Very short Wimsey AU sort of meta-fic

[nineveh_uk]

‘You can sit down, you know,’ said Miss Vane, gesturing to the other armchair. Boyes sat.

‘How about some coffee, old girl?’

Miss Vane looked at him coldly. ‘I said you could come round. If you want someone to serve you food and drink, I suggest you employ a maid.’

*

‘Mr Boyes!’ exclaimed Hannah Westlock, opening the door to find that gentleman on the top step, supported by the strong arm of the driver. ‘Now you sit down here, and I’ll ring for the doctor.’

‘Never mind the doctor, get me a brandy. That b- wouldn’t even give me a cup of coffee.’

***

Forget buying poison while giving the name of famous murderers, or living with your boyfriend. Ironically, what ultimately lands Harriet Vane in the dock isn’t a social transgression, but adherence to social rules of politeness, first that Harriet actually agree to Boyes' demand that they meet, second that having done so she is required to play the hostess. Rules so strict that the murderer can rely on them in setting up his alibi: Urquhart offers Boyes Turkish coffee, which Boyes doesn’t like, thus setting up the chance for a statement that Harriet will offer coffee, and increasing the chance of Boyes actually drinking it.

Comments

[antisoppist]

After all, Urquhart doesn’t actually want Boyes’ death to be considered murder.
That is a very good point.

What of the judge's roughly matching the dates of Boyes' gastric attacks to the dates when Harriet bought poison? That has to be just coincidence, yes? The dates coinciding with meetings with Harriet works in the sense that, if they are poisoning attempts, Urquhart is following the same formula of doing it on nights when Boyes is going out to Bohemian parties with potential other suspects about.

And were they trial runs or did it take Urquhart several goes to get the fatal dose right? If he's aiming for suicide, he wants it to be soon after the break-up with Harriet rather than months later and before Mrs Wrayburn goes and dies on him. No wonder the version that works is so carefully planned if it took him four tries to get it right. I see him as opportunist and a bit panicky rather than an evil mastermind of cunning. He should have sorted the fake will out much earlier too.

I was going to suggest you wrote the Urquhart trial next. I suppose there is no need for Harriet to be called as a witness alongside Peter.

[nineveh_uk]

I think the judge matching poisoning purchases has to be coincidence, and "well, she _might_ have met him and poisoned him. She can't prove she didn't". Despite the fact that not all the meetings do line up (is "some time in May" before or after she buys that poison - the judge of course says before).

I interpret Boyes' earlier 'attacks' not as Urquhart doing trial runs, but as deliberately minor doses to give Boyes a gastric attack so that the death doesn't come out of the blue, but re-establishes a history of an old illness coming back. It also associates them with periods of emotional stress (caused by meeting Harriet), making them more plausible (and as you note, the parties providing otehr suspects).

Would Harriet need to be a witness of Boyes' health that evening, and on the previous occasions they met? Especially if she could testify that Boyes was perfectly healthy while living with her, and even after they broke up, but only had problems in his cousin's house (I wonder what they ate on those crucial evenings - was it always omelette?) Bt I have too many WIPs already!

I am inclined to agree re. an opportunist who gets a bit panicky - the will seems in indicate he was counting on natural causes, with suicide a considerable second, given that "had he any money" is a perfectly reasonable question to ask. (I wonder if it was asked and U. said nothing?)

[antisoppist]

There would have been a huge amount of publicity over Harriet being called as a witness - particularly alongside Peter - and you'd think she'd have mentioned it at some point. I suspect it went on murderer's confession and she didn't get called but I would like her to be and the reasons you give do justify it. We don't get Peter's reaction to Urquhart's hanging either, even at the end of BUSM. "It might have been me" doesn't really cover it. It is all missing!

The trouble with panicky opportunist (though supported by his reaction to the Turkish delight) is that the alibi required a lot of calculated forward planning. How long does it take to build up immunity anyway? Today's theory is that he was so enamoured of his own perfect murder method that he forgot to think about anything else.

There is no such thing as too many WIPs.

[nineveh_uk]

There must have been some post-trial publicity for the press to already be being associating Harriet and LPW at the start of HHC. But it is odd Trial II is never mentioned. Clearly I just want Harriet to have further torment/be thrown together with Peter.

I have no idea how long it takes to become immune to arsenic. Perhaps U. found out because he genuinely did start taking the arsenic as an anti-aging quack treatment. If I got really speculative, how long does it take to ingest arsenic? Could Urquhart just have whizzed to the loo and thrown up his dinner?

It also strikes me that Harriet's major explanation of how she feels about her experience is in the SCR in GN, when she's (a) not wanting to talk about her actual feelings for reasons of personal privacy, and (b) not wanting to talk about her actual feelings because she's trying to be rational and unemotional (and fit in with the dons). So it would make sense that she didn't talk about it there, since Miss Edwards is interested in the investigation rather than the trial