Friday night, it was curtains for Don "Big Jim" Ravioli.
Less than an hour into a gala celebrating the grand opening of a friend's speakeasy, the mob boss was brutally gunned down in front of gangsters, gamblers and scantily clad harlots.
The lights flickered out seconds before the shooting and, despite a broken champagne bottle near Big Jim's bullet-ridden body, no other evidence remained.
So, whodunit?
This was all part of "Murder at The Four Deuces," an interactive murder-mystery game that unfolded this weekend at Wild Goose Inn Bed & Breakfast, 512 Albert Ave.
The event, coordinated by the MSU School of Hospitality Business, transformed the season-themed inn into an upscale Chicago speakeasy straight out of the roaring '20s era.
Al Bay, the inn's owner, approached the school's media and event-planning class earlier this semester with an idea for an interactive role-playing game involving inn guests.
"It's creative," he said. "That's what makes a difference."
Jeff Beck, an assistant professor in the MSU School of Hospitality Business, said this was an opportunity for his students to gain hands-on experience in a popular area of the hospitality industry.
"It's easy to do PowerPoint, but it's more powerful having students work with a client," he said.
The "Murder at The Four Deuces" theme was selected and adapted from Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games, an interactive party game Web site.
For weeks, more than 20 students in Beck's class planned the event's meals, practiced the game's roles, then contacted five area couples to participate.
Couples shelled out about $475 each to spend the weekend at Wild Goose Inn, dressing up in costumes to portray a variety of gangland characters, including Al Capone.
"We expected everyone to be in full character," said hospitality business junior Jenny Manchik, a weekend escort and event planner.
Mark Mandenberg, an East Lansing resident, pulled on a thick trenchcoat and a gray fedora to act out the sleuthing skills of Inspector Neville "The Nose" Nutella.
Mandenberg, who also has acted in productions at Lansing's Riverwalk Theatre, spent the weekend scribbling on a legal notepad while "investigating" Ravioli's murder.
"It's adult make-believe," he said. "Everyone is conniving. It's really neat."
Fisheries and wildlife senior Sonia Joseph said a friend insisted she don a feather boa and tight black skirt to play a Chicago harlot throughout the weekend.
"I was interested in learning about history," she said, adjusting several fake $100 bills tucked into her blouse straps. "I like getting into character."
Ypsilanti resident Susan Campbell wore a flaming red flapper dress to play Ravioli's grieving daughter.
"I've never really been in anything like this," she said. "I'm a big murder-mystery fan."
Even though Ken Blidy croaked as Ravioli early in the weekend, the hospitality business and theater junior said the mystery still was engaging.
"It's a big game of Clue," he said.
