SUQUAMISH — Whodunit?

Later this afternoon, several students at West Sound Academy will try to answer that question, which has been riddling theatergoers for more than 40 years in Agatha Christie’s play, “The Mousetrap.”

Students at the Suquamish-based school will perform the play at 2:30 p.m. at the Bainbridge Island Performing Arts Center.

“The Mousetrap” involves several characters who converge on a house in the English countryside. There has been a murder in London, and soon a second one follows in Monkswell Manor, the locale of the play.

It is up to the characters to solve the mystery before the killer strikes again. With one dead body and a houseful of suspects, the task is not an easy one.

The snowstorm that has practically buried the house doesn’t help. Neither do the phone lines, which have been neatly snipped.

And with everyone a suspect, it makes for a tense afternoon — and a lot of fun for the audience.

“It’s a great character piece,” director Michael Payne said after a recent rehearsal. “There are eight distinct people on the stage at any time.”

The characters include the persistent Sergeant Trotter, played by Eric Sutherland; the mysterious Italian Paravicini, played by Evan Stough; Giles Ralston, played by Devin Bodony; his secret-bearing wife, Molly Ralston, played by Kate Newman; the equally elusive Christopher Wren, played by Alden Denny; Major Metcalf, played by Colin Turner; Mrs. Boyle, who is played by Christy Miglino; and Miss Casewell, played by Martha Van Gelder.

“I promised the kids we’d do a murder mystery this year,” Payne said. “Last year, we did a Neil Simon play, and it was happy and funny.”

Payne also thought the play was a perfect fit for the actors at West Sound Academy.

“This is a great talent pool for a school so small,” he said. “It’s one of the best casts I’ve ever worked with.”

The cast includes Sutherland, who plays the inquisitive Sgt. Trotter.

“I was interested in a bigger, large-scale, character-driven show,” Sutherland said.

“The Mousetrap” was made to order, he said.

And because the play has run for so long (almost 50 years), it makes it all the more sweeter to do, Sutherland said.

“It’s a precursor to “Clue,” kind of,” said Sutherland, referring to the famous board game (and less famous movie). “It’s great to do something that had that influence on the theater.”

Castmates Kate Newman and Devin Bodony agreed.

The chance to act, they said, drew them into “The Mousetrap.”

“I just wanted to act, so I tried out,” said Bodony. “It’s an ensemble play.”

Newman, who is the veteran of three other WSA productions said, “I love to act. And this was a good opportunity to learn more.”

And despite the chaos that occurs onstage — with banging doors, screams in the dark, and sudden twists — it all ends well, Newman said.

“I like how Christie brings everything together in the end,” she said.