The event was envisioned with a theme of murder mystery, aligning it with the aura of the Halloween season, linking it with biomedical science. My next step was creating a storyline. I was inspired by murder mysteries and true crime dramas such as American Murder, True Detective, Dahmer, and Sherlock Holmes which proved to be a useful stepping stone for the event’s storyline.
In the end, J. B. Priestley, an Inspector Calls characters allowed the story to come to life. The list of suspects and their background information, relationship to the victim, their alibis, and motives to commit the crime evolved as I developed the narrative. The next step was generating the clues and finding suitable locations for the evidence to be concealed. Finally, I set up riddles for the participants to solve.
The scavenger hunt started with us meeting participants at Maxwell Building, where the lead detective on the case gave the briefing on the murder. The participants were split into teams. Each team was given different clues that would lead them around the university campus to find the evidence.
Once all the clues were gathered and the evidence analysed, participants reconvened and collated the evidence to solve the mystery, once and for all. Despite the hunt taking place on a late chilly evening, the members were happy to engage with the activity and eager to revel the truth being the mystery. The main participants of this event were first–year students, which made for a delightful mini tour around the campus for those who did not have the pleasure to explore it yet.
The hunt was an entertaining way to use the knowledge we gained from lectures. Examples included DNA blood analysis using chromatography and electrophoresis and latent print evidence (fingerprints and footprints). While the scavenger hunt did not offer an entirely accurate depiction into the workings of a forensic scientist, the event aimed to ignite interest in the field. And finally, I would like to give a thanks to the committee members that helped set up the event with me to make all off it possible.
