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January 5 - January 11, 2025
Mrs. Judith Potts was seventy-seven years old and entirely happy with her life. She lived in an Arts and Crafts mansion on the River Thames, she had a job she loved that took up just enough of her time and no more, and best of all, she didn’t have to share her life with any man.
Backstory.
Mrs. Judith Potts was seventy-seven years old and entirely happy with her life. She lived in an Arts and Crafts mansion on the River Thames, she had a job she loved that took up just enough of her time and no more, and best of all, she didn’t have to share her life with any man.
I love this!
a small glass of which she’d have at about 6:00 p.m. each evening.
On the day Judith’s life changed, it was the height of summer and England had been in the grip of a heat wave for weeks.
Backstory.
a dark-gray woolen cape she kept by the front door. Judith’s cape was her most treasured possession. She’d tell anyone who asked, and many did, it kept her warm in winter, served as a picnic blanket in the summer, and she could pull it over her head if ever she was caught in a spring shower.
Best of all, Judith believed it was a cloak of invisibility. Every evening, come rain or shine, she’d take off her clothes, wrap the cape around herself, and step out of her house feeling a delicious frisson of naughtiness.
Lol this bitch
It was just as Judith was thinking, This is the life, she heard a shout. It came from the opposite riverbank, from somewhere near her neighbor Stefan Dunwoody’s house.
Backstory
If anyone had been out on the river at that precise moment and had had occasion to look up at Judith’s mansion, they’d have seen a very short and comfortably plump woman in her late seventies with wild gray hair standing entirely naked in her bay window, a cape over her shoulders as if she were some kind of a superhero. Which in many ways she was. She just didn’t know it yet.
Gorgeous
That the room was covered in old clothes, half-finished meals, and piles of discarded newspapers and magazines didn’t bother her one jot. Judith never noticed the mess.
Ew bitch
The messier her bedroom, the more she felt cocooned and safe.
Nightmare
Detective Sergeant Malik didn’t respond immediately. “You’ve really thought this through,” she eventually said.
Backstory
Judith compiled crosswords for the national newspapers. She set two or three a week, and the hours she spent each day working on the puzzles were a cherished refuge for her mind.
Backstory
Word reaches us that Stefan Dunwoody, local art gallery owner, got into a tipsy dispute in the Royal Enclosure with Elliot Howard, owner of the Marlow Auction House. According to our little birdie, when Mr. Howard threatened to punch Mr. Dunwoody, the stewards were called, and both men were forcibly ejected.
Backstory
It was a human arm. It was reaching out of the water, the skin of the hand as white as marble. And, deeper still, Judith could just make out the body. It was Stefan Dunwoody. And in the center of his forehead was a small black hole. A bullet hole. Judith staggered back, her hand going to her neck. She’d been right all along. Stefan Dunwoody, her friend, her neighbor, had been shot dead.
Spoiler alert!
Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik. The police officer was in her early forties, wore a smart trouser suit, and had an air of teacherly efficiency about her that Judith already found irritating.
Backstory
And then, at full tilt, she cycled into the flock, calling out, “Pigeons BEGONE!” and scattered squawking birds into the air.
Judith! Don't be a bitch!
“Antonia Webster.
Backstory. Works at neighbor's gallery.
I’m Mr. Dunwoody’s assistant. Just for the summer.
More antonia backstory
“He’s an older gentleman. With gray hair. Or silver. It went down to his shoulders. He was very tall and grand.”
Possible suspect?
“What day last week?” “Monday.” “Okay, so this man came into the gallery last Monday.” “That’s right. And whoever he was, Mr. Dunwoody took him straight to his office. It was like he was embarrassed this guy had visited.”
Anyway, after the silver-haired gentleman waved me off, I left, but as I was closing the door, I heard Mr. Dunwoody say to him, ‘I could go to the police right now.’”
And then he said something weird. He said, ‘Desperation drives people to do stupid things.’”
The very first image was of a handsome man in his late fifties with silver hair swept down to his shoulders. The caption said his name was Elliot Howard and he was chairman of the Marlow Auction House. “That’s him!” Antonia said in surprise. “That’s the man who was here last Monday.”
He was in his late fifties with long, flowing gray hair that fell to his shoulders.
“That’s Daisy,” Elliot said as he went and sat behind a large office desk. “A wonderful woman. My wife. Don’t know why she puts up with me. Anyway, how can I help you?”
Backstory
“At eight o’clock last night I was at All Saints Church. You see, I sing in the church choir. Have done for years. And every Thursday night, between the hours of seven and nine, we have choir practice. So that’s where I was. In front of the vicar, as it happens. Along with the verger, various sidemen, and women of the church. And the mayor of Marlow.”
Was he though??? What about the wife? Daisy??
the fact Elliot believed Stefan Dunwoody had been a liar, a cheat, a fraud, and a crook.
the vicar, a very nice young man called Colin Starling.
Backstory
The woman in the cupboard looked entirely respectable. In fact, more than that, she positively glowed with expensive good health. She was in her early forties, with sleek blond hair, and was wearing a quilted black gilet over her top half, tight-fitting jeggings over her lower half, and bright pink running shoes. What on earth was she doing hiding in a cupboard in an empty church?
Indeedddddd why?!
“And I’m Becks Starling,” the other woman said, offering her hand. “Becky, actually. Although most people call me Becks.” “You’re the vicar’s wife?” Judith asked, delighted. “I’m afraid so,” Becks said with a bashful smile. “Someone has to be.
Still why hide…
Her fourteen-year-old son Sam was slumped over his phone at the kitchen table.
Beck's backstory
Although Sam was joking, both he and his mum knew that while Sam was a high-achieving student who liked to follow the rules, his sixteen-year-old sister, Chloe, was very much the opposite. All she wanted was to hang out with her friends and party.
Mores Becks' backstory
It was only after Chloe was born that he began to have “doubts” about all the lovely money he was making. And then, right after Sam’s arrival, when their need for money had spiraled, he’d had his “calling.” Being a good wife, Becks had supported her husband in his radical change of career from rich banker to country vicar.
Hmmmmm
she couldn’t help noticing everything about her existence seemed to be defined by someone who wasn’t her. She was the kids’ mum, the vicar’s wife, and the house’s wife for that matter.
“The bullet we retrieved from Mr. Dunwoody’s skull was a 7.65 millimeter by 21 millimeter Parabellum, and that’s a very specific size that was only used up until the Second World War by the German armed forces.”
Evidence facts!
“I’m afraid so. It was fired from a Second World War German Luger pistol.” “And that would work, would it? A seventy-year-old bullet?” “The Germans knew how to make pistols. Still do. Sure, it would work.”
Although, DS Malik thought to herself, there was still the mystery of the bronze medallion, wasn’t there? This was previously the only aspect of the case that had given DS Malik pause. When the divers had fished Stefan’s body out of the river, they’d found a small medallion about the size of a two-pound coin attached by a silver chain to a buttonhole on Stefan’s jacket. The medallion was clearly very old, a dull brown in color, with a swirling pattern of leaves carved around the edge of it, and the word Faith carved across the middle. It was something of an anomaly, if only because none of her
...more
More edvidence
“Sarge, a guy’s just been shot dead in Marlow.”
A 2nd murder!
The murder had happened in a bungalow on the Wycombe Road, a perfectly ordinary street that linked Marlow to High Wycombe with suburban houses on both sides and smart hedges and cars on driveways.
Murder #2 info
But her boss, Detective Inspector Gareth Hoskins, had signed himself off work with a stress-related illness three weeks before, and DS Malik was therefore the acting senior investigating officer. Just as she was the acting SIO in the Stefan Dunwoody case.
Interesting.
The constable explained how the dead man inside the house was called Iqbal Kassam. He lived on his own and was a taxi driver.
Murder #2 victim
The constable said a young delivery driver had arrived with a package for Mr. Kassam, but when he’d got to the door, he’d seen it was already open.
Who found victim & reported
Iqbal’s…dead? Are you?” “So you know Mr. Kassam?”
Dog walked knows victim #2
“Yes, yes, I do. And I’m Suzie Harris,” she said, all attempts at subterfuge forgotten. “I live at 14 Oakwood Drive.”
Dog walker details
When I came to walk Emma. That’s his Doberman. You see, Iqbal works nights. Sometimes. As a taxi driver. So I give Emma a once-around-the-block every morning.”
:)
“Could you shine it at the victim’s mouth?” The constable did so. There was a faint glow as it shone on a small object inside. What was it? DS Malik reached in and carefully pulled out a short silver chain. On the end of it was a small bronze medallion with flowery swirls carved into the edges. It looked identical to the medallion they’d found on Stefan’s body. It even had a word carved across the front. But this time the word wasn’t Faith; it was Hope.
Back of my arm tattoos! Lol
With the first two killings, they’d had Faith and Hope, but they hadn’t had Charity yet, had they? The message from the killer couldn’t have been any clearer. This wasn’t going to be the end of it. There was going to be a third murder.
Bum bum bummmmmmmm
“I’ve got it. The names of two girls. Pat and Ella. And when you put them together, you get ‘patella.’ You have one of those on each knee. Two girls, one on each knee. Patella.”
I wish I was crossword-smart.
“Why?” Suzie said, laughing. “Is that where you keep the dead bodies?” Judith’s smile froze and Suzie’s eyes widened in surprise. How come her joke had spooked Judith?
When the women weren’t looking, she touched the silver chain around her neck with the key on the end. It was still there. Still safe.
Wtf judith... What's behind the door??
