Truth of the night before

[maggie]

Steve,,,it might NOT have been Neville calling.! Someone perhaps with the idea of luring Jeremy to WHF in order to bump him off as well...Then it would have been sorted simply,,wouldn't it.?
Because that little plan failed and the police were already gathering,,it was time for plan B.
Blame Jeremy.!
Yes,,Jeremys' treatment by the police was disgraceful,,and equally,Jeremys' attitude towards them would have been the way I'd have been too,,knowing that my conscience was clear,,and that it was they who were trying to put words into his mouth,and because he didn't crack under the strain,,the police didn't like that,,they'd rather you yielded.!

Hi lookout (for later) I have followed this train of thought myself.  If going with the argument that we can see or hear what we want to believe we are seeing or hearing, I can imagine a scenario where Jeremy woken from a deep sleep answers the phone and hears a voice that sounds like his father, saying things only his father would be likely to say by the time he puts the phone down he has an unshakeable belief it is his father.
I believe this could be a remote possibility, don't think anyone else does, apart from anything how did anyone shoot Sheila without a struggle?

[Patti]

Hi lookout (for later) I have followed this train of thought myself.  If going with the argument that we can see or hear what we want to believe we are seeing or hearing, I can imagine a scenario where Jeremy woken from a deep sleep answers the phone and hears a voice that sounds like his father, saying things only his father would be likely to say by the time he puts the phone down he has an unshakeable belief it is his father.
I believe this could be a remote possibility, don't think anyone else does, apart from anything how did anyone shoot Sheila without a struggle?

Hi Maggie/Lookout

I have thought that too....I thought look well if NB had a rifle in his back at the time and was made to call Jeremy in order to get him to go to the farm.  But why say Shelia has the gun and this is like saying a third party could have been involved....but if that was the case then why set Sheila up?  None of it makes sense does it Maggie....

[susan]

Maggie/lookout I myself don't think anyone else was involved in the murders at WHF other than one of the occupants in the house that fateful night

[Jane]

Maggie/lookout I myself don't think anyone else was involved in the murders at WHF other than one of the occupants in the house that fateful night

Susan, I have to go with that, too. If Nevill said "SHE has .......", it CAN be ambiguous, "SHE" being either a diminuative for Sheila OR a reference to June/Sheila. It's a HUGE ask in  the belief stakes, but it's JUST possible that it was June who cracked first. Having to cater for exta bodies in the house, having to look after/cook for/wash for small children, having to provide ad hoc snacks and meals for the harvesting men, having to cope with her daughter who, for all the help she gave, may just as well not have been there, having to cancel a meeting because she was probably too exhausted/worried to focus, even telling her sister that she was concerned about Sheila, it sounds as if she may have been at her wits' end.

[susan]

april I am sure June was under tremendous strain but I have no idea about her mental state at the time and whoever committed these horrendous crimes must have totally cracked mentally as it is my opinion the crime was a frenzied killing and not planned as steve suggests but somebody snapped and this is why I think Ralph was taken by surprise as he would not be expecting anyone to use the gun but maybe just wave it around in a threatening manner this is why he phoned Jeremy.

[Jane]

april I am sure June was under tremendous strain but I have no idea about her mental state at the time and whoever committed these horrendous crimes must have totally cracked mentally as it is my opinion the crime was a frenzied killing and not planned as steve suggests but somebody snapped and this is why I think Ralph was taken by surprise as he would not be expecting anyone to use the gun but maybe just wave it around in a threatening manner this is why he phoned Jeremy.

Susan, there must have been indescribable tension in that house that night.

[susan]

april think things happened too quickly for any tension and after the deeds were done I expect a feeling of calm would have been felt.

[Jane]

april think things happened too quickly for any tension and after the deeds were done I expect a feeling of calm would have been felt.

Susan, I get the feeling that Nevill might have been relieved to put space between the two women when one of them went to bed.

[maggie]

Susan, I have to go with that, too. If Nevill said "SHE has .......", it CAN be ambiguous, "SHE" being either a diminuative for Sheila OR a reference to June/Sheila. It's a HUGE ask in  the belief stakes, but it's JUST possible that it was June who cracked first. Having to cater for exta bodies in the house, having to look after/cook for/wash for small children, having to provide ad hoc snacks and meals for the harvesting men, having to cope with her daughter who, for all the help she gave, may just as well not have been there, having to cancel a meeting because she was probably too exhausted/worried to focus, even telling her sister that she was concerned about Sheila, it sounds as if she may have been at her wits' end.

April, I cannot disagree with you but how then did Sheila die?  I cannot see how Sheila could have been shot by someone else, it doesn't make sense and before he starts, no she was NOT drugged in any way therefore she had every opportunity to fight back, there is always that question in my mind.

[Jane]

April, I cannot disagree with you but how then did Sheila die?  I cannot see how Sheila could have been shot by someone else, it doesn't make sense and before he starts, no she was NOT drugged in any way therefore she had every opportunity to fight back, there is always that question in my mind.

Maggie, I think it was more just idle musings, really, which if taken as far down the line as they'll go, probably won't add up.

[maggie]

Maggie, I think it was more just idle musings, really, which if taken as far down the line as they'll go, probably won't add up.

I know, this is the problem, every trail followed ends with a question or comes up against a brick wall.  

[susan]

Maggie/april

had Sheila been shot by Jeremy or indeed another she would have fought tooth and nail for her boys she would have shielded them with her own body I am afraid it is quite obvious to me what happened at WHF

[maggie]

Maggie/april

had Sheila been shot by Jeremy or indeed another she would have fought tooth and nail for her boys she would have shielded them with her own body I am afraid it is quite obvious to me what happened at WHF

I agree Susie, I cannot see any other answer.  I do have an open mind but simply cannot find any other answer which is truly feasible. imo

[Jane]

I agree Susie, I cannot see any other answer.  I do have an open mind but simply cannot find any other answer which is truly feasible. imo

Girls, we've examined this every which way, haven't we. The one thing we ALL seem to agree on is that Sheila would not have gone silently and obligingly to her death NOR would she have allowed her boys to be killed by someone else without putting up a fight and we KNOW she hadn't been drugged because she lacked the full dose from the previous month and was due another.

[mertol22]

Yeah, but lets face it. It's all the opinions of your novelist writers. Can't you say something original for a change?

perhaps steve is a time traveller and really invented this...