FILE 005 · Case dossier

The Open Verdict

St. Agatha's College, Oxford · 1969

"Academic rivalry, a plagiarised proof, and a verdict the college would rather leave open."

The scene, before you arrive

St Agatha's has survived plague, fire and four centuries of committee meetings, and it fully intends to survive this. Port circulates in the senior common room while careers hang on a single proof, and a proof, once taken, cannot be handed back. When the college loses one of its own, the question is not only who did it but whether anyone will be permitted to ask. Some institutions prefer their verdicts open. It keeps the donors calm.

That is all the file will tell you. The rest arrives on the night, one piece of evidence at a time, and nobody at your table will see the whole of it until the end.

Inside the file

What you get

The script

Fully scripted evening

Every act cued, every scene set, your lines where you need them. No prep, no printing, no experience required.

The evidence

Clues arrive in stages

Evidence and private dossiers drop to your guests' phones as the night unfolds, one act at a time.

The host

You play the victim

Set the table, welcome your guests, then haunt the evening while they work out who wanted you gone.

The table

6 to 12 players

A core cast carries the case, with flexible roles as your table grows. Latecomers can join as observers.

The stage

App-hosted

The case runs from any screen in the room. Your TV is the stage, the phones are the wings.

The real history

Like every file in the catalogue, this case is drawn from a real historical trial, and we will not be telling you how it ended.

Open File 005.

Host it for your table, or take the free case for a spin first and learn how the evidence treats you.

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