Holiday In Handcuffs
Up until the moment the goat burned, Bekah thought she knew exactly what kind of night this was going to be.
The afternoon began with what looked like a familiar setup. Ben introduced the theme as “Connections at Christmas,” and to make routine food prep more interesting, the two were literally tethered together—chopping, stirring, and cooking while linked by a fuzzy Christmas muff. To earn extra length in the handcuff chain, they played Off the Cuff, racing to name holiday-related words by letter. Hesitate too long, repeat an answer, or stall, and the cuffs stayed firmly in place. It felt like festive teamwork—slightly competitive, mildly ridiculous, and entirely harmless.
Then came the surprise.
Holly—Bekah’s work friend—appeared out of nowhere, completely unexpected, and promptly whisked Bekah out of the house for a spontaneous happy hour at the holiday pop-up at Dock & Paddle. Over drinks, they worked through a few conversation starters tied to the Christmas Connections ploy: What holiday tradition means the most to you now? What’s the most bizarre or oddly specific Christmas tradition you do every year? It was relaxed, disarming, and exactly the kind of conversation that lowers your guard.
That’s when everything changed.
Pulling into the back alley afterward, Bekah and Holly were met with a shocking sight: the family’s Gävle Goat fully engulfed in flames. Straw crackled, embers lifted into the night air, and for a few seconds they simply stood there, watching it burn. Then realization hit. This wasn’t symbolic. This wasn’t decorative. They weren’t guests anymore. They were the detectives assigned to the case. Their task: identify the culprit and—per the official objective—ensure the criminal spent their Holiday in Handcuffs.
Inside, the basement had been transformed by Ben into the Gävle Police Department. A full detective board covered the wall—suspect profiles, motives, timelines, and evidence packets meticulously arranged. Weather reports, access logs, material analysis, audio clues, and circumstantial details waited to be interpreted. This wasn’t a party game; it was a layered investigation that demanded real reasoning.
As the case unfolded, Ben kept the detectives fueled. Hot on the Trail Mix, Crimes of Passionfruit Brie Bites, Deviled Eggs Made Me Do It, and Red Herring Spread appeared in waves, followed by Guilty as Charred Ham-Burglar Sliders and Smoking Gun Smoked Cocktails. The food wasn’t just thematic—it was necessary. This was serious work.
Bekah and Holly chased leads, debated alibis, connected red and green ribbons, and ruled suspects in and out. But in the end, they landed on the wrong conclusion. The true culprit slipped past their final theory, meaning the guilty party did not spend their holiday in handcuffs. Justice, it seemed, would have to wait another year.
The final act of the night was Holiday in Handcuffs—a famously corny, deeply unserious Christmas movie from 2007 starring Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez that required absolutely nothing from its audience. After hours of thinking, theorizing, and misfired conclusions, it was the perfect antidote: predictable, ridiculous, and easy to half-watch while decompressing on the couch.
By the end of the night, the cuffs were off, the case was closed, and the goat was gone—just as tradition demands. What began as Connections at Christmas ended as a full-scale holiday crime scene, complete with a surprise guest, a burned goat, a failed investigation, and a Christmas movie finale.
Activities
Handcuffed Cooking Prep
Off The Cuff Alphabet Game
Surprise Happy Hour
Christmas Connections Conversation Starts
Back Alley Gävle Goat Discovery
Gävle Police Department Detective Board
Suspect Profiles & Evidence Review
“Holiday In Handcuffs” Movie
Menu
Welcome Mug Shot
Hot On The Trail Mix
Crimes Of Passion(fruit) Brie Bites
Deviled Eggs Made Me Do It
Red Herring Spread
Guilty As Charred Ham-Burglar Sliders
Smoking Gun Smoked Cocktail
Red Hand(ed) Pies
Behind (Christmas) Bars
