Frances Glessner Lee's earliest miniatures

Miniature model of CSO on display 100 years later

Before murder, there were musicians.  

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death - Unpapered Bedroom

Unpapered Bedroom

True, no one is ever going to give you the solutions to The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. (they are a well-guarded secret) Also true, you will likely never see them in person. (they are not open to the general public)

But are you going to let that stand in your way? Launch your own investigation with this short video we put together of one of the Nutshells, Unpapered Bedroom. The Nutshells were created by Frances Glessner Lee and her carpenters Ralph and Alton Mosher.

Unpapered Bedroom is unique because it has a moving part – a string on the outside of the diorama that lifts up the pillow.

John Waters narration from Of Dolls and Murder:

She died in a room where no one had bothered to change the calendar in 5 years.

The room was registered the previous evening under the names Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.

Mr. Smith left the next morning, specifically requesting that the staff not disturb his wife.

At 3:00 p.m. the rooming house maid tried several times to wake the woman, but Mrs. Smith wouldn’t be checking out at all.