My friend Edna's daughter was born on Halloween. This year, for Lana's 13th birthday party, Edna hosted a murder mystery. I got to play Judge Jake, an unscrupulous movie producer who was a judge for the Miss Teen America contest. (Lana and her friends played the contestants, which gave them all a good motive to kill the front-runner.)

The instructions I got beforehand told me to dress swanky. I don't own anything that could be considered "swanky," so I went for "mobster" instead.


Judge Jake, big-time movie producer

Swapping hints with my friend Scott Oden. Scott was supposed to be a movie producer too, as evidenced by the dashing scarf.

Judge Jake accepts a friendly bribe from the birthday girl.

I'm a pretty, pretty princess!