S7E17 Tethered to Drama

Mysteries to Die For

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 17, tether ball is the featured game. This is Tethered to Drama by Karina Bartow

DELIBERATION

Detective Minka Avery is caught up in the drama in the death of Sheila Nevins. She needs our help to find a killer. Here are the people who she’s come across in the investigation:

• William Barkley, Wes’s former lab partner and current middle school teacher

• Superintendent Rigley, working to balance the budget while building a new middle school

• Gideon Hutchins, school board member and devoted father

• Axel Hutchins, high school baseball player with a shot at being recruited

• Zachary Phelps, groundskeeper for the park behind the middle school

Here are the facts Minka and Cael have unearthed:

• Drama teacher Sheila Nevins was found dead on the edge of the defunct tetherball court after a groundbreaking ceremony for a new middle school. She was strangled with something like a rope or belt.

• The deflated tetherball had a note inside saying “Snitches never win.” The note had a torn corner that matched a bit remaining on a lawn stake.

• Minka’s husband remembered that a guy from his football team, number 60, used the phrase. He was kicked off the team for using drugs.

• A small camera was found recording the tetherball pole. It was on and not one owned by the city for security.

• William Barkley was frustrated with Sheila because she would not put his play on. He was counting down the days until she retired. Barkley was late getting to the groundbreaking because of the bookfair, which a student’s testimony contradicted.

• Superintendent Rigley had a showdown with Sheila, telling her the drama budget was being cut and she needed to raise money. Sheila collected information on Rigley misusing funds and was planning to out him to the board. Rigley spoke at the groundbreaking.

• Gideon Hutchins was upset with Sheila for putting his son, Axel, on the bench by failing him in drama class. Scouts were coming to look at his son, something very important to his college plans. Gideon was at the groundbreaking.

• Axel Hutchins took drama for an easy grade, now he’s in danger of being ineligible just when scouts are coming to check him out. He was missing his uniform belt, which he claimed broke the day before. He was not at the groundbreaking as he was picking his sister up from her school.

• Zachary Phelps was mowing at the park before the groundbreaking. He left when the belt broke on his lawnmower. He knew Sheila, who ate lunch at the park and asked him for the tether pole as a prop.

Who should Minka shine the spotlight of justice on?

ABOUT Tetherball

From my favorite source, Wikipedia, and the website Backyard Sidekick traces tetherball back to the late 1800s and early 1900s where it was found on playgrounds. Variations have the game played with hands or with racquets while having the same rules. If you haven’t played, which I haven’t, it is a two player game. Players stand on opposite sides of the pole. One player hits clockwise, the other hits back, counterclockwise. The game ends when one player wraps the line around the pole. There were a surprising number of rules and variations for what seems like a simple game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetherball#:~:text=This%20variant%20is%20known%20as,them%20to%20their%20play%20area.

https://backyardsidekick.com/how-was-tetherball-invented-tetherball-history/

ABOUT Karina Bartow

KarinaBartow.com

Karina Bartow grew up and still lives in Northern Ohio. Though born with Cerebral Palsy, she’s never allowed her disability to define her. Rather, she’s used her experiences to breathe life into characters who have physical limitations, but like her, are determined not to let them stand in the way of the life they want. Her works include Husband in Hiding, Brother of Interest, Accidental Allies, Forgetting My Way Back to You, and Wrong Line, Right Connection. She may only be able to type with one hand, but she writes with her whole heart!

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. Tethered to Drama was written by Karina Bartow. 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, Never Saw That Coming by Ken Harris where Army is the featured game