During the big party, Patty got tired of dealing with the guests. They all had drinks in hand and seemed perfectly content. So, the maid wandered up the grand staircase to check on the sleeping children. As soon as she walked into her employer's bedroom, her eagle eyes saw that someone had been there. Taking a towel from her apron, she eradicated the quarter-size water ring from a mahogany table. "How many times do I have to tell Ms. Davis to use a coaster?" Seconds later, a breeze from an open French window drew her outside. Young Andrew's skateboard was on the balcony, right by the railing edge.
"Someone could trip and fall," Patty said with another disapproving cluck. Instinctively, she peered over the railing and was startled to see her prophecy fulfilled. Her employer, the Broadway star Margaret Davis, lay on the flagstone walk, her neck broken but her cut-crystal water glass still in one piece in her hand.
Mr. Davis, Margaret's husband, refilled his brandy snifter twice before his hand was steady enough to dial up the police. Clark Burton, Margaret's costar, seemed just as inconsolable. All night he'd been drinking shot glasses of whiskey. But the tragic accident sobered him instantly. Margaret's understudy, Elizabeth Harris, had never held much affection for the star, especially since Margaret had never once missed a performance. But now, Elizabeth put down her beer mug and became the picture of solicitude and mourning. "Whatever we do, we mustn't ever let poor Andrew know it was his skateboard that made his mother slip."
"It wasn't the skateboard," Patty muttered darkly. "Ms. Davis was pushed over that railing. And I know who did it."
Okay, Nancy Drews and Sherlock Holmes. Take out your magnifying glasses. I want you to answer my questions:
1. How does Patty know it wasn't an accident?
2. Who's the suspect and why?
Replies
Well, I send Mr. Conrad an email and the answer is as follows:
If Margaret had tripped on the skateboard, it would not have wound up right by the railing. It would have been pushed backwards.
Unfortunately, Patty accidentally destroyed the most telling piece of evidence, the water ring on the table. The offending glass had been the size of a quarter, much too small for a crystal water glass, a brandy snifter, or a beer mug. It's just the right size for a shot glass, however. The killer had to be Clark Burton.
Congrat, Zahra! You solved the case.
I dunno. Maybe it's one of those unsolved murder-mystery cases. =/
Kidding! Imma contact Hy and ask him personally.
Wish me luck!
Zahra said:
Interesting!
Let's see the conclusion!
Peppo said:
Not them. He looks like one. You don't see that?
Peppo said:
did you say about 'turtle'?
I'm thinkin' of a turtle...
Is that bad? =p
Peppo said:
Alright xD
A738a said:
'Course! The more the merrier. Welcome aboard!
''A woman has been killed.''
''Oh, arrest her husband.''
And vice versa.
Classic.
Peppo said:
What's wrong with an eyepatch?
I'm totally hearing Berrnard Herrmann's Twisted Nerve right now. How could you not murder some, um, ''something'' to this song?
MARY said:
Don't you know if it isn't the butler, it's the maid?
But in this case, I don't think so.
MARY said: