The Selma Times-Journal

Everybody loves a mystery. Selma&8217;s Arts Revive! is so cognizant of this fact that at the Performing Arts Centre on Friday evening, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. the third of

this organization&8217;s successful &8220;who dun it?&8221; murder mysteries

will be offered to the public, along with an auction.

Guests are invited to come as their favorite detective &8212; from film, books, radio or television &8212; to solve the riddle of &8220;The Great Bulgarian Buzzard Hunt,&8221; which is written by Cindy Stoudenmire and Danny Waite. Clues to the mystery may be purchased from helpful ghosts present, according to the authors. Each clue costs $1. Packets of play money may also be purchased in order to buy paintings and art objects that will be offered at the auction. Guests are reminded that each piece of art has a clue attached and there is a RESERVE on each as these clues are more revealing.

Tickets for the evening are $20, which includes wine, hors d&8217;ouevres and entertainment. They may be purchased from board members of Arts Revive, Butler-Truax and Centre for Commerce.

Events such as Mystery Night assist in funding workshops and other future events and projects sponsored by Arts Revive, says Stoudenmire. &8220;These workshops bring people to Selma and show off our city in the best possible light. And our mystery nights are fun for everyone who participates.&8221;

Now, about that buzzard:

Vander van Dervander, an eccentric gazillionare, is hosting an art auction to fund his new charity, House Our Ghosts. He came across an article in the paper proudly stating there are no ghosts at Grace Hall. An exorcism had been performed on the historic house. They were condemned to roam the earth with no home.

Vander van Dervander immediately set about rectifying this situation by forming a non-profit organization. Unable to interest any existing agencies in funding this new charity, he decided to sell his priceless art collection at auction. But as he was setting up the auction, he learned that his most priceless piece, the Bulgarian Buzzard, was missing.

He had the most advanced state of the art security system; obviously, the Buzzard had been taken by a professional thief. Unfortunately, the invitations had already gone out listing the Bulgarian Buzzard as the show piece, so he must now invite the world&8217;s most famous detectives to attend the affair, and hopefully find the statue before it is scheduled to be auctioned that night.

Now, it is the night of the auction. Just as the curtain opens on the first item, a body hanging from the state is revealed. Now, there is a murder the detectives must also solve.

Vander van Dervander:

As stated

previously, he has more money than he knows what to do with.

Jarvis:

His real name is Tom Simplewhite but he answers to Jarvis because Vander thinks it sounds more like a man-servant&8217;s name. Jarvis can do everything and does.

Basil Pettigrew-Montcliff XIII : He is the same as Vander van Dervander except he does not hear ghosts nor even believe in them.

Maria Selene:

Art Dealer. It was her job to authenticate and value the art pieces.

Des Carte:

Studied abstract art and specializes in triangulism, a little known style that fell by the way about the time cubism was rising.

Rainbow:

She goes by just one name. Her mother gave her this name in case she grew up to be ugly, at least then there would be one thing pretty about her.

Madame Langastino:

She is Vander&8217;s medium. He keeps her on retainer to aid in his work with ghosts. She claims to have a guiding spirit named Amuntata, an Atlantian high priest who died in the cataclysm that sank the fabled city. She adorns herself with crystals she claims actually came from Atlantis and that she found in her travels while collecting the wisdom of the ages.

Bulgarian Buzzard:

None of the Buzzards actually look like a Buzzard, not even the original. When Maria produced the first Buzzard she claimed the original description for the Buzzard had been written in Bulgarian but the translator was not fluent in Bulgarian so when he wrote the description he inadvertently translated the Bulgarian word for chicken as Buzzard. This is the reason the Buzzard has been missing for all these years. Everyone was looking for a statue that looked like a Buzzard when they should have been looking for a chicken.