Then, replace one Ace and one King in the deck. Leave the other Aces, Kings, and Jokers out. Depending on how many people are playing the game, you all may not have the same amount of cards. This is fine. In “Murder in the Dark”, holding a certain card means you will play a certain role in the game.  The person who is dealt the Ace is the murderer. The person who is dealt the King is the police officer. The person who is dealt the Jack is the detective. If the person who has the Jack “dies”, the person who has the King becomes the detective. If the person(s) who have the Jack or the King both “die”, the person who has the Queen becomes the detective. However, remind everyone that they should keep whichever cards they have secret so no one knows who is the murderer, the police officer, or the detective.
Remove the Jokers, Aces, and Kings from the deck. Shuffle the deck and deal all the cards to each player. Explain what each card means.