she
intuited something intensely personal in tonight’s recount and
decided to stay true to theme.
“My story is set in Australia.
A group of people go for a picnic to a place called Hanging Rock –
it is an extraordinary place, not dis-similar to the rock on which
Chanteloup is perched. It is also the setting for the supernatural
disappearance of three girls on Valentine’s Day several years
before my story is set. While the picnickers picnic in the shade of
a gum tree a tiger snake bites one of the women. She consequently
dies. She was bitten on the hand. The snake was inside the picnic
hamper. Now, since the hamper had a lid it would have been
impossible for the snake to have slithered inside. It must have
been placed there by someone who wanted one of the picnickers to
die. The snake was not able to discriminate between victims. It bit
the first hand that went into the basket. Was the murderer
successful? The wealthy niece of the woman who died married a
handsome rogue shortly after the tragic picnic. She would never
have contemplated marriage if her aunt had not died. The rogue was
not present at the picnic but the hamper had been a Valentine’s Day
gift from him to the niece the day before the picnic. The question
is: did he place the snake inside the basket? Did he wish to kill
the young woman who had turned down his initial marriage proposal?
Or did he know the aunt would fuss as was her wont and pay the
price with her life?”
“An interesting story, Countess
Varvara,” said the Singing Wolf. “Did the young woman marry the
handsome rogue knowing he may have orchestrated the death of her
aunt?”
“No, she was overcome by grief
and was not able to think clearly. It was about three years later
when the possibility caught up with her. By then it was too late -
her husband had also died.”
The clock chimed the ninth hour
when the Singing Wolf commenced her tale.
“My story is set in
Switzerland. It involves two men, two murders and two murderers. It
is a story of intrigue, arch enemies and a fight to the death
between two powerful men – not physically powerful but
intellectually powerful. One man sets a trap for the other and
lures him to a treacherous spot where he plans to murder him, at
the same time exposing himself to grave danger since the man he
intends to kill also plans to kill him. When the two men finally
confront each other they battle it out, neither wishing to fail in
the attempt to kill the other, determined to succeed even if it
means suicide. In the struggle they both fall to their deaths into
an abyss. No bodies are ever recovered. And then several years
later, rumours start circulating that one of the men has survived.
How? It seems impossible! And yet the rumours persist and grow
louder! Will the survivor return to public life? Will he be charged
with murder? He cannot claim self-defence since his actions were
pre-meditated. What will he do? What should he do? Will anyone seek
to avenge the death of the other man? Will one murder beget another
murder and so on ad infinitum until there is no one left who cares?
Is one murder ever enough?”
9
Nest of Vipers
Dr Watson listened to the wind
hurling itself against the ramparts of Chanteloup. He felt under
siege and full of fear. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the
Countess came to his bedroom. She arrived a few minutes after
ten.
“Nest of vipers,” he hissed as
she tip-toed across to the four-poster, navigating her way using
the red glow from the fire.
“Keep your voice down,” she
warned.
“No one will hear me – the
walls in this wing are three feet thick.”
“That should keep the vipers
out.”
“The vipers are inside
already,” he said peevishly. “To tell you the truth, I was feeling
relaxed until that last story. What did you make of it?”
She sat on the end of his bed
and wrapped a quilt around her shoulders to keep warm. “There was
only one thing I could make of it – it was a reference
intuited something intensely personal in tonight’s recount and
decided to stay true to theme.
“My story is set in Australia.
A group of people go for a picnic to a place called Hanging Rock –
it is an extraordinary place, not dis-similar to the rock on which
Chanteloup is perched. It is also the setting for the supernatural
disappearance of three girls on Valentine’s Day several years
before my story is set. While the picnickers picnic in the shade of
a gum tree a tiger snake bites one of the women. She consequently
dies. She was bitten on the hand. The snake was inside the picnic
hamper. Now, since the hamper had a lid it would have been
impossible for the snake to have slithered inside. It must have
been placed there by someone who wanted one of the picnickers to
die. The snake was not able to discriminate between victims. It bit
the first hand that went into the basket. Was the murderer
successful? The wealthy niece of the woman who died married a
handsome rogue shortly after the tragic picnic. She would never
have contemplated marriage if her aunt had not died. The rogue was
not present at the picnic but the hamper had been a Valentine’s Day
gift from him to the niece the day before the picnic. The question
is: did he place the snake inside the basket? Did he wish to kill
the young woman who had turned down his initial marriage proposal?
Or did he know the aunt would fuss as was her wont and pay the
price with her life?”
“An interesting story, Countess
Varvara,” said the Singing Wolf. “Did the young woman marry the
handsome rogue knowing he may have orchestrated the death of her
aunt?”
“No, she was overcome by grief
and was not able to think clearly. It was about three years later
when the possibility caught up with her. By then it was too late -
her husband had also died.”
The clock chimed the ninth hour
when the Singing Wolf commenced her tale.
“My story is set in
Switzerland. It involves two men, two murders and two murderers. It
is a story of intrigue, arch enemies and a fight to the death
between two powerful men – not physically powerful but
intellectually powerful. One man sets a trap for the other and
lures him to a treacherous spot where he plans to murder him, at
the same time exposing himself to grave danger since the man he
intends to kill also plans to kill him. When the two men finally
confront each other they battle it out, neither wishing to fail in
the attempt to kill the other, determined to succeed even if it
means suicide. In the struggle they both fall to their deaths into
an abyss. No bodies are ever recovered. And then several years
later, rumours start circulating that one of the men has survived.
How? It seems impossible! And yet the rumours persist and grow
louder! Will the survivor return to public life? Will he be charged
with murder? He cannot claim self-defence since his actions were
pre-meditated. What will he do? What should he do? Will anyone seek
to avenge the death of the other man? Will one murder beget another
murder and so on ad infinitum until there is no one left who cares?
Is one murder ever enough?”
9
Nest of Vipers
Dr Watson listened to the wind
hurling itself against the ramparts of Chanteloup. He felt under
siege and full of fear. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the
Countess came to his bedroom. She arrived a few minutes after
ten.
“Nest of vipers,” he hissed as
she tip-toed across to the four-poster, navigating her way using
the red glow from the fire.
“Keep your voice down,” she
warned.
“No one will hear me – the
walls in this wing are three feet thick.”
“That should keep the vipers
out.”
“The vipers are inside
already,” he said peevishly. “To tell you the truth, I was feeling
relaxed until that last story. What did you make of it?”
She sat on the end of his bed
and wrapped a quilt around her shoulders to keep warm. “There was
only one thing I could make of it – it was a reference
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