Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.

I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.

This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.

This is Episode 18, that original LARP game War is the featured game. This is Did Not See That Coming by Ken Harris

TWO LISTENER NOTES before we get started. First, this is a two-part Mystery to Die For. Half the story was in last week’s episode with the rest of the story, the deliberation, and the big reveal in this one. So, if you missed Part 1, please go to it first.

Second, murder and solving it is our thing here at Mysteries to Die For but today’s story includes some real life topics that some audience members may be sensitive to including violence against children, bullying, and antisemitism.

DELIBERATION

Jawnie stand-in Steve Rockfish and his sidekick Estelle are chipping away at Karen Lazar’s cold case, but there’s still some work for us to do. Here is a list of the people living and working in Ewan, NJ back in 1976:

• Gladys and George Lazar, Karen’s parents, who had recently moved to the small farming town
• Mikey Hardison, the boy who had a crush on Karen and worked for Carlßon
• Scott and Tommy, schoolyard bullies who sent Karen into the woods on a scouting mission
• Harry Hardison, Mikey’s father, a drinker who had issues with the Lazar’s Jewish faith and his own lusting after Gladys.
• Vern Gicobe, a friend of Hardison and loner who discovered Karen’s body while hunting
• Manfred Carlßon, German owner of Carlßon Game Processing, who kept a poster of Karen in his shop

Here is what Rockfish and Estelle (and Jawnie, too) have discovered:

• Karen’s body was found five years after she disappeared. It had not decomposed. She was killed by strangulation.
• While there was little documentation on the body, photos showed cuts inflicted post mortem covered her. A single large, deep cut was on her back.
• No autopsy was performed but DNA samples were taken and preserved. No matches were found through CODIS.
• The older boys Karen was playing Army with—Mikey, Tommy & Scotty—were the last to see her alive. The local police cleared the last two boys at the time, noting they were seen in town.
• Mikey admitted going after Karen that day and finding her next to a creek, crying. When he tried to kiss her, she punched him, sending him into the creek. She ran off and he said he didn’t see her again.
• Rumor had it the married couples of Ewan like to trade partners. Harry Hardison was reported to be very fond of Gladys Lazar, despite him being antisemitic and she being Jewish.
• Hardison disapproved of his son’s crush on Karen and sent him to work with Carlßon, saying the hard man would straighten Mikey out.
• Vern Gicobe said Mikey would stare at the missing person picture of Karen that hung in Carlßon’s. Mikey gave Vern “the creeps”.
• Adult Mikey told his “Meemaw” about the “two peas in a pod” and that when he found Karen, she was crying over a problem with her father but didn’t say what it was; she never told him.
• Rockfish’s theory is Gicobe killed Karen on behalf of Mikey’s father to break the boy’s crush and to get the family to move out.

Dead or alive, who should Rockfish lock down for Karen’s murder?

ABOUT Playing Army

This was a difficult game to research. My normal search results ended up with a mix of websites and articles on 1) child soldiers in militaries past and present, 2) lead and little green army men, 3) and the least on Live Action Role Playing Army. I did find a book called PLAYING SOLDIER, THE BOOKS AND TOYS THAT PREPARED CHILDREN FOR WAR, 1871-1918 by Richard Cheek shows ways books, magazines, printed ephemera, and toys relating to military life and wartime experience were used to persuade boys to admire, and aspire to become, soldiers and sailors. I did not read the book, but link is in the show notes. One article from Scholastic dated 2014 argued the “pro” side of kids playing Jedi, ninja, cops, amry, etc. The benefits include feeding imagination, making kids feel powerful, building social skills including cooperation and negotiation. The few articles I read implied their were other articles or studies that focused on the “violence” and hence advocated for not allowing children to play – but I couldn’t find them. Being a parent, I’ve seen the elements of imagination, empowerment, and social skill development whenever kids create with other kids – games, sports, music, etc. – they just need parents to get out of the way.

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo182665139.html

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/parent-child/war-play-bad-kids.html

ABOUT Ken Harris

Ken Harris retired from the FBI, after thirty-two years, as a cybersecurity executive. With over three decades writing intelligence products for senior Government officials, Ken provides unique perspectives on the conventional fast-paced crime thriller. Ken previously participated in Mysteries to Die For seasons 5 & 6. He is the author of the “From the Case Files of Steve Rockfish” series. He spends days with his wife Nicolita, and two Labradors, Shady and Chalupa Batman. Evenings are spent playing Walkabout Mini Golf and cheering on Philadelphia sports. Ken firmly believes Pink Floyd, Irish whiskey and a Montecristo cigar are the only muses necessary. He is a native of New Jersey and currently resides in Virginia’s Northern Neck.

https://kenharrisfiction.com/

WRAP UP

That wraps this episode of Mysteries to Die For. Support our show by subscribing, telling a mystery lover about us, and giving us a five-star review. Check out our website TGWolff.com/Podcast for links to this season’s authors.

Mysteries to Die For is hosted by TG Wolff and Jack Wolff. Did Not See That Coming was written by Ken Harris. Music and production are by Jack Wolff. Episode art is by TG Wolff. Join us next week for a Toe Tag, which is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, or thriller genre. Then come back in two weeks for our next original story, In a Pickle by Kaye George where pickleball is the featured game