Murder at the Off-Whyte Lotus Hotel
Episode One: Welcome to the Off-Whyte Lotus
Photos by Janna Hove
Synopsis by Janice MacDonald
Cast of Characters
Jason Hardwick Desmond Noralta Proprietor of the Off-Whyte Lotus
Delia Barnett Oxana Sturmdrang Head of Housekeeping
Jesse Gervais Alastair Burgoyne Maintenance man.
Tom Edwards Garrett McHasselhoff Beach Cop
Vincent Forcier Dwight Dekalb Newlywed from Des Moines
Kristi Hansen Diane Dekalb Newlywed from Des Moines
Byron Trevor Martin Walker Fane Pulitzer Prize winning writer
* * *
Des Moines TV celebrities, Dwight and Diane Dekalb have arrived on their honeymoon, having undertaken their very first plane ride. Their luggage has been lost on the flight.
Because of previous transgressions of some sort, their cable network made them sign an agreement to not be intimate before their marriage. Unfortunately, their room isn’t quite ready and the owner, Desmond Noralta doesn’t even seem to recognize them.
Eventually, the head of housekeeping, Oxana Sturmdrang arrives and escorts them to their room on the 15th floor.
* * *
Walker Fane, Pulitzer prizewinning author suffering from writer’s block, is drinking in the Whistling Spider bar.
He has a profound conversation with the Australian handyman, Alastair, who is far more than he appears to be (and an author himself).
* * *
Dwight and Diane settle in to their room,
but somehow they don’t seem to be catching each other’s passion cues
and the honeymoon may be off to a rocky start.
* * *
Garrett McHasselhoff, Beach Police, has popped in to see if Desmond has evidence about a robbery which took place the week before.
Alastair is frightened of him, and hides in the office.
* * *
Oxana, meanwhile, is hearing from Desmond that the Off-Whyte Lotus is almost in receivership and he may not have enough to cover the salaries and bills this month.
Although she is still devoted to him, this news shakes her.
Desmond does not have time or inclination to comfort her, because he is distracted by Garrett, who wants to see the tapes of the robbery. Desmond sends Alastair to find them.
* * *
Diane, hoping to get a nice tan, finds Walker sunning himself as well.
They develop a startlingly immediate attraction for each other.
She avoids telling him she is married and he invites her to have dinner with him.
However, Dwight is in the bar, having a nice conversation with Desmond about airplanes and Gustav Shiitztain – Dwight’s favourite Dadaist artist. Desmond invites the newlyweds to have dinner with him. And Alastair discovers Oxana weeping and learns of the precarious fate of the hotel and their livelihoods.
End of Act One
* * *
At the beginning of Act Two, Diane has a difficult time racing back and forth between dining room and patio dinner eating two meals, and feigns a headache and heads off with Walker.
* * *
Alastair and Garrett check out the Betamax tapes of the earlier robbery
and discover there may have been a ghost hovering while the robbery took place.
The machine mangles the tapes, and the evidence is lost.
* * *
Dwight comes up to the honeymoon suite and finds only Oxana, turning down the bed.
He is not having a good day and shouts a bit. First his luggage is lost and now his wife?Oxana and he head downstairs to look for Diane.
* * *
Meanwhile, Diane and Walker are having a romantic stroll on the beach 
when they discover the grisly evidence of foul play – a torso on the sand!!
* * *
The Locals Jason Hardwick Desmond Noralta - Proprietor – Reluctantly selling the family resort to a hotel chain Delia Barnett Oxana Sturmdrang - Head of Housekeeping – passionate for Desmond, who is oblivious Jesse Gervais Alastair Burgoyne Maintenance man. Tom Edwards Garrett McHasselhoff, Beach Cop The Guests Vincent Forcier Dwight Dekalb - newlywed newscaster from Des Moines Kristi Hansen Diane Dekalb, newlywed newscaster from Des Moines Byron Trevor Martin Walker Fane Pulitzer winning writer suffering from writer’s block
Directed by the Belinda Cornish & Janice MacDonald Music by Paul Morgan Donald Tech by Judah Truong and Chris Nelson Photographer - Janna Hove General Manager - Nicole Thibault Producer/Artistic Director - Wayne Jones
