The War Files · Case dossier

The Lisbon Handover

Estoril, Portugal · 1943

“A neutral country, which means everyone is here, and everyone is watching.”

The scene, before you arrive

A resort hotel on the Portuguese coast where both sides drink in the same bar and pretend not to know each other's faces. A handover is arranged for the evening. It does not happen, because one of the parties to it is dead by nine o'clock, and the only people who can be questioned are the ones who cannot afford to answer.

That is as much as the file will give you. The rest comes out on the night, one piece of evidence at a time, and the room will be well into the evening before the shape of it shows.

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.

Original fiction

Neutral Portugal really was a crossroads for both sides. This hotel, these people and this death are invented.

Unlike our eight Case Files, which reopen real unsolved cases, this file is invented from end to end. There is no historical verdict to look up and nothing to spoil by reading around it. The solution is fair, the evidence is all in the room, and your table settles it.

Want a real one? The eight Case Files are genuine unsolved cases with real inquests.

Host The Lisbon Handover.

Host it at your own table. Nothing to print, no script to learn, and you play the victim, so you finally get to attend your own party.

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