Death at the Opera

appendix: mrs. bradley’s conclusions

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1. Smith, Donald.

Capable of murder.

Is a teacher.

Is an artist.

Loves Alceste Boyle.

Does not hate Calma Ferris.

Relieved his feelings by stamping on his ruined clay model. Spent a considerable amount of time during Act One of The Mikado in conversing with the electrician. The electrician was a bogus electrician. He was not sent by the firm. He did not understand electrical appliances. He may have been Cutler. Mrs. Hampstead, a dipsomaniac, is drowned. As soon as Mrs. Hampstead died, Hampstead was free to marry Alceste Boyle. Was Mrs. Hampstead murdered? Did Cutler murder her? If Cutler murdered her, it was for gain. Would Cutler consider a promise of £250 sufficient inducement to commit murder? If he thought it worth while to steal a watch and a small sum from the school caretaker—yes.

The Artist. Smith borrowed the money from Alceste Boyle to pay the price of her freedom.

The Teacher. Smith deputed another person to perform the messy manual labour of murder.

Proof presumptive but not proof absolute that Mrs. Hampstead was murdered by Cutler at the instigation of Smith.

The Murder of Susie Cozens

Cutler murdered Cozens.

He did not murder her for pecuniary gain.

This is extraordinary, therefore she must have been a menace to his safety.

How could she be?

When she worked for Miss Lincallow she could have found correspondence relating to the proposed killing of Mrs. Hampstead.

Was she smart enough to read between the lines of such correspondence?

Apparently she was, if she had to be murdered to shut her mouth.

She, then, could have proved that Cutler murdered Mrs. Hampstead. If it could have been proved by Susie Cozens, it must have been a fact.

Proof. Therefore, Cutler did murder Mrs. Hampstead, and, since he could have had no reason for disliking her, since he did not know her, he murdered her for money.

The money would have been promised by

Hampstead,

Alceste Boyle or

Smith.

Which of them could have known where to write to Cutler? (For the silly story of the advertisement inserted in the newspapers cannot be true.)

Smith, since he had painted his portrait. I wonder why he presented the portrait to the Headmaster?

2. Berotti, Madame V.

Capable of murder. (We all are!)

Knew of the accident.

Knew that Calma Ferris went a second time to the water-lobby.

Was the only person, probably, who did know this, since she and Calma would have been in the dressing-room together until it was time for Calma to get ready at the side of the stage for her first entrance.

She had the modelling-clay in her possession, since she used some of it in making-up Smith’s nose.

She was an actress.

She was the most likely person, therefore, to retain her composure and sang-froid under difficult circumstances.

This would account for the fact that not one of the suspected persons gave himself or herself away under interrogation.

True, Smith was ill at ease, but then he had the Cutler-Mrs. Hampstead-murder on his mind.

True, so was Miss Camden, but she had a guilt -complex over the forgery connected with the Headmaster’s cheque.

True, Moira Malley was nerve-ridden and hysterical, but then she thought Smith had committed the murder.

Motive. Mrs. Berotti is an artist. Everyone insisted on it. She had seen Calma Ferris act very badly. She had seen Alceste Boyle act superlatively well. She risked her neck to get the part of ‘Katisha’ performed as she knew it could be and ought to be performed. I recognize that this motive would be more easily credible if the piece had been grand opera or great tragedy. It seems a slight motive when the piece was comic opera.

But Mrs. Berotti is a very old woman. She may not see many more pieces performed.

Besides The murder was a gesture. “Away with incompetents!” she said. “Let us have the thing done as it might be done by the angels.”

Proof. But the proof of her guilt is that she was the only person who must have known for certain that Calma Ferris went to the water-lobby a second time.

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[scanned anonymously in a galaxy far far away]

[A 3S Release— v1, html]

[September 28, 2006]