish (most likely the statement that a door can be blocked by another player), and are not relenting to the fact that Mrs. White, Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, and Miss Peacock are fully capable of operating a door.

Signing Off,

Mr. Shawn in the Dorm Room with a Computer

(Serial Parody) Dorm Room Detective - Part IV (The Final Post)

Previously on Dorm Room Detective: Either my roommate or one of my suite-mates was messing with my stuff over the Thanksgiving break. My pillows were messed up, and I feared that my bed had been slept in. I speculated who committed the crime and interviewed the quiet suite-mate.

Let me just start by saying that I am in the best mood to write this post as I ever will be. Life is going well, I had good food today, and it was the last day for my two week contacts so all I had to do at the end of the day was slide them out of my eyes and into the trashcan. If there were ever a moment where I could lay aside my biases against my irritating roommate Sam and write out a logical report, it would be now.

This isn't really an unbiased thing to do, but I'm going to discard Moi as a suspect. He would not have done it. If I could bring up character witnesses they would all prove my point.

So that leaves us with Sam and Josh.

Let me just give a little more detail about Josh's character. Josh is a very honest person. When he ate other people's food, he admitted it right when they asked him about it. He can be awkward, but he isn't the type of person to lie. He told me straight to my face that he knew nothing about my pillows being moved.

Last time I questioned Josh, so I decided to confront Sam.

Me: "Josh and Moi both said that they didn't know anything about [the pillow situation]."
Sam: "I don't know anything about it."
Me: "I still just want to figure out what happened."
Sam: "I wasn't even around Shawn."
later…
Sam:"That's just like a weird thing to do, like why would I do that? You know what I mean?"
Me: "Well it's a weird thing for anyone to do, so why would anyone do it?"
Sam: "I would be curious to know."

So I see that I might come across as the weird roommate here, the annoying person accusing Sam of moving my pillows when there is a change he didn't do it. After all, he was away for two days. But the break was five days, and he keeps trying to flaunt his two day alibi. What I can't record in a word for word transcription is his actions: his nervous, overly conversational demeanor. Picture a chuckling teddy bear and stick an ugly face on it (harsh but true). Sam's behavior throughout this whole situation was off.

Struggling for some honest responses, I sent out an email to Moi, Josh, and Sam.

Email to Moi, Josh, and Sam

No response. So I sent out individual text messages…first time I ever had a use for the numbers we exchanged at the beginning of the year.

"Hey _____, this is Shawn. If you had to guess who switched me and chris's pillows over Thanksgiving, who would you guess? Just say a name (even if you're not positive)."

This was the vote that it had come down to. Both Moi and Sam responded with some form of "Oh but I'm really not sure who did it."Josh, on the other hand, sent back only three letters: "Sam".

This could be taken in two different ways. Josh could be blaming Sam to deflect the blame away from himself. Or he could be telling me that the most logical person who committed the atrocious crime WAS Sam.

Josh is a blunt truth teller, and I believe him. Sam is a slithery people pleaser who would hate to admit to wrongdoing (When a party of his got busted, he denied that anyone was drinking. When the RA's asked to come into the room, he told them, "I'd rather you not." He ended up getting everyone in way more trouble).

Knowing everything I know about these people, I think I can say with only a little doubt that Sam committed the crime. In the Dorm Room Justice System, you're guilty until proven innocent, and I'm the judge.

Thank you for reading. #DormRoomDetective

(Serial Parody) Dorm Room Detective - Part III

Previously on Dorm Room Detective: I came home from Thanksgiving break to find my pillows had been moved to my friend Chris's bed and his were on mine. In the previous post I detailed the different characters/suspects.

At this point in my investigation, there is a very comforting conclusion that I have come to: more likely than not, no one was actually sleeping in either my or Chris's bed.

The evidence of this was there all along. My bed was just as messy as always and Chris's was nicely tucked in. The only thing askew: the pillows. Furthermore, who would be idiotic enough to sleep in one bed and then switch pillows with another bed. This leads me to believe that only our pillows were mistreated (still a treacherous deed).

My Bed with Chris's pillows

Chris's Bed with my pillows

We are still, however, faced with the question: Who? Who would use my pillows? What was their motive to commit this crime?

Today, I spoke with Josh about the events that occurred over the Thanksgiving holiday (Nov 26-30). He is the final witness who could have provided clues to the situation. Here is an excerpt out of (short) conversation.

Me: "Hey Josh, were you here over the Thanksgiving break?
Josh: "Yeah."
Me: "Do you know if anybody had any guests over?"
Josh: "Not that I know of"
Me: "Alright, just 'cause when I came back all of my pillows were on Chris's bed and all of Chris's pillows were on my bed."
Josh: "I don't know anything about that."
Me: "You don't think that [Sam] had any guests over or anything?"
Josh: "I was actually out of the suite most of the time."
Me: "Ok."

Not much substance…I know. So Josh didn't know anything about the pillows, and he denied even being in the apartment much. This story was backed up by Moi, who had stated that Josh was usually out of the room. Josh IS capable of taking things that aren't his, but I cannot believe that he would cross the threshold and come into my room, and for what…to borrow my pillows?

To review the facts…
Kyle, Chris, and myself were all out of town for the weekend. This leaves Sam, Josh, and Moi. Only Sam lives in the room. Moi and Josh have never even entered my room to my knowledge. Josh is gone most of the days and comes back at night. Sam claims that he left the door unlocked over the weekend and was gone on Thursday and Friday. Everyone is denying knowing anything about the pillows.

The more I think about the situation, the weirder I realize it is. First, I was furious, thinking that someone had slept in my bed. Then, I was calmed, believing that only my pillows were touched. Finally, I was perplexed, because what could have happened with my pillows.

Did someone use them to host friends on our couches in the common space and then forget which bed they went on? This seems unlikely because both Moi and Josh would have seen if Sam had friends over, and Moi would have seen Josh's friends and vice versa. They aren't the type of people to cover for each other…not friends. Did Sam come home in a drunken stupor and have a pillow fight with his lonely self? This is honestly the best bet and my personal guess at the sequence of events of the crime.

Next on Dorm Room Detective: I confront Sam. The evidence is stacked against him. I won't stop until I figure out at least part of the story. Someone is lying, and I will get to the bottom of it, even if I have to call the first suite meeting of the semester (we never did fill out our required roommate agreements).

I have begun to use voice memos on my iPod, and will make attempts to keep clear records of the events that transpire throughout this investigation.