[MaC] Murder_at_Christmas Digest, Vol 1, Issue 36

Mon Dec 27 18:37:28 EST 2004

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Today's Topics:

   1. RE: Breaking the news (Brian Schoner)
   2. Re: Breaking the news (Tara Kunkel)
   3. Re: Speculation in the Lounge (Katie Fulton)
   4. Re: A pause in the music - Back in the lounge (Heather Mace)
   5. Re: Speculation in the Lounge (Jonathan Katalenic)
   6. Re: Speculation in the Lounge (Ree Moorhead Pruehs)
   7. Re: Speculation in the Lounge (Katie Fulton)
   8. Re: Examining the body (Allen Veazey)
   9. Re: Speculation in the Lounge (Heather Mace)
  10. Re: Speculation in the Lounge (Mel Mason)
  11. Re: Examining the body (Jade)
  12. Re: Speculation in the Lounge (Katie Fulton)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:30:14 -0500
From: "Brian Schoner" <brianschoner at bellsouth.net>
Subject: RE: [MaC] Breaking the news

> The hall was, as they ight expect, in complete darkness.
> However, when they opened the door of the flats there was a
> sudden shout.
>
> "Oi!  Stay inside!  Haven't you lot bin warned, eh?"
>
> It was another ARP warden on the nearest corner of the street.

"We have, sir, thank you," Philip called back. "But there's been a...mishap
in one of the flats. I'd prefer not to shout about it; can you come closer,
or perhaps send someone along? I'm afraid we'll need the police."

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:30:01 -0500
From: Tara Kunkel <faespinner at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Breaking the news

>>Cyril looked toward the Fitzroy flat with concern, then,
>>deciding that Florence would be all right for the time it
>>took to alert the authorities, nodded and said, "I'm not sure
>>what use I'll be, but yes, I'll come with you."
>
>"Fair enough, then. Let's be off."
>
>Philip headed downstairs, with the others (presumably) in tow.
>
>The hall was, as they ight expect, in complete darkness.  However, when
>they opened the door of the flats there was a sudden shout.
>
>"Oi!  Stay inside!  Haven't you lot bin warned, eh?"
>
>It was another ARP warden on the nearest corner of the street.

"We have indeed been warned," Braham called out. "But we have a bit of a
situation here and we wished to alert the authorities." He hoped that would
be enough to bring the man to them. He certainly did not want to call out
the details of the situation for all to hear.

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:08:52 -0500
From: "Katie Fulton" <kcunningham40 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Speculation in the Lounge

At this point, Hodges returned with Esme and the linens they had collected
from downstairs.  Pamela took the linens while Esme shot a worried look at
her husband, and then at Anton - then back to her husband.

"What's happened, Marty?"

At this point, Pamela, Lucinda and Warren left to return to the pianist's
lounge and the body.

Marty tossed off his brandy and slammed the glass down on the bar with a
curt nod to Marjorie to refill it.

"Nola's managed to get herself murdered, that's what."

The effect on Esme was dramatic.  A hand went to her neck - she seemed to be
clutching at her throat.

"No!" she said shrilly.  "I didn't do it!  It wasn't me!"

And she sank to the floor in a dead faint.

Richard, not too far away, pulled his hand back from the impromptu
examination and moved to where Esme had fallen. He crouched, pulling off his
jacket to make a pillow for her head. He looked up at Marty.

"Have some salts nearby?" he asked calmly, as if he hadn't heard Esme's cry.

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 13:10:22 -0800
From: Heather Mace <hmace at elfworks.com>
Subject: Re: [MaC] A pause in the music - Back in the lounge

>>>
>> "That sounds like a shockingly sensible idea." James commented. He
>> rose, gave one more glance at Anton, and headed after Marjorie toward
>> the bar.
>
>
> "That poor woman," Arabella said quietly. "What a terrible thing..." She
> was proud of Pamela for keeping her head, and hoped that it would not
> become too difficult for her daughter. "And poor Mr. Barowenski..."

Marjorie came around the bar and picked up the gin bottle.  "She
was just here... I made her a gin and tonic, then another," she
said as she started to pour into a glass.  "But Mr. Hodges came
back from fixing the lift and took away her drink and she stormed
off... And then there was the blackout..."  She put down the
gin bottle and picked up the tonic.

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 13:20:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Jonathan Katalenic <jjkatalenic at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Speculation in the Lounge

"No!" she said shrilly.  "I didn't do it!  It wasn't
me!"

And she sank to the floor in a dead faint.

Richard, not too far away, pulled his hand back from
the impromptu
examination and moved to where Esme had fallen. He
crouched, pulling
off his
jacket to make a pillow for her head. He looked up at
Marty.

"Have some salts nearby?" he asked calmly, as if he
hadn't heard Esme's cry.

"Oh, dear," Nicola said. "I don't have any, but there
might be some in her purse." She took Esme's purse,
opened it and dumped out the contents onto the settee.

[OOC: So, Mel- what's in the bag?]

<tag room, possibly even Esme>

------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:39:10 -0500
From: Ree Moorhead Pruehs <rmpruehs at cac.net>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Speculation in the Lounge

>"No!" she said shrilly.  "I didn't do it!  It wasn't
>me!"
>
>And she sank to the floor in a dead faint.
>
>Richard, not too far away, pulled his hand back from
>the impromptu
>examination and moved to where Esme had fallen. He
>crouched, pulling
>off his
>jacket to make a pillow for her head. He looked up at
>Marty.
>
>"Have some salts nearby?" he asked calmly, as if he
>hadn't heard Esme's cry.
>
>"Oh, dear," Nicola said. "I don't have any, but there
>might be some in her purse." She took Esme's purse,
>opened it and dumped out the contents onto the settee.
>
>[OOC: So, Mel- what's in the bag?]
>
><tag room, possibly even Esme>

Only after Nicola had done so did Vangie open her own clutch purse and
produce a small bottle, which she handed to Richard almost absentmindedly.
Her sharp gaze was on the contents of the purse dumped out on the settee.

<tag room>

------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 17:19:04 -0500
From: "Katie Fulton" <kcunningham40 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Speculation in the Lounge

>"Oh, dear," Nicola said. "I don't have any, but there
>might be some in her purse." She took Esme's purse,
>opened it and dumped out the contents onto the settee.

Only after Nicola had done so did Vangie open her own clutch purse and
produce a small bottle, which she handed to Richard almost absentmindedly.
Her sharp gaze was on the contents of the purse dumped out on the settee.

Richard accepted it, uncapped it, and wafted it under the fallen wife's
nose. And while it seemed most of his attention was on her, he did seem to
have a spare eye for the bag as well.

------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:20:19 -0600
From: Allen Veazey <veazeyae at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Examining the body

>        "Or she might have been trying to run," Pamela suggested. Keeping 
> her
> voice level had become something of a strain; Pamela wasn't cut out to
> be a coroner. "Errrr... Tabitha, could you please look at this when
> you've a moment?" She pointed first to dark circles around Nola's eyes,
> and then to dark purple splotches on her stomach. "It looks for all the
> world like blood-poisoning -- a rather advanced case of it, I should say
> -- and yet I haven't found any sign of an infected wound. I don't know
> *anything* about poisons, I'm afraid; not something Our Boys tend to run
> into. Is there one that would do this?"

Warren had shook his head, indicating he knew little, if anything,
about the subject. He had limped to the piano, and was lifting
the top of the instrument to look inside.

------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 14:48:33 -0800
From: Heather Mace <hmace at elfworks.com>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Speculation in the Lounge

>>"Oh, dear," Nicola said. "I don't have any, but there
>>might be some in her purse." She took Esme's purse,
>>opened it and dumped out the contents onto the settee.
>
>
> Only after Nicola had done so did Vangie open her own clutch purse and
> produce a small bottle, which she handed to Richard almost absentmindedly.
> Her sharp gaze was on the contents of the purse dumped out on the settee.
>
> Richard accepted it, uncapped it, and wafted it under the fallen wife's
> nose. And while it seemed most of his attention was on her, he did seem to
> have a spare eye for the bag as well.

"Ain't that a sight," Marjorie said from over by the bar, a
half drunk glass of gin and tonic in her hand.  Fitzroy's
empty glass still stood on the top of the bar.  "No sooner
does the poor woman collapse than the rest of you are going
through her bag," she said sarcastically.  "Maybe Nola killed
herself because someone robbed her."

------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 23:02:54 -0000
From: "Mel Mason" <goldfired at oxmust.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Speculation in the Lounge

> >"Oh, dear," Nicola said. "I don't have any, but there
>>might be some in her purse." She took Esme's purse,
>>opened it and dumped out the contents onto the settee.
>
> Only after Nicola had done so did Vangie open her own clutch purse and
> produce a small bottle, which she handed to Richard almost absentmindedly.
> Her sharp gaze was on the contents of the purse dumped out on the settee.
>
> Richard accepted it, uncapped it, and wafted it under the fallen wife's
> nose. And while it seemed most of his attention was on her, he did seem to
> have a spare eye for the bag as well.
>

The contents of Esme's handbag included a handkerchief, a purse*, a fountain
pen, a small leatherbound book, and two letters.  One bore a Bethnal Green
postmark, and one a rather more exotic postmark - it looked to be in cyrllic
script, and the picture showed a rather burly factory worker in the act of
stoking a furnace, muscles rippling.

As Richard waved the salts under her nose, Esme gave a moan and opened her
eyes.

"What ... what's happened?" she asked feebly.  "Oh... my handbag!  Give me
my handbag!"

She shot an apprehensive look at her husband, who was still waiting for
Marjorie to pour him a drink.

*In the UK, a purse is a small thing where you keep coins.  Women have
them - men tend to leave change loose in their pockets.  What Americans call
a purse, we call a handbag.

------------------------------

Message: 11
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 15:03:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Jade <jadethe2nd at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Examining the body

>        "Or she might have been trying to run,"
> Pamela suggested. Keeping her
> voice level had become something of a strain;
> Pamela wasn't cut out to
> be a coroner. "Errrr... Tabitha, could you please
> look at this when
> you've a moment?" She pointed first to dark
> circles around Nola's eyes,
> and then to dark purple splotches on her stomach.
> "It looks for all the
> world like blood-poisoning -- a rather advanced
> case of it, I should say
> -- and yet I haven't found any sign of an infected
> wound. I don't know
> *anything* about poisons, I'm afraid; not
> something Our Boys tend to run
> into. Is there one that would do this?"

"I'm not sure... I think it's more likely to be from
some kind of drug usage. She is -- was -- an actress,
after all. One does hear about things like that on
occasion." Tabitha bent down to take a closer look.

Warren had shook his head, indicating he knew
little, if anything,
about the subject. He had limped to the piano, and
was lifting
the top of the instrument to look inside.

------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 18:14:00 -0500
From: "Katie Fulton" <kcunningham40 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [MaC] Speculation in the Lounge

> >"Oh, dear," Nicola said. "I don't have any, but there
>>might be some in her purse." She took Esme's purse,
>>opened it and dumped out the contents onto the settee.
>
> Only after Nicola had done so did Vangie open her own clutch purse and
> produce a small bottle, which she handed to Richard almost absentmindedly.
> Her sharp gaze was on the contents of the purse dumped out on the settee.
>
> Richard accepted it, uncapped it, and wafted it under the fallen wife's
> nose. And while it seemed most of his attention was on her, he did seem to
> have a spare eye for the bag as well.
>

The contents of Esme's handbag included a handkerchief, a purse*, a fountain
pen, a small leatherbound book, and two letters.  One bore a Bethnal Green
postmark, and one a rather more exotic postmark - it looked to be in cyrllic
script, and the picture showed a rather burly factory worker in the act of
stoking a furnace, muscles rippling.

As Richard waved the salts under her nose, Esme gave a moan and opened her
eyes.

"What ... what's happened?" she asked feebly.  "Oh... my handbag!  Give me
my handbag!"

She shot an apprehensive look at her husband, who was still waiting for
Marjorie to pour him a drink.

"You passed out," explained Richard. "We thought you might have some salts,
that it might be a... condition with you." He eased her up. "You went a
little senseless right before you went limp, actually. Talking nonsense."

------------------------------

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End of murder_at_christmas Digest, Vol 1, Issue 36
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