BURNING HATRED an Interactive Drama Live Action Freeform Role Playing Scenario for 11 players (7 male and 4 female) written by Vivian Hsiao and Gloria Hung Written as an assignment in English Composition Two, an English as a Foreign Language course taught for juniors by Brian David Phillips in the Department of English at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, Spring Semester, 1996. Copyright 1996 by Vivian Hsiao and Gloria Hung. INTRODUCTION: This murder took place in San Francisco on July 6, 1995. On that day, Alston Edwards, the deceased, held a big party to celebrate the twelfth wedding anniversary of he and his wife-Nora Edwards. The party was held in the luxurious mansion of the deceased from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. However, about 9:30 p.m., in the hall, Alston, who drank a lot, suddenly fell down painfully in front of the guests and died with blood streaming from his eyes and mouth. An autopsy revealed he died of being poisoned. Alston Edwards owns a big trade enterprise. He is 47 years old, good-looking and clever. He likes to drink and has bad temper. THE RULES OF THIS GAME: There are ten suspects and a detective in this game. All of them participated in the party. Not only the suspects but the detective has clues in act one and act two. Only the murderer can lie and the detective should find out who the murderer is. Name: Daisy Robison Sex: female Age: 21 DAISY ROBISON, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 21 years old, a maid in Alston's family. You have worked for 2 month. You are young, bright and beautiful. DAISY ROBISON, BACKGROUND: SECRET Claire Winston is your real name. You are actually the daughter of Robert Adams, and come here to help your father to take a revenge. You are gathering the evidence which can prove Alston's crime of deception that makes your father bankrupt. However, one night, when Alston was drunk, you were raped by him. DAISY ROBISON, ACT ONE: Jerry's wife is Nora's good friend. One day, she came to visit Nora, but Nora wasn't at home. At that time, Alston was drunk and molested her. Trying to escape from Alston, she jumped down from the balcony of the second floor and finally, became a vegetable. Besides, you often see drunk Alston abusing his son madly. DAISY ROBISON, ACT TWO: At the party, you saw Sera hovering around Alston's room sneakingly. Name: Kenneth Edwards Sex: male Age: 22 KENNETH EDWARDS, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 22 years old, the son of the deceased and Nora. You are intelligent, handsome and melancholy. Sometimes, you loose your temper without reasons. You are a college student, majoring in business. KENNETH EDWARDS, BACKGROUND: SECRET You are actually the son of Nora and Saul Edwards, who is Nora's former husband and Alston's elder brother. Saul died when you are 10 years old. He was a good father, so his sudden death shocked you a great deal. Then your mother married Alston. However, your new father treats you very bad. He often abuses you when drunk. Even sometimes, like a morbid man, he tied your mother to a chair and beat you up seriously in front of this tearful and helpless woman. KENNETH EDWARDS, ACT ONE: You fall in love with Daisy. But you found she was raped by Alston when he was drunk. This incident increases your hatred. KENNETH EDWARDS, ACT TWO: One day before the murder, Nora talked to you smilingly, "My dear son, our suffering will be over soon." Name: Robert Adams Sex: male Age: 50 ROBERT ADAMS, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 50 years old. You look calm and steady-going. You are the driver of the deceased. You have worked for him less than a month. ROBERT ADAMS, BACKGROUND: SECRET You had been once a very rich man. Ernest Winston is your real name. You ran a big trade company. However, Alston used an intrigue to make you bankrupt and then purchased your company. Thus, you both change your look and name, and have waiting for a good opportunity to take a revenge and take your company back. Moreover, Daisy is actually your daughter and pretends to be a maid here in order to help you. ROBERT ADAMS, ACT ONE: You discover that Alston and Brenda have an affair when driving them several times. Recently, they have quarreled with each other frequently. ROBERT ADAMS, ACT TWO: At the party, about 7:40 p.m., when you pass by the room, you see Alston and Nora Kissing intimately. Nora seems very delightful. Name: Brenda Russell Sex: female Age: 35 BRENDA RUSSELL, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 35 years old, good-figure, aggressive, and powerful. You are a manager in the trade enterprise of Alston, having worked for 5 years. BRENDA RUSSELL, BACKGROUND: SECRET You have been Alston's mistress for 5 years. In the beginning, you love him very much and think he does, too. But gradually, you find Alston merely regards you as a substitute of his wife-Nora. Then your love changes into hatred, and is replaced by the ambition of the business. Besides, you attempt you have an affair with Alfred, which is a kind of revenge on Alston. BRENDA RUSSELL, ACT ONE: One day, in the office, you overheard the argument of Alston and Jerry. " I'll reveal the truth of Saul's death! " Jerry said threateningly. BRENDA RUSSELL, ACT TWO: You know Alfred wants to be the president of the trade enterprise. He asks you to cooperate with him. Besides, he loves you so much that he is very jealous of Alston and wants you to leave Alston soon. Name: Nora Edwards Sex: female Age: 43 NORA EDWARDS, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 43 years old. You are the wife of the deceased and the mother of Kenneth. You are a charming, tender, elegant and silent woman. NORA EDWARDS, BACKGROUND: SECRET You had once been the wife of Saul Edwards-Alston's elder brother and Kenneth's father. he was an owner of a trade company. After the suddenly mysterious death of your former husband, Alston got the company and forced you to marry him. Although Alston loves you very much, you still miss and love your former husband. When Alston knew that he could not own your love, he began to drink a lot frequently and often abused your son in order to hurt you. You are the murderer of Alston. You can't endure his abuses of your poor son and besides, you have suffered from his psychological abuse a lot after you married him, so you hate him very much. However, when you found Alston murdered your former husband 12 years ago, and caused your good friend-Jerry's wife to become a vegetable, your hatred went to extreme. Therefore, you made up your mind to kill him. You knew Alston liked to drink, so you asked your good friend- Jack Wilson to make some kind of chemical. It will produce poison when mixing with quantities of alcohol. The chemical itself isn't a kind of poison. Then you put it into your lipstick. At the party, you used the lipstick with the chemical and kissed with Alston. Afterward, Alston drank a lot in the hall. Suddenly, he fell down on the ground, struggling painfully. Finally, in front of the guests, he died. NORA EDWARDS, ACT ONE: You have suspected Saul's death is not an accident. Then you find Jerry knows something about it. NORA EDWARDS, ACT TWO: Several days ago, you overheard the secret conversation of Robert and Daisy. From it, you found Robert was actually Daisy's father. At that time, Robert grinned and said to Daisy," It's about the time to do it!" NAME: Alfred Wilde SEX: Male AGE: 45 ALFRED WILDE, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You're 45 years old. You are the senior partner in Alston's enterprise. You're married and your wife is Sera Wilde. ALFRED WILDE, BACKGROUND: SECRET You want to be the president of Alston's enterprise, therefore you use Brenda to achieve your goal. And Brenda cooperate with you for a long time. ALFRED WILDE, ACT ONE: You feel something wrong with Sera. Every time you mention of Alston, her face change and you can't tell whether she is angry or sad. She denies knowing Alston when you ask. ALFRED WILDE, ACT TWO: You happen to see sera's diary in your bedroom. You read it, and you find that she already knew Alston a long time ago. She was betrayed by Alston. Now she's very incensed and plans to revenge because of what he has done to her. NAME: Sera Wilde SEX: Female AGE:35 SERA WILDE, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 35 years old. You are Alfred's wife. You had gone to Thailand 10 years ago, and after 7 years, you left there and returned America. SERA WILDE, BACKGROUND: SECRET You were once Alston's girlfriend. 10 years ago, he was just a poor guy who immersed himself in gambling. He just spent your money and fooled around all day. Because of gambling, he owed a lot of money. He borrowed money from the unlicensed banking house and couldn't give back the money. Therefore, he sold you to the banking house and you had to go to Thailand and were forced to be a prostitute. After 7 years, you succeeded in escaping. Because of this, you hate Alston very much. SERA WILDE, ACT ONE: One day when you get to Alfred's office, you see Brenda and Alfred sit together and behave intimately as you are going to open the door. You overhear Alston says, "we'll be rich very soon, honey." SERA WILDE, ACT TWO: At the party, at about 7:30, you are going to the bathroom. As you walking through the study room, you see Daisy there. The room is in a mess and it seems that she is searching for something. NAME: Jerry Browning SEX: Male AGE:43 JERRY BROWNING, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 43 years old. You are the junior partner. You are married and you love your wife very much, but now she is a vegetable and can't move. JERRY BROWNING, BACKGROUND: SECRET You know that Alston killed his brother, Saul. Because of this, you blackmail Alston. You need money, because your wife's medical care costs a lot of money and you can hardly afford it. Besides, you think that Alston must have something to do with your wife's accident. JERRY BROWNING, ACT ONE: You suspect that your wife didn't fall from the balcony of the second floor in Alston's house by accident. When this happened, Daisy was the only person in Alston's house. You think that maybe she knows some important information about the accident. JERRY BROWNING, ACT TWO: Before the party begins, you see Andy and Alston are arguing for something, when you pass be the garden. You hear Andy says, "if you want to get rid of me,...no, it's impossible. You will never get away from me. No way!" Then, he rushes away. NAME: Jack Wilson SEX: Male AGE:48 JACK WILSON, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 48 years old. You are Nora and Saul's good friend. You are good in Chemistry, and you work as a manager in a chemical factory. JACK WILSON, BACKGROUND: SECRET You've fallen in love with Nora since you met her; that's why you remain single. After Saul's death, you become Nora's only friend. Everytime she has problems or she's upset, she'll talk to you. You are her confidant. About a week before Alston died, Nora came to you and asked you to make some kind of chemical for her. You don't know why she wanted that. JACK WILSON, ACT ONE: You know that Andy had killed a man and was sent into the prison. Besides, he is a homosexual. JACK WILSON, ACT TWO: Nora often complains to you about Alston's violence. You know that Alston often abuses his son physically and abuses her psychological. She says that she can't endure this any more. NAME: Andy Forrests SEX: Male AGE:45 ANDY FORRESTS, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are 45 years old. You're Alston's best friend since you two were in childhood. You are a clerk in the same chemical factory with Jack. You are possessive and melancholy. ANDY FORRESTS, BACKGROUND: SECRET You had once commit a crime, and no one know that. You're afraid that anyone will know the fact. You are a homosexual and you love Alston very much, but you can't let him know or he might hate you and scorn you. You are melancholy. Sometimes you just can't hold your temper. You might do something out of your mind if you are angry. ANDY FORRESTS, ACT ONE: You remember that once Alston told you that he couldn't have his own children, because he is sterile. He also confesses to you that he really loves Nora. However, he is very troubled that Nora does not seem to love him. ANDY FORRESTS, ACT TWO: You see Nora go to the factory to find Jack very often. One time you see them talking. Jack looks worried and he says, "if you really want, I can do for you, but why do you need that?" It seems that Nora is asking Jack to do something for her. NAME: George Williams SEX: Male AGE:51 GEORGE WILLIAMS, BACKGROUND: PUBLIC You are a famous and outstanding detective. You are 51 years old. Your best friend is Saul Edwards. You also know every members of the Edwards. You've been a good police officer, but you resigned 6 years ago. You've solve many tough and mysterious cases. GEORGE WILLIAMS, BACKGROUND: SECRET You understand Saul very well and you suspect that his death is not an accident. You've searched for the evidences and gathered information for 12 years to prove that Saul was murdered. GEORGE WILLIAMS, ACT ONE: You find that Robert had an operation to change his face. He also gets a new name. To your surprise, he had once been a very rich man; He had his own company. But it was purchased by Alston and then Robert became poor and lost everything. GEORGE WILLIAMS, ACT TWO: At about 8:10 at the party, you pass by Alston's bedroom, you see Robert and Alston are fighting. You hear Robert says, "You must pay for it! That's what you deserve!" PUBLIC EVIDENCE ONE An excerpt from the diary of Sera Wilde, dated JULY 2, 1995. I know it's time, after so many years. I have waited for so many years; I have suffered for such a long time. Alston, evil and ungrateful man, lost a lot of money because of gambling and sold me to Thailand for the debt he borrowed from the shark. How could he do such a terrible thing to me? I was a faithful and thoughtful girlfriend of his at that time. He was poor and unemployment. I gave all the money I earned to him and loved him with my life. Every time I think about what he has done to me, I almost get crazy. How could he betray me? My life was destroyed by him. He pushed me down to the hell. How should I forgive him? He is such a devil. It's not easy to recover from the pain of the past. Now, it's the time for him to pay for it. Well, there is nothing more important than what I'm gonna do. REVENGE!! REVENGE!! PUBLIC EVIDENCE TWO There was a news derived from some newspapers 17 years ago, which was occasionally discovered by George Williams in his investigation. It revealed the amazing secret about Andy Forrest, who was actually a homosexual. He lived with his partner 17 years ago. However, afterward, the man, Forrest's partner loved someone else and wanted to leave Forrest, who was strongly possessive. Forrest was driven mad and then poisoned the partner to death. He kept the dead body with antiseptic and hid it in the wardrobe of his bedroom. In this way, Forrest thought he can get together with his partner forever. One day, a friend of Forrest's came to visit him, unexpectedly and shockingly finding the dead body. Then the scared guy revealed the murder to the police officer. Finally, Andy Forrest was under arrest and sent to the prison. Finis.