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Continuing my role as Clue Archivist. Chapter 8: Scherz has a criminal history. Scherz took the 5:20 bus from Medenham to Chipping Cleghorn. Marple thinks Scherz was put up to the whole affair. Nobody should have been able to see anything but the torch. Scherz told Myrna he was going to stage a sham hold-up. He did not say who put him up to it. Chapter 9: Letty insists there's no motive for anyone to try and murder her. Mitzi says she locked the front door soon after 4 PM, but she did not lock the side door. Mitzi also says she heard Scherz and Haymes talking out in the summerhouse. Conversation: S: 'But where can I hide?' H: 'I will show you' H: 'At a quarter past six' The hall table was against the broken door until about 10 days ago. Phillipa may have suggested moving it. The broken door isn't actually broken at all, and was in fact opened recently. Chapter 10: Anybody could have slipped around behind Scherz through the 'broken' door. Patrick and Julia get Letty's money if she dies.. Letty was secretary to millionaire Mr. Goedler. When he died, he left all his money to his wife. When Mrs. Goedler dies - and she is in poor health and may die very soon - Letty will get all her money. If Letty dies before Mrs. Goedler, the money goes to Mr. Goedler's sister Sonia. Sonia married an alleged crook named Dmitri Stamfordis. Sonia and Dmitri had twins, named Pip and Emma. If Letty were to die, then Pip and Emma would ultimately get the money. Pip and Emma would be about 25 years old. Mrs. Haymes denies having spoken with Scherz, saying she was working away from the home at the time. Mrs. Haymes hesitated at the words "that morning". Patrick and Julia are about the right age to be Pip and Emma. Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Dec 26, 2012 |
# ? Dec 22, 2012 22:18 |
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# ? Oct 8, 2024 00:11 |
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Where is the fuse located on the outside of the house? There'd have to be multiple people in on whatever was supposed to happen to both turn off the lights and shoot at Letty in such a short amount of time.
Mecca-Benghazi fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Dec 28, 2012 |
# ? Dec 23, 2012 19:22 |
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quote:Ye Gods and Little Fishes, can it be? George it's my own particular, one and only, four-starred Pussy. The super Pussy of all old Pussies. This totally cracked me up. It's kind of hard for me to get the layout clear. Which I suppose is intentional. The fake door leads back to the dining room where everyone was? And Mitzi was in a separate room locked up from the outside? Vain fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Dec 28, 2012 |
# ? Dec 24, 2012 19:04 |
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I'm still following along but I guess I'm horrible at these because I don't see any clues that paint a coherent picture. I just don't read carefully enough. Guy A. Person: I like your theory so I'm just gonna say it totally makes sense to me too. Initially I wasn't that into the book but now I'm going to read ahead because I just want to know what happens. And yeah, I'm childish but all the pussy talk makes me laugh too.
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# ? Dec 25, 2012 05:11 |
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Thanks! I still think there is a lot going on with the other characters and there are some obvious red herrings floating around but I am still fairly certain about those two. I assume everyone is pretty busy for the holidays but I am looking forward to continuing to the next section. I might read a few chapters since I am off the next few days. And yeah, I don't think it's childish to admit the Pussy talk is hilarious. The first time it was pretty innocuous but the line Vain quoted was so over the top it seems like it would fit in a period piece SNL sketch.
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# ? Dec 25, 2012 20:41 |
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With the holidays over, I think we can safely advance to Chapter 13. Spoilers before this post can be removed.
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# ? Dec 26, 2012 16:53 |
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Shoot, missed the first one! Maybe we could go ahead and pick the next one, so everyone would have plenty of time to get ahold of a copy.
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# ? Dec 28, 2012 19:53 |
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Rogue1-and-a-half posted:Shoot, missed the first one! Maybe we could go ahead and pick the next one, so everyone would have plenty of time to get ahold of a copy. There is still plenty of time to join in on this one, it is a fairly easy read (although you have to pay attention to details) and we are only halfway through after a few weeks. You can always catch up quickly and then read over the current discussion for extra clues!
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# ? Dec 28, 2012 23:14 |
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I just caught up to chapter 13, and I’m really enjoying it so far. English is not my first language, and I think I might be missing a reference. Is “Pip and Emma” a reference to something? An expression, or popular characters? Some passages of chapter 10 seemed odd to me, and I’m afraid of finding spoilers if I google it.
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# ? Dec 30, 2012 18:41 |
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Some quick research suggests that "Pip Emma" is an old-fashioned (circa 1917) English military term for PM (as in after noon).
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# ? Dec 30, 2012 18:55 |
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Haven't caught up just yet, but today on the Kindle Daily Deal there are 50 mysteries and thrillers for under $2, although I am not savvy enough to know which are who-done-its. I also noticed another Agatha Christie novel (and hey it says it's a Miss Marple Mystery!) in this month's "under $3" section. I doubt it would be worth it to pick the next book from these, but if anyone is a fan of this book or mysteries in general it might be worth checking out!
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# ? Dec 30, 2012 22:24 |
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I'm not going to spoiler this clue because it has already come up a couple of times in earlier chapters, but Dora is upset that someone apparently left a lit cigarette on one of the tables and burned it. I don't remember if anyone was smoking in that scene, I'm going to go back and look. Has anyone else noticed that Dora sometimes calls Letitia Letty and sometimes Lotty? Is that significant?
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# ? Jan 2, 2013 16:56 |
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How are people doing on chapters 11-13? Are we ready to move on yet?
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# ? Jan 2, 2013 17:03 |
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Zola posted:I'm not going to spoiler this clue because it has already come up a couple of times in earlier chapters, but Dora is upset that someone apparently left a lit cigarette on one of the tables and burned it. I don't remember if anyone was smoking in that scene, I'm going to go back and look. I noticed that too early on. She actually alternates between all 3, and specifically in one of the most recent chapters she seems to stop to correct herself and apologize. There is definitely something up with her, she is either playing dumb or actually is dumb but is unwittingly helping the killer(s) without realizing it. I am leaning toward the former because in this latest section there is a bit which talks about how she treats Blacklock's possessions as if they were her own. I have been lazy at home but now that I am commuting again I am back on track. I should finish the 13th chapter over lunch today. Guy A. Person fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Jan 3, 2013 |
# ? Jan 2, 2013 17:56 |
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Zola posted:I'm not going to spoiler this clue because it has already come up a couple of times in earlier chapters, but Dora is upset that someone apparently left a lit cigarette on one of the tables and burned it. I don't remember if anyone was smoking in that scene, I'm going to go back and look. I don’t think there’s anything about smoking, but Colonel Easterbrook and Patrick had lighters with them. Also, Phillipa told Craddock she was looking for hers when the lights went out, and that Patrick and Edmund “switched on their lighters and they went out into the hall”, without mentioning Colonel Easterbrook. ProfessorProf posted:Some quick research suggests that "Pip Emma" is an old-fashioned (circa 1917) English military term for PM (as in after noon). I see, thank you. I thought “Pip and Emma” was a reference to something because Craddock and Bunch refer to them as brother and sister, even though Letitia doesn’t say anything about gender. If I recall correctly, Craddock mentions it once in chapter 10, and Bunch is very emphatic about it in chapter 13, saying that Pip and Emma could only be Patrick and Julia. Can’t Pip be Phillipa? Also, about Patrick and Julia Bunch says “they're the only ones who are the right age”. As far as I can tell, Laura and Phillipa could also be 25-30 years old. Hello Ketene fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Jan 3, 2013 |
# ? Jan 2, 2013 19:51 |
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Esoteric Scientist posted:I don’t think there’s anything about smoking, but Colonel Easterbrook and Patrick had lighters with them. Also, Phillipa told Craddock she was looking for hers when the lights went out, and that Patrick and Edmund “switched on their lighters and they went out into the hall”, without mentioning Colonel Easterbrook. I've wondered about Phillipa because Patrick repeatedly refers to her as "our" Phillipa, and if memory serves me right, that's usually an affectionate term reserved for a person you have known for a long time, and it usually applies to family. Zola fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Jan 3, 2013 |
# ? Jan 2, 2013 20:59 |
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Finished this afternoon but had to reread parts of chapter 13 since it confused me again: Not entirely sure what to make of the whole exercise Miss Marple had with Bunch where she compared the current residents to past cases (I guess that's what they were). So it seems to be meant to give us insight into the characters, but I am not sure if its supposed to be a direct comparison or what. Right now the implication is that Patrick isn't to be trusted (he was compared to the "nastiest one"), Col. Easterbrook might be the father of Pip and Emma, Mrs. Easterbrook is probably lying about where she is from. Miss Marple mentioned that Bunch was wrong on one; she seemed to skip over one that could be Hinch it seems (the one who stopped the bank robbery) or maybe one of them was supposed to be her?. Also Miss Marple seemed to think of something right when the waitress mentioned her name was Julia and that she thought they were talking about her. I'm honestly kinda stumped by that whole section, any thoughts? Guy A. Person fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Jan 3, 2013 |
# ? Jan 3, 2013 02:42 |
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Let's move on again - everybody advance up through the end of Chapter 16. Posts above this one no longer need spoilers.
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# ? Jan 3, 2013 17:29 |
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Guy A. Person posted:Finished this afternoon but had to reread parts of chapter 13 since it confused me again: I just reread this part of chapter 13, and realized you’re right. Miss Marple describes 8 people, and Bunch names 7. Other than the person who stopped the bank robbery, the Dora-nurse association seems off to me, since Dora has (almost) nothing to gain with Letitia’s death. As for the waitress part, maybe it had more to do with the “naturally if you think someone's talking about you, it's only human nature to listen” part than the “Julia” part. It’s hard to tell how much of the conversation she had overheard. Maybe someone and asked her to do it? I'll read chapters 14-16 tonight.
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# ? Jan 3, 2013 21:24 |
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Esoteric Scientist posted:I just reread this part of chapter 13, and realized you’re right. Miss Marple describes 8 people, and Bunch names 7. Other than the person who stopped the bank robbery, the Dora-nurse association seems off to me, since Dora has (almost) nothing to gain with Letitia’s death. Well, there is still the possibility that Dora is not who she says she is. There seems to be a recurring theme of people coming back after so many years that you wouldn't recognize them, and Dora would fit the bill. As far as I know, all we really know of her is that she went to school with Letitia and then showed up years later with health issues; fake-Dora could be the mother of Pip and Emma (for example) and just looked up someone who Letitia went to school with. quote:As for the waitress part, maybe it had more to do with the “naturally if you think someone's talking about you, it's only human nature to listen” part than the “Julia” part. It’s hard to tell how much of the conversation she had overheard. Maybe someone and asked her to do it? This I agree with 100% and was also what I was thinking, but I couldn't figure out what it would be referencing if that were the case. The "if you think someone's talking about you" might imply that there are people with the same/similar names or someone copying someone else's identity maybe? There was also the whole thing with Mitzi overhearing Phillipa and Rudi, and then when she read the paper she thought she was going to be the one murdered, so maybe it has something to do with that, and she heard more than she let on? I'm not sure but I am excited to read the next part, I should finish on my commute home tonight.
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# ? Jan 3, 2013 21:44 |
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Guy A. Person posted:Well, there is still the possibility that Dora is not who she says she is. There seems to be a recurring theme of people coming back after so many years that you wouldn't recognize them, and Dora would fit the bill. As far as I know, all we really know of her is that she went to school with Letitia and then showed up years later with health issues; fake-Dora could be the mother of Pip and Emma (for example) and just looked up someone who Letitia went to school with. Yeah, I don’t really trust Dora. It seems to me that she knows she’s supposed to be dumb. The thing is, even if she’s an impostor (which I don’t doubt), I think the only scenario where she would really benefit from Letitia’s death is if she’s actually Sonia, or somehow related to Pip and Emma. And she would most likely have to know the real Dora, her story, traits etc. otherwise she would raise suspicions. My guess is that if she’s an impostor, she’s not related to Pip and Emma or the murder, but somehow to the real Dora. If she’s somehow related to the murder attempt, though, I don’t think she’s the shooter, but someone’s accomplice. She’s already drawn attention to Patrick (oily cup) and Phillipa (made a big flower arrangement, put it on the table by the door and then suggested moving it), so she’s definitely not with them on it.
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# ? Jan 3, 2013 22:56 |
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Esoteric Scientist posted:Yeah, I don’t really trust Dora. It seems to me that she knows she’s supposed to be dumb. The thing is, even if she’s an impostor (which I don’t doubt), I think the only scenario where she would really benefit from Letitia’s death is if she’s actually Sonia, or somehow related to Pip and Emma. And she would most likely have to know the real Dora, her story, traits etc. otherwise she would raise suspicions. My guess is that if she’s an impostor, she’s not related to Pip and Emma or the murder, but somehow to the real Dora. Well, based on this current section (chapters 14-16) she does get her own age wrong, so this "playing senile" thing could be a way to get around not knowing much about the real Dora. Of course, at the end of Chapter 16 she dies so that kind of takes her out of the running for the murderer, but I still think there is (was) something up with her. Man, lots of twists and turns in this section, I might hold off trying to formulate a theory for now since it seems like there are so many possible avenues and potential suspects that there must be a ton of red herrings. It does help to talk it out though so keep the posts coming! Guy A. Person fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jan 10, 2013 |
# ? Jan 3, 2013 23:50 |
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Guy A. Person posted:Finished this afternoon but had to reread parts of chapter 13 since it confused me again: In chapter eight, section II, when Miss Marple first arrives, at the start of the paragraph: "Read these," said Rydesdale, thrusting the typewritten sheets upon her. "They won't take you long. After all, these people are your kind--you must know a lot of people like them" So I do think Miss Marple was making a direct comparison, and when Bunch listed them, she didn't get all of her comparisons correct.
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# ? Jan 4, 2013 06:10 |
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Guy A. Person posted:Well, based on this current section (chapters 14-16) she does get her own age wrong, so this "playing senile" thing could be a way to get around not knowing much about the real Dora. Of course, at the end of Chapter 16 she dies so that kind of takes her out of the running for the murderer, but I still think there is (was) something up with her. I agree, lots of new information, but nothing concrete. Concerning Dora, when she said she was 59, I couldn't tell if she was playing senile (or actually senile), or jokingly lying about her age. Anyway, she's gone, and apparently she wasn't the intended victim. I’m especially intrigued by Letitia’s decision to change her will in chapter 15. Before that, I assume all of Goedler’s money would go to Patrick and Julia if Bella died before Letitia, right? I don’t think Letitia had any reason to take them off her will (other than one of her conversations with Miss Marple). One passage of her conversation with Phillipa especially caught my attention: "I know what I'm doing, Phillipa. I've become fond of you - and there's the - boy... You won't get very much if I should die now - but in a few weeks' time it might be different." Her eyes met Phillipa's steadily. "But you're not going to die!" Phillipa protested. To me it looks like Letitia said that specifically to see her reaction, i.e. if she knows anything about the whole Goedler thing. It may be because I’m biased against Phillipa, but I think Letitia suspects Phillipa. Maybe she’s (allegedly) changing her will to confirm her suspicions, and possibly to postpone being killed? (I mean, if Phillipa is the culprit, that partially removes her motive) Hello Ketene fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Jan 11, 2013 |
# ? Jan 5, 2013 02:26 |
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Any other thoughts? Is everyone caught up?
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 06:49 |
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You guys mind if I join in? I have been scouring the forums for recommendations on good mysteries and this sounds really fun.
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 14:47 |
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Go for it! We are up to Chapter 16 which according to my Kindle is about 60% through the book. You should be able to catch up pretty quickly, we have been reading about 3-6 chapters a week I would say depending on everyone's schedule. I wouldn't read through the thread until you catch up since we have unspoilered everything until chapter 14, although you can always use ProfessorProf's posts as benchmarks.
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 16:40 |
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I don't think anyone's got much else to say about this set, so in the interest of moving towards the conclusion, let's move ahead to Chapter 19. Everything above this post can be de-spoilered.
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# ? Jan 10, 2013 03:00 |
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Holy smokes! Twists and turns continue but it seems like it is being narrowed down. I'll need to go back over some of this stuff later, there definitely were a few interesting things like Murgatroyd's (RIP) testimony.With the emphasis on she wasn't there I can only assume she was talking about Letitia herself. I also definitely want to go back and see who was near the lamp as that seems to be incredibly important over the past few chapters. There was also something weird in Chapter 18 concerning Letitia's letter and Goedler making"enquiries". It seems like Miss Marple finds the use of "enquiries" versus the Inspectors use of "inquiries" interesting. The only thing I can find is that "enquiries" is used more in British English and it distinguishes more informally asking questions from "inquiry" which is a formal investigation. So the question is who he was asking and what specifically it means that he was just asking around versus formally investigating. I was thinking it might indicate perhaps that Stamfordis is known by Letitia and he was asking her these questions, I can't otherwise see why the distinction could be so important. It's starting to look like Letitia might be up to no good. Any thoughts? Guy A. Person fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Jan 14, 2013 |
# ? Jan 10, 2013 23:26 |
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Are you implying Letty might have staged the holdup initially and then the murders for reasons unknown? Hell, for the poisoning could have been done by her any time and we don't know where she was when Murgatroyd was strangled do we...
Mecca-Benghazi fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jan 14, 2013 |
# ? Jan 11, 2013 00:36 |
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Autumncomet posted:Are you implying Letty might have staged the holdup initially and then the murders for reasons unknown? Hell, for the poisoning could have been done by her any time and we don't know where she was when Murgatroyd was strangled do we... Yeah, possibly. At this point I might just be biting at red herrings left and right. But the way she said it and the way Miss Marple was very interested about the emphasis of the words. The other interesting thing about the Murgatroyd thing, if she was talking about one of the other women she might have been suspicious or afraid, I get the impression that she is innocent enough that she would just be confused about Letitia's absence more than anything. Like I said, at this point there are so many random clues and odd behavior just being tossed around that its hard to find a clear set of clues leading to a solid theory. I'm hoping we can get more discussion and perspectives going and maybe narrow it down a little more. Guy A. Person fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Jan 14, 2013 |
# ? Jan 11, 2013 05:00 |
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Letitia being responsible for the whole thing hadn't crossed my mind before reading your posts, now I'm kind of about it. I wonder what would her motive be, though. Concerning the Murgatroyd part of chapter 19: my guess is that if emphasis is on "she", it means Murgatroyd was going through with the "constructive thinking", and remembered someone she didn't see at the time; if the emphasis is on either "wasn't" or "there" (which seems to be the case), it feels like she's sort of correcting something that was said before. What I'm saying is, if Miss Marple is correct, Murgatroyd could be talking about Dora, Bunch or Phillipa. Earlier in chapter 19, she said she had seen both Dora and Bunch, so she could have realized she mistook someone else for Bunch (since Dora is pretty much out of the list of suspects by now). Also, Hinch mentioned seeing Phillipa right before the lights went out, so Murgatroyd could be saying that Phillipa wasn't near Patrick after the lights went out. One other thing that comes up in the beginning of chapters 17 and 19, and seems to be important, is the lamp. I'll reread chapter 3 tomorrow, but from what I can tell the culprit must have poured some liquid over a frayed part of the shepherdess lamp's cord, and switched the lamps the next day (so he/she knew there were two similar lamps beforehand). One last thing: so far Bunch is the only person who mentioned Easterbrook's gun.
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# ? Jan 11, 2013 07:21 |
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Concerning pouring liquid over the frayed wire, when the Inspector first arrived he noticed the silver vase with the dead flowers, and I believe Dora made a comment to the affect of "I must have forgotten to water them"! Now I am convinced that someone poured the water out onto the lamp for that very reason, especially since that's exactly what happened to Bunch and Miss Marple in the scene from the previous chapter. I also just remembered while typing this up that Dora made the comment that she thought Letitia was holding the flower vase before the lights went out, but someone (Letitia herself or an accomplice? I'll have to go back over that section) corrected her and said it was the silver cigarette case. I think there is definitely more evidence hidden in that letter that the Inspector confiscated. Marple was interesting in some of the wording, and the Inspector made the comment that the description of Sonia Goedler "opening and closing her hands like a cat" reminded him of someone. You make a good point about the emphasis on which word possibly pointing to different people. Although now that I remembered the vase details I am really leaning more toward Murgatroyd referring the Letitia herself. Phillipa might also be an interesting choice since there is clearly some stuff going on with her (her husband returning, Letitia changing her will, etc.) Bunch was the first outside character to mention Easterbrook's gun but there was that whole scene where Easterbrook and his wife discussed his gun being missing and when the last time either of them had seen it, and specifically whether or not it would be able to be used in the murder based on when it went missing. Although from the way the scene played out it could indicate that either one of them was lying to cover their tracks or that they are both just trying to convince themselves that the gun wasn't involved. I'm definitely going to have to go back over some parts on my lunch break and ride home, I am starting to piece together some ideas and narrow things down but its still hard with so many open threads. It seems like it will all wrap up in the next section so I want to get a working theory before we move on. Guy A. Person fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Jan 14, 2013 |
# ? Jan 11, 2013 16:56 |
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There is one more section before the final reveal.
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# ? Jan 11, 2013 17:03 |
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Guy A. Person posted:I think there is definitely more evidence hidden in that letter that the Inspector confiscated. Marple was interesting in some of the wording, and the Inspector made the comment that the description of Sonia Goedler "opening and closing her hands like a cat" reminded him of someone. In my last post I was going to mention that Letitia's arthritis could have some relevance to the case, but I couldn't tell why. Now that you mention it, something just clicked in my head. I have neuropathic pain, which is made worse by stress, so I guess same might happen for arthitis pain. So "opening and closing her hands like a cat" after a stressful situation could be a sign of her arthritis in an early stage. I still think something is wrong with Phillipa, but Letitia being Sonia Goedler could be plausible. Guy A. Person posted:I also just remembered while typing this up that Dora made the comment that she thought Letitia was holding the flower vase before the lights went out, but someone (Letitia herself or an accomplice? I'll have to go back over that section) corrected her and said it was the silver cigarette case. Yeah, it was Letitia herself who said she was holding the cigarette case. drat, there are several small pieces of evidence pointing to her being the killer right now... I agree with you about Murgatroyd, especially now that the vase seems relevant. Initially I was thinking someone might have dropped some sherry over the cord, but the flower vase fits it perfectly. Also, Dora was (unknowingly) being very inconvenient (the vase, the door, the lamps etc.), and Letitia seemed irritated with her. Getting rid of Dora would be a priority for her at this point. If Letitia is actually Sonia, Rudi being the real intended victim would also make sense, since he knew (the real) Letitia from Switzerland. Maybe he was blackmailing her?
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# ? Jan 11, 2013 19:49 |
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Good catch with the arthritis. Letitia possibly being Sonia Goedler in disguise is where I was leaning, but I wasn't sure if there was any evidence of that other than her being super suspicious right about now. So in which case I am thinking previous suspicions about Dora, Patrick and Julia are probably backwards. They kept repeating the idea that a family member you haven't seen in a long time might as well be a complete stranger, but that could also mean that those 3 wouldn't recognize the real Letitia. Phillipa could still be Pip or Emma (I always liked someone's mention that "Pip" could be short for Phillipa), and her talk with Letitia about the inheritance could have just been staged to mess with Julia. Guy A. Person fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Jan 14, 2013 |
# ? Jan 11, 2013 21:20 |
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Very well, let's now advance to the end of Chapter 21. Posts above this one can be unspoilered. This is the final segment before the culprit's reveal. Everybody please lock in your final theories. e: Also, why don't we start discussing options for our next book? If there are enough people who haven't already read it, I nominate And Then There Were None. Quinn2win fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jan 14, 2013 |
# ? Jan 14, 2013 17:03 |
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ProfessorProf posted:e: Also, why don't we start discussing options for our next book? If there are enough people who haven't already read it, I nominate And Then There Were None. I'd really like to get in on the next book, but I've read that one, too. May I suggest something from Rex Stout, Ngaio Marsh, or one of the other "Golden Age" mystery writers? (There are plenty of other Christie novels I can't remember whodunit for, though, if you're sticking with her.)
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# ? Jan 15, 2013 05:01 |
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I am certainly open to other authors! Christie's just all I know, so it's what I suggested.
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# ? Jan 15, 2013 05:04 |
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# ? Oct 8, 2024 00:11 |
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On the topic of future mysteries, I'm fine with whatever since this is my first foray into the genre. I do have The Murder at the Vicarage (also apparently one of Christie's Marple stories) that I got for free for my Kindle, but I haven't read it, and if it's free that's always nice. Anyway, mysteries: I had guessed Pip's identity thanks to the thread, but Emma as Julia caught me. Ah well. Lamp. Violets. Where is bottle of aspirin? Delicious Death. Making enquiries. Severe affliction bravely borne. Iodine. Pearls. Letty. Berne. Old Age Pension. Lamp is obvious. I think the violets were the dead ones Miss Blacklock had that Bunny was going on about earlier in the book. We've gone over why Letty is suspicious with the aspirin and everything else. Berne is a city in Switzerland, so presumably that's where Letty's family (and maybe Rudi) is from. I think it's Letty or the woman pretending to be Letty. Because, really, who besides Bunny would know what Letty would look like after all of that time anyway? She had the opportunity to commit all of the murders, has been acting really suspiciously, and probably most importantly, knows where all of the poo poo is in the house. Permit me to think out loud for a bit. I searched for my kindle edition for iodine since that sticks out in the list and unlike the other stuff it hasn't come up in the story. The only mention of it prior to Miss Marple's list is that letter that Craddock gave to Marple when he was trying to figure out Sonia's character (also where the closing and opening hands thing came up). It's a letter from Letty to Charlotte, her sister back in Switzerland who died. The relevant bit: "Lots of love, darling, and buck up. This iodine treatment may make a lot of difference. I've been enquiring about it and it really does seem to have good results." The iodine was a treatment for the 'affliction' she had. And this got me to remember a thing. Bunny called Letty "Lotty" sometimes. Maybe Letty isn't Sonia, but Charlotte? There was that entire thing where Letty was upset over no one being left from the old days once Bunny died, and maybe I'm just reaching, but this fits well with that I think. Of course, I have no idea where the pearls, lamp, violets, and Delicious Death fall into this, but I think there might be something here, maybe. edit: I guess this is my final guess. Oh man, oh man. Mecca-Benghazi fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Jan 18, 2013 |
# ? Jan 15, 2013 08:55 |