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NORTH BEND — Don’t blame the innkeeper.

On her first night in business, Monkwell Manor proprietor Mollie Ralston is told by no fewer than four people that she should know more about her guests before accepting them.

Though she seems to be getting off to a good start with five rooms filled, the consensus is that she’s been terribly negligent in failing to conduct proper background checks, as if they are done universally elsewhere.

Of course, it’s natural for people to want to blame someone upon learning they’re trapped in a house with a murderer. But before the whodunit unfolds, there’s another mystery at hand: How did the British hospitality industry survive the 1950s?

If Monkwell Manor were really the only small inn in the English countryside with such lax standards, no wonder it filled up on the first night.

It’s a good thing Mollie was there to pioneer this groundbreaking, practical business model. It would be a shame to have a shortage of suspects in Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” which opens tonight at North Bend High School.

According to director Terri Zickler Bond, the play was the inspiration for the board game Clue. There are no candlesticks but much fun to be found in untangling the mystery.

Mollie (Erika Schultz, Aubrae Hathaway) doesn’t initially pay much attention to the news of a shooting in London — her establishment is far from the city. When her husband, Giles (Brett Granstrom, Christian Rupe) first raises the possibility of having a guest who was hiding from the police, she says it doesn’t matter as long as the guest pays seven guineas a week.

First to arrive is Christopher Wren (John Leonard, Dion MacDonald), a young man who speaks as if all of his lines were written by Oscar Wilde. He talks much more than is typical for someone traveling alone but never runs out of clever things to say.

“Nursery rhymes are so tragic and macabre,” he intones. “That’s why children like them.”

Uppity Mrs. Boyle (Jessyka Copple, Sara Becker) is alarmed to discover that the Ralstons have no staff and that the best room has gone to someone else. She recruits a fellow guest, Major Metcalf (Hunter Marchant, Krystopher Shipp), to carry her luggage and accuses another, Leslie Casewell (Michelle Schultz, Jane Schaffer), of being a socialist. She also suggests Mollie is too young to be an innkeeper and Christopher is too young to be a guest.

The also talkative Mr. Paravicini (Michael Johnson) arrives without a reservation, saying his car was stuck in the snow. With drifts 5 feet high, no one will be departing soon. Mollie doesn’t expect any more arrivals either, despite a phone call advising the police are on the way.

Sergeant Trotter (Zack Sevy) arrives on skis, eliciting a variety of reactions. Mrs. Boyle thinks he’s too young to be a cop, and Christopher comments on how attractive he is.

Trotter explains the reason for his visit: A notebook was found bearing two addresses, the scene of last night’s murder and the Monkwell Manor, suggesting the killer may have another target there. Another clue pertaining to the nursery rhyme “Three Blind Mice” suggests there may be two more victims.

He also offers some background on the case. The first victim was a woman who recently got out of prison after being involved in a notorious child abuse case. She and her husband were foster parents to three children who were starved; one of them died. The killer is thought to be another family member — the brother, sister or father, leaving enough options to cover almost everyone present.

When another body is found, it becomes clear that the killer is indeed at the inn, where multiple staircases afford plenty of ways to sneak around.

As everyone behaves suspiciously, and each detail to emerge makes someone else look more suspicious, the detective has his work cut out for him: The killer must be caught before the third victim dies.

“The Mousetrap” runs through Feb. 10. Performances are at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $7 and $6 for students.