|
I loved the old whodunnit threads, but unfortunately I've read Gideon quite recently (and very good it was too). I'll be waiting for the next book, though.
|
#
¿
Aug 17, 2020 22:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 12:04 |
|
|
Smallbone up to Ch.3. Not really got a handle on how big those boxes are. It says "larger than a normal deed box" but I don't really know how big that is. I'm picturing something the size of one of those cardboard document boxes which are about 1.5ft x 1ft x 1 ft. So, about big enough to hold a head, or if smaller, maybe a pair of hands. I'm also assuming it must be Smallbone, or bits of him, in there. (In which case, where is the rest?) I also assumed that Bohun was going to be the primary PoV and investigator (he's only been there two days, can't really be a suspect) but perhaps he's just an artifice to give us an outsider's view of the office. Plus there's hinting of something hidden in his past with the army medical thing. Some notes just for myself to keep in mind: Horniman Sr. has been dead for about a month. Smallbone has been missing for about two months. Mr. Craine is the one who wanted the box opened. (Perhaps needs the death of the last trustee known at this specific time?)
|
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2020 02:18
|
|
|
Up to Ch. 6. Interesting how much of a police procedural this story is. Unusual for its time, I think. So Hazlerigg will be our main investigator, with Bohun's help. Well, that clears that up, though Bohun is having somewhat suspicious meetings in the dead of night somewhere in east London. (Incidentally, for those who don't know, if you're "born within the sound of the Bow bells" it means you're a cockney. "Fairy plates" I was confused about but probably means he recognized Bohun's footsteps - plates = plates of meat = feet) I suspect whatever "job" he's seeking will be a red herring to the actual plot. The identity of the body seems pretty settled, short of a long-term replacement of Smallbone (at least 5 years ago). The box had the whole of Smallbone's body stuffed in it, though it only just fit. So quite a bit bigger than I was imagining. Also extremely heavy, I would have thought - difficult for one person to move alone. So the body was probably placed in the box at the office, rather than elsewhere. Of course I immediately leapt for Horniman Sr. as a suspect since he knew he was dying, and the dates match, and he would have the key. That seems to be ruled out by the other evidence. But one of the other partners might have killed to protect the firm (or in the case of Bob, his father's reputation), especially if they discovered he was embezzeling. So Smallbone went looking for something in Kent on Feb 12th, came back, and left the next day (and disappeared, never making it to Florence, if that was his destination). And he liked to collect gossip and compromising information. Could he have found something about the trust there? Kent's a likely place for one of Ichabod's charities, since he owned East-coast fishing fleets. The murder weapon makes it clear the murder was almost certainly per-meditated, rather than an impulse. Haven't noticed any left-handers, though I don't see why he couldn't have been garotted from the front.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2020 05:10
|
|
|
To Ch.9. We don't know yet what Saturday (if any) the murder occured on, though if it's not the 13th, there's the matter of where Smallbone was for X weeks before it (since that seems to be the day he dissappeared). For the Saturday staff, it looks like it was pretty common for both people to be out by noon or so. So it could just as easily be anyone who knew the routine to slip in before lock-up, not just those who were scheduled. At least as easy as the secretary doing it. For the letter, the stuff about the placement of the signature seems to be indicating that it may be a forgery. Perhaps the holes show it was typed on a page removed from another document? (Would they be using staples at they time? Or just an actual pin?) Though I don't know enough about legal paperwork to say if it would be normal to have a sheet of paper with just a signature on it? That seems unlikely. If it is a forgery, to what end? It specifies a Saturday, but not which Saturday. (Unless it's to point to a Saturday, but the murder happened on a different day - the office gets pretty empty at lunchtime, according to ch. 8). And if you're making a forged letter, why drop it under a desk where it might not be found for ages? So Duxford appears to be moonlighting for another firm. It seems the story is going to throw red-herrings at us for everyone's behaviour, only one of which is going to be related to the murder.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2020 03:05
|
|
|
I have a lot of time to waste today, so I'll take a crack at the solution. Sorry for the long ramble, I'm not quite sure of everything. Horniman: Natural causes. No reason to think otherwise. Smallbone: Killed by Miss Cornel, to protect Abel Horniman's reputation. Chittering: Killed by Miss Cornel, to protect herself. First of all, it can't be Horniman Jr. He has his alibi, which isn't yet collabored but should be easy to do so. Also the letter points to Bob Horniman, but seems very clearly to have been forged as a method to frame him. Who finds the letter? Miss Cornel, after dropping a screw, finds it under her desk. (No doubt she could have contrived another reason to look there if the mirror incident hadn't happened). Who makes a point that the letter was addressed to "Mr. Horniman", and thus is for Bob, not Abel? Miss Cornel tells the inspector so. So, Miss Cornel (who is Abel's secretary, after all) gets the message from Smallbone, and arranges the meeting for the 20th, probably saying that Abel will be there. (Also points to the letter being forged - why would Smallbone meet with Bob when Abel was the one double-dipping the farm equity? Abel is still alive at that point) She can count on Duxford leaving early - he slips out all the time, though she probably doesn't know about the other Solicitors and thinks he's just shirking. In fact the book that Cove finds shows an appointment for the 20th, though doesn't mention the time. Cornel garotts Smallbone, stuffs him in the deed box. She would know where the key was, and would be plenty strong enough, if she's a pro-level golfer. (The story doesn't actually seem to show she's left handed, though it doesn't say otherwise - it's ambiguous, perhaps deliberately so, during the mirror scene). She then needs a way to dispose of the box's original contents, can't just leave it in the office somewhere because of the famous Horniman filing system. So she buys a rucksack from a shop nearby, and takes the papers home in that. Perhaps dumps the whole thing somewhere. Motive: To protect Abel and his firm's reputation. She's been his secretary for years, and is very much his creature. She probably knows Abel is ill, and may know hes soon to die. By killing Smallbone and hiding him in a place that won't be searched for a good while, she allows him to die without scandal. The rucksack is the motive for Miss Chittering's death. She mentions it - a big green rucksack - as something Miss Cornel owns in Ch.2 (incidently Bohun is present during the conversation, and although we don't see him talk about it with the Inpector, this must be what Hazelrigg is thinking about at the end of Ch.10 after talking with Miss Chittering's boyfriend - how else would he know that the rucksack is big and green later). Presumably the boyfriend sold Cornel the rucksack and mentioned it to Chittering (would he be able to recognize her?) In that case she knows when it was bought, too, and might mention it was bought on one of the Saturdays of interest, meaning that Cornel need to transport something on that day. Cornel wouldnt have a problem slipping back into the office on that Tuesday, and doesn't have a checkable alibi for the time of death. Things I'm not certain about : Sgt. Cockerill. Is he also involved? He's also loyal to Abel (was his batman) and might have been a collaborator with Cornel. He may also have been the actual garotter, though he appears to be right handed (uses a screwdriver in his right hand opening the box, for instance). I don't think the time matches quite right for the murder of Miss Chittering, if the witness is accurate - we know it's not yet quite 7 when she hears someone in the building, and Cockerill doesn't get to the building until just after 7. Is the rucksack a strong enough motive to kill Miss Chittering? Cornel could just say she was planning a hiking holiday or something, and took advantage of shopping that Saturday. Is loyalty to Abel a strong enough motive to kill Smallbone? Could Cornel actually be siphoning money off those alms payments after all? Hobnob fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Sep 28, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2020 21:13
|
|
|
I haven't had time to finish off Smallbone but from reading the spoilers here Oh hey, apparently I got it right! I do also think throwing Bob under the bus seemed kind of a weak spot, but I'll see what the actual story says when I finish it tonight. Edit after reading the end: OK, I don't actually buy the screw thing as evidence. In my experience a dropped screw can bounce just about anywhere. The golfer hands thing I have no idea about, I just assumed it would mean she was strong enough. I was right about Duxford skipping out early (though there appears to be a typo in the kindle version of the book, that should be the 20th, surely?) though I never thought of Miss Cornel arranging things to share a weekend with him deliberately. Not buying Cockerill's handedness stuff either. Speaking as a lefty, I might do that job either way depending on the amount of strength needed. Oh, especially not buying the singer=not garotter stuff. Yay, I was right about the Horniman filing system. I knew it was going to be used somehow in the story. OK, right on the rucksack, and the motive for killing Miss Chittering. Still seems a bit weak, though. (The mention of the rucksack at the end of Ch. 14 was the big giveaway for Cornel being involved - it only appears once in the story before that). Would never have guessed the Left Luggage Office though, I don't think that even exists anymore, though it's a staple of London mystery fiction. Mecca-Benghazi posted:I already own The Shortest Way to Hades because I planned on reading it after the last mystery thread but never got around to it, so that one because it saves me money Me too, for exactly the same reason. It's been sitting on my kindle pile for years now, and even though I really enjoyed the other Sarah Caudwell books I never did read it. Hobnob fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Oct 5, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2020 18:11
|
|
|
Well, that's weird. I'm in the US and I bought The Shortest Way to Hades on kindle. Though looking back at the date of the old thread, I guess that was ~5 years ago now. Must be a rights or publisher thing. Anyway, I'm happy with Stop Press. I don't know anything about the book at all, though I think I've heard of the author before.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2020 03:36
|
|
|
Up to part 1, Ch. 4 Difficult to say much yet. We have potential suspects of 12 male guests, an unknown number of female guests, plus at least four Eliots we know of, and also the college dons who seem involved somehow. Not to mention servants. (Are all these guests staying at the house? Is this place the size of Downton Abbey?) Mr Eliot himself seems the best suspect so far. How long was that paint up? It seems like it's been raining all afternoon and evening. Would even this special quick-drying paint be possible to apply in the rain? If not, it must have been there before. Why did nobody see it until later? Who discovered it anyway? For the "knows the unwritten plans of the Spider" stuff, assuming it's not Eliot or the secretary (dead), then it would point to someone who's had long-term access the rough drafts during Eliot's writing process. They would be able to see stuff that was edited out in the revisions. That probably means a member of the household, either a relative or a servant.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2020 06:34
|
|
|
Only up to Ch. 6 for now. Sorry, been a bit busy. OK, so the location of the paint is pretty tricky - If I'm understanding the architectural bits correctly, it's over a foot below a two-foot wide overhang. Not an easy place to paint, especially if it really was painted with a shaving brush - it must have taken some time and effort. Though its location means that it would be shielded from the rain a bit (I notice that it was said that earlier that the rain & wind had eased and it was coming down vertically). Especially as it's water-soluble paint. Something is going matter about the accent of the locals, but since we don't know what links the don sub-plot to the main plot, it's hard to see what and whether it'll ever be relevant. Also I don't think I know where we are in the country, I can't recall it being mentioned in the text, so it's hard to judge what the accent would be. Kermode is instantly a good candidate for the culprit. He's very familiar with the Spider (at least up to a certain date), and he would personally benefit if Eliot were to retire from writing. More noises-off (like the clarinet). Some kind of time-triggered recording, so the culprit can be present and accounted for when it happens? Hobnob fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Oct 30, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2020 00:36
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 12:04 |
|
|
OK, that summary makes me feel less guilty about not finishing it. (At the time, I was not feeling like spending my free time to do anything as cerebral as reading - at least not if I also had to think about what I read). There's nothing so infuriating in a mystery story than clues that are treated as important and meaningful, only to later get waved away as if the author couldn't think up a proper explaination. That said, I might eventually finish it myself because the rest of the story sounds absolutely bonkers. Hobnob fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Apr 12, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2021 23:50
|
|