Second Street Tidbits

[Shelley]

This my my maiden post for the forum. Just wanted to share an interesting bit from a guest who stayed at the Second Street house last week. I have been an innkeeper there for 8 years. From time to time we have relatives of the Bordens (all distant!!) or family of those connected to the case. This lady was a Fall River gal of about 66 years who claimed some relation to the McGinn family.. She told me a delightful story of how her father mentioned being a little boy in the city and would from time to time pass 306 French St. Miss Borden would give out little peppermint patties (chocolate covered mints) to youngsters. I like to think of that!

On the day of the re-enactments, a relative of the Cook Borden branch of the family stayed in the Abby and Andrew room, as she does every year on August 4th. The old Cook Borden mansion on Fourth St.- just across from the famous Whitehead house of Oliver Gray, is being restored and is freshly painted. I believe it is now a residence for elderly gentlemen. We have been assured that the silver tea service at the Second Street home is from the Cook Borden family. So, it's nice to have all those connections.

[Kat]

Hi Shelley!
Great story and a unique perspective from your years of experience!

Is that the pretty lady I got to chat with at dinner?

[Shelley]

I was wondering what products were around in Lizzie Days on Second Street. I know peppermint drops were popular with my grandparents-as well as "gum candy" like orange slices and gumdrops. York peppermint patties came out in the 40's -too late for Lizzie but chocolate-covered mint patties had been around for years before. I did a little looking online to see what Bridget may have had in that pantry, then what the Maplecroft larder might have held as well.. Kind of fun to think of Lizzie chomping some Juicy Fruit gum in her cell. And instead of Jonnycakes- they could have had Aunt Jemima pancakes with Log Cabin syrup!

1872, Blackjack chewing gum
1876, Premium soda crackers
(later Saltines)
1881, Pillsbury flour
1886, Coca-Cola
1887, Ball-Mason jars
1888, Log Cabin syrup
1889, Aunt Jemima pancake mix
1889, Calumet Baking Powder
1889, McCormick Spices
1889, Pabst Brewing Company
1890, Knox gelatine
1890, Libby introduces keys
to canned meat
1890, Lipton tea
1891, Del Monte
1891, Fig Newton
1891, Quaker Oats Company
1893, Cream of Wheat
1893, Good & Plenty
1893, Juicy Fruit gum
1894, chili powder
1895, shredded coconut
1895, Triscuits
1896, Cracker Jack
1896, Michelob beer
1896, Tootsie Roll
1897, Campbell's condensed soup
1897, Campbell's tomato soup
1897, Grape Nuts
1897, Jell-O
1898, Nabisco graham crackers
1898, shredded wheat cereal
1899, Wesson oil
1900, Chiclets gum
1900, cotton candy
1900, Hershey's chocolate bar
1901, instant coffee
1902, Barnum's Animal Crackers
1902, Karo corn syrup
1902, Pepsi
1903, Best Foods
1903, canned tuna
1903, Sanka
1903, Sunshine Biscuit Company
1904, banana split
1904, Campbell's Kids introduced
1904, Campbell's Pork and Beans
1904, Canada Dry ginger ale
1904, Dr. Pepper
1904, peanut butter
1904, popcorn
1905, Epsicle (later Popsicle)
1905, Royal Crown cola
1906, A-1 Sauce
1906, bouillon cube
1906, Kellogg's Corn Flakes
1907, Hershey's kiss
1908, Dixie cup
1908, electric toaster
1909, Lipton tea
1909, puffed wheat and rice
(Quaker)
1910, tea bag
1911, Crisco
1911, Mazola corn oil
1912, Cracker Jack puts in a prize
1912, hamburger buns
1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise
1912, Life Savers
1912, Lorna Doone cookies
1912, Morton table salt
1912, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce
1912, Whitman's Sampler
1913, Campbell's cream of celery
1913, Oreo cookie
1913, Peppermint Life Savers
1914, Doublemint gum
1914, fruit cocktail
1914, Morton Salt girl
1915, processed cheese
1915, Pyrex bakeware
1916, fortune cookie
1916, Kellogg's All-Bran cereal
1916, Mr. Peanut
1916, Orange Crush
1917, Clark Bar
1917, Moon Pie
1918, Campbell's vegetable beef
1918, Contadina tomato sauce
1918, Welch's first jam, Grapelade
1919, Fridgidaire
1919, Sunkist oranges
1920, Baby Ruth
1920, Good Humor bar
1920, La Choy Food Products
1920, Wonder Bread
1921, Betty Crocker
1921, Eskimo Pie
1921, Hershey kisses get
blue & white streamer
1921, iodized salt
1921, Land O' Lakes butter
1921, Mounds bar
1921, Oh Henry!
1921, Sioux Bee Honey
1921, White Castle hamburger chain
1921, Wonderbread
1921, Wrigley's gum
1922, A&W Root Beer
1922, Charleston Chew candy
1922, Almond Rocha
1923, Milky Way bar
1923, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
1923, Welch's grape jelly
1924, Bit-O-Honey candy
1924, Dum Dum sucker
1924, fruit-flavored Life Savers
1924, packaged sliced bacon
(Oscar Mayer)
1924, Wheaties
1925, Green Giant canned peas
1925, Mr. Goodbar
1925, Wesson oil
1926, Hormel canned ham
1926, Milk Duds
1926, Orange Julius
1927, homogenized milk
1927, Kool-Aid
1927, Lenders bagels
1927, Mike & Ike candies
1927, Wonder Bread
1927, Welch-ade

[mbhenty]

[Harry]

Thanks for the fascinating list, Shelley.

There's a lot of things in that list that I would have thought came along later.

Can we imagine her digging through the Cracker Jacks box for the prize?

[Stefani]

Shelley, where did you get that AMAZING list? It is really good information.

[Shelley]

Poe is an old favorite of mine too, being a Baltimore gal. Richard Matheson has been a friend since 1983 when I saw the movie Somewhere in Time based on his even better novel, Bid Time Return and wrote my first fan letter. We have often discussed the Borden case and for years I had urged him to write a screenplay. The line "That which you think becomes your world" appears in the movie Somewhere In Time on a wall plaque over Richard Collier's Chicago apartment desk-mine is over my computer! The character of Elise McKenna in that film is based on real life Victorian actress, Maude Adams who was America's first Peter Pan in 1906. Lizzie must have seen Maude Adams- she was America's sweetheart and was much featured in Boston and New York plays and was the protegee of Charles Frohman, who would die tragically on the Lusitania in 1915.

As to the food list, I once was a newspaper columnist for a Dallas area newspaper and often did foody columns, so I have lists and lists of food facts! I'd love to envision Lizzie sitting on the porch having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Wonderbread with a Welchade grape drink- hey, it coulda happened!

I plan on checking out the Cook Borden house Saturday morning. No, it is not a one family as far as I know . I have observed a number of retired men about the porch and property. I also thought I might look into asking to see the Whitehead house, I am unsure which half of it Sarah inhabited, but I do recall reading the Bordens had a wedding reception there on December 25th. I also wonder what is now in that old ice house on the corner of 4th and Spring. More fun for this weekend!

[mbhenty]

[Shelley]

Yes, Chris Matheson did Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure among other things and his daughter Alison is in the TV biz doing PBS -type stuff. The Cook Borden house looks so out of place on that street but years ago I bet it was glorious.

[Shelley]

It feels like early autumn in Fall River this weekend, and raining hard at the moment. I took 30 photos of unusal places in the house and did some measurements of the first floor which I can post tomorrow. The pansies are still blooming in the yard and the pears are hanging thick from the trees.

Most interesting of the guests this weekend was a lady who does "automatic writing"- and at 1 a.m. last night got some rather interesting results.

Although not sleuthing in a historic fact-finding way- I always find the forays into the paranormal by our guests often fascinating. Abby "told" us that she was poisoned, and to let her sister know that is why she was sick, and especially wanted us to know that Lizzie lied about where she said she was at the times of the murders, and later told Uncle John a big fat fib. When asked the pressing question we ALL want to know, we "lost" Abby when Uncle John made a sudden appearance on paper. This was a first for the house and automatic writing- which was quite a hot pursuit in Victorian times and was much espoused by the poet Yeats, although dismissed by WH Auden. With the cool night, billowing curtains and clouds scudding by St. Mary's steeple, it was a memorable evening! Next weekend a troop of boy scouts will be spending the night, or perhaps I mean a den

[Shelley]

It was a mixed weekend in Fall River of sunshine, wind and rain. Friday was cool and windy with Ernesto sending threatening gusts. I met by chance Forum poster Jeff M. from Somerset while at Oak Grove and we had a good time talking about our favorite topic. It was good to have a nurse as a guest this weekend -learned a lot of pertinent medical things. Tonight 20 boy scouts will be spending the night at 92 Second. Good luck Ben!
Torrential rains today gave way to some pale sun late in the day, but all in all Ernesto gave Fall River the miss.

[snokkums]

That is a really cool list. It's really cool to see when things came out.

[Shelley]

It's always fascinating to see what events and what things were around at the time of our focal point of interest.

This weekend was a revelation on several counts at the house. The night time house tour for guests is at 8 p.m., with usually between 6-20 people on tour. Saturday night I had a nice group of 12, - 3 older ladies, all sisters, who had attended Hollywood High, and knew all about the Dahlia case, a charming man from Texas who had read a good deal about the Borden affair, a Mom and two peppy teen daughters, 3 gals from my old hometown in Maryland, and a young couple. It is always illuminating to get fresh points of view from people from all walks of life. Every guide does their own tour version. I like to involve the guests by actually walking through the homicides, and listening and watching for sounds, sights, etc. We begin with Andrew's return home, all that we know which was said and done, and then the discovery of Abby's body upstairs, in the sequence for which we have documentation.

After the guests are assembled in the guestroom, we then postulate how Abby's murder might have unfolded. Armed this week with the fresh understanding of the left ear flap with rear skin hinge information, I always ask for "volunteers" to walk through various possibilities. I never need to ask twice! I think there is nothing like visual re-creation to stimulate conversation and speculation. So, with one of the teen daughters filling in for Abby, and the pretty young gal who was there with her boyfriend as "the murderer", we went, slow-motion through the sequence. Yes, it is very clear how Abby may have turned slightly towards her attacker, not having been suspicious of the person and her guard down. It is an easy shot with the hatchet to the left ear (although the most natural motion is to strike ACROSS to the right ear when you are facing someone and you are right-handed). Aiming for the left side of the victim's head while the attacker is facing takes a little more thought and control. Try it at home with someone.

But what followed was an absolute showstopper for me. The gal playing the murderer, when I suggested straddling the fallen body (from my corner of the room), in one fluid motion, followed "Abby" right down to the floor, sat on her back and continued the attack without missing a beat. This has never happened in the 8 years I have taken hundreds of people on this same tour. It looked like the most natural thing in the world. If Abby had not died on the first cut to her ear, this would also have kept her pinned right to the floor, unable to get away across the bed, and what's more, it made the continuing blows so much easier!

Having a bad back and creaking knees myself, I have always just bent over the body at a rather unwieldy angle like a jack knife, and given the remaining 18 blows. But Lizzie was 32, had good knees- and wow- does this ever look reasonable! Try it at home with a willing participant. Always a new slant....

[Shelley]

God bless the guests for stating the obvious, so obvious that I have missed it for 13 years of Bordenmania.

While we were discussing where Lizzie was when Andrew came home (top of the stairs or kitchen), one of the dear sisters touring, turned her head to one side, blinked and said "Well, that's easy, Lizzie had not had the benefit of hearing all Bridget had said to the police when she gave her version". Naturally Lizzie would not want to be so near the dead body of Abby. So once again, as in Abby's murder, she thought it was safe to say she was "in the kitchen". What she could not have known (since she was upstairs) is that her father had tried to get in the kitchen door, could not, then had to go through the front. I have always believed Bridget's claim that Lizzie laughed at the top of the stairs at her dilemma with the door. Had Lizzie known Bridget was going to say this, and had she known her father had tried the kitchen door, I bet she never would have tried that story about being in the kitchen when her father came home. She would have seen or heard him, and visa versa. She could have said she was in the sitting room or parlor.

[Kat]

It's true Lizzie could not know what Bridget would say at the inquest.
We still don't know what Bridget said at the inquest. And after her testimony she did not go back to Second Street so Lizzie still did not know.
(See Hatchet August/September 2005, pages 32-33, by Moi).

We also don't have a witness that saw Andrew attempt to enter the house by the side door.

It's cool that you guys did a run-through. If Abby saw the blade coming down might she have begun to turn away and cause the blow to be more naturally to her left?
Anyway, I think you earlier exclaimed that you might aim for the forehead or between the eyes, so a slight sway away from an impact, by the victim, might result in a left side slice?

[Shelley]

I remember reading someone did see Andrew coming back down what is now the driveway and going around the corner to the front. Was it Mrs. Churchill? I know I have read this somewhere. It also makes sense- Andrew expected 3 women to be at home, and surely one of them was in the house.

I think the left ear slice is neatly explained by the turn away indeed. What I am really fascinated by is the scenario where Abby's body is pinned down by the killer literally straddling the body sitting on her back. My jaw just dropped when that gal did that- it was a revelation to me. If you could see it you'd probably say "Why yes- it makes perfect sense!". I imagine the killer would, in that position get blood on the front from the waist up easily.
We do a run-through every weekend, so I have seen hundreds and from time to time play the victim and the killer(observer is best)- but never one like this one.

[Kat]

The only person who saw Andrew at the front door outside was Mrs. Dr. Kelly. Yes you are correct that he was seen, but he was seen as if coming around the corner of the house.
He was not seen at the side door at all.
Remember that story that ended with that quip that Mrs. Kelly was the last to see Mr. Borden alive and the answer was *The last but one?*

Prelim
209
Mrs. Dr. Kelly
Q. Did you see Mr. Borden that morning?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Where was he when you saw him first?
A. He was coming around his house, going towards the front door.
Q. Coming around in his yard?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Going towards his front door?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Did you see him go up the steps?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. What did you see him doing, if anything, when he got up the steps?
A. I thought he was trying to put the key in the door. I thought he was trying to open the door.
...
Jennings' Cross Exam:
211
Q. When you came out of the house, where was Mr. Borden when you first saw him?
A. Coming around the corner of his house, farthest away from mine in front.
Q. Coming around from the north side of the house?
A. I do not know the points, from the side the back door is on.
Q. That would be the north side of the house. Second street runs north and south?
A. I believe it does.
Q. He was coming around that side of the house?
A. Yes Sir, the side the barn is on.
Q. You first saw him as he came around the corner?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. He went up on the steps?
A. Yes Sir, the front door steps.
Q. And came towards you?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. You were coming down the street, and he was coming in the opposite direction, towards his front door?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Where were you when he got upon the door step?
A. Just about opposite the steps on the sidewalk.
Q. Did you speak to him?
A. No Sir.

[Kat]

BTW: Mrs. Churchill DID see Andrew outside on the side of the house around 9 am.

[Shelley]

This past weekend's re-enactment was a repeat of last weekend. Amazing to see it twice in a row after never seeing it before. A young gal of about 29 was our "killer". The Abby of the night heard her attacker come up the staircase almost immediately when the killer started up the stairs. The killer comes into view about half way up the steps from the stance next to the bed. Once again, without any prior knowledge of last weekend, the killer straddled Abby on her back, pinning her to the floor and administered 18 more whacks with great precision. It is actually far easier to deliver blows from that position that it is to stand up over the body and bend over.

It occurs to me how accustomed to this sort of position women actually are-it may be something anatomical, this sort of ease in squatting, straddling, etc. In the years of doing these night tours, I always hand the hatchet to a woman-as I believe this was the gender of the killer. I think it is time to see what a MAN would do in identical circumstances and start collecting some data to see if any pattern emerges. Stay tuned- hopefully there will be a man this weekend! Last weekend we had 9 women and one man (who obliged as Andrew).

[Oscar]

Shelley, I thought you only did re-enactments on the anniversary, I didn't realize you also did them for/with overnight guests. Of Course, when I stayed, there were only two adults staying in the house besides Lee-ann.

So you think a woman might have done the killling eh?

[Shelley]

I am the only night guide who does re-enactments. I find the guests prefer to be involved. We begin the action on Tuesday August 2nd and progress through the sequence of events, as closely as we can based on known material. The costumed re-enactment is on August 4th, with all the staff taking part. I learn a lot by seeing how people work it out.
They learn a lot and come up with great ideas by observing and putting themselves in the positions of killer and victim. I am told none of the night guides approach the tour in the same way- which is a good thing. I believe in trying things out.

I learned Friday that the easiest way for Abby to have gotten that left ear flap wound is to have had her back to the killer, then, pivoted to her left to see what was coming from behind!

And yes- I feel pretty certain a woman did the killing......

[RayS]

This past weekend's re-enactment was a repeat of last weekend. Amazing to see it twice in a row after never seeing it before. A young gal of about 29 was our "killer". The Abby of the night heard her attacker come up the staircase almost immediately when the killer started up the stairs. The killer comes into view about half way up the steps from the stance next to the bed. Once again, without any prior knowledge of last weekend, the killer straddled Abby on her back, pinning her to the floor and administered 18 more whacks with great precision. It is actually far easier to deliver blows from that position that it is to stand up over the body and bend over.
...

But what would anyone hear when the intruder was waiting in the guest bedroom?
The simplest solution is the best.

[RayS]

...
I learned Friday that the easiest way for Abby to have gotten that left ear flap wound is to have had her back to the killer, then, pivoted to her left to see what was coming from behind!

And yes- I feel pretty certain a woman did the killing......

That opinion goes against the grain of known true crime stories.

[Shelley]

Come on up to Fall River, Ray and fill in for Abby- you will see how very easy it is to explain that Abby might have turned her head to the left OR the right. One has to explain how the skin flap hinge is in the back. It is an alternative to facing straight on. Don't take MY word for it- grab a willing partner, pick up an axe and try it yourself. I don't make this stuff up for fun. Actually striking diagonally is easier than striking straight. Try it.

[Shelley]

"But what would anyone hear when the intruder was waiting in the guest bedroom? "
The simplest solution is the best.
Well -uh, NOTHING if the "intruder" which I take it to mean Billy Borden, was quiet. I suspect the only thing we are ever going to agree upon, Ray, is your last sentence- yes, The simplest solution is the best. Amen to that.

[Kat]

If Abbie was killed near 9 o'clock in that room, Andrew could still have been home then. So too could have been Uncle John.
Then there would be no need for the *secret visitor* to wait, hiding in the guest room- there was Andrew with no set plan on going downtown that morning. There could have been a talk then and there.

[Oscar]

Shelley, You said your mind still wanders when you stay overnight in the house. I was wondering how well you sleep there after all these years. I found I couldn't sleep without the light on. There was just too much mental stimulation for me to deal with, the excitement of being in that house and all that I associate with it. Also Lee-Ann warned me to keep an eye on the rocking chair in Bridget's room. I kept my suit case on it to keep it occupied!

[Kat]

I would have put that rocker in the hall!
I have had experience with rockers!

[Shelley]

It takes a while to get to sleep, but once I do, I am dead to the world! I avoid the guestroom-never being able to close my eyes in there at night. My favorite rooms are Emma's and Abby's old dressing room-they are small and secure and I can close the door. I DO take out that dress mannequin in Emma's after waking up one night in the dark and seeing that thing looming over me!

When I am alone with the guests, I guess I am always listening out for things, "sleeping with one eye open"and never go to bed without all the guests down for the night. (which is usually 1 or 2 in the morning) When LeeAnn is there I sleep like a rock, usually in the Jennings room on the third floor. Last weekend was the first time I was alone on the third floor at night- and I had a good time imagining Bridget's life as I lay under that crucifix on the wall over the headboard..

Yes! I had a talk with that rocking chair and will admit that at dawn with a streak of bright red sunlight burning through the lace curtain, I had a look in the corner to make sure that rocker had not moved during the night! I also must have a small nightlight on-nothing can getcha with a light on under the covers!

[Oscar]

Well Kat, I'm just glad there wasn't a toy clown in the room, like in Poltergeist!:lol:

[Angel]

[quote="Shelley @ Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:11 am"] I DO take out that dress mannequin in Emma's after waking up one night in the dark and seeing that thing looming over me!/quote]

You're kidding me?!!! That would have done me in for sure. I never put much stock in things like that, but last Friday our group went on another ghost hunt in Harpers Ferry and something weird like that happened. One of the women had a name tag (the head of the group makes name tags for us so that the National Park Service officers know what we're doing when we're walking about) attached to her coat. She remember having it when we walked across one area, but then later she noticed it was gone. We found it later, placed carefully on a brick wall far away from where she had been. No one (alive, that is) had been anywhere near the wall to have found it and placed it there. Sort of spooked us all.

[Shelley]

OOOOO. Creepy. This weekend the Haunted University (Ghostbusters) will be renting the whole house- should be good for a few screams and goosebumps.

[Jeff]

Now I don't believe in ghosts or all the phsycic phenomenon. I am into the historic aspect of the whole thing, but I must admit I may have a tough time getting to sleep when I stay over at Lizzie's and may keep
an eye open. I am going to have that portrait of Andrew overlooking me
as i sleep in the same spot Andrew did.

[Shelley]

Naw, it is not my cuppa either Jeff, but I must admit one night while in the Borden's bed, we had a thunderstorm and the power went out. The flashes of lightening across Andrew's stern mug gave me - er..pause! Two weeks ago it was dark and I was alone in the sitting room reading- all guests were out, and I heard distinctly the clinking of dishes in the kitchen which went on for some time. Did I get up and look? NO! Also I hear footsteps on the floor above when nobody is up there- and down the front staircase- so... make of that what you will. Personally I do not want to see anything!

[Oscar]

I don't exactly live to tell ghost stories and the like, but when I stayed in Bridget's room I went over and pulled the shade down on the window. When I returned to the room later, the shade was back up in the same spot it had been before. This happened twice the night I stayed there.

I'm know LeeAnn enjoys talking with guest about all the ghostly things that go on. She likes to talk about the Bordens as if they are there in the room with you. Andrew, apparenlty, doesn't like it when people talk about him, he becomes very angry.

[Shelley]

Yes, one often gets the feeling that the Bordens are still around! I find myself talking to Bridget and Abby sometimes. (Don't tell anybody or the men with nets will come from Taunton).

[shakiboo]

I was wondering if a woman born and raised as Lizzie was, in a time when women acted as woman would find going down on her knee's to straddle someone as comfortable and natural as a woman born and raised in our time......what do you think? woman are raised differently today, they are involved in alot more physicle activities, they dress more comfortably in slack etc. was the girl wearing an ankle lengthed dress or a pair of jeans?

[Shelley]

Oh I suspect in a moment of rage and murderous frenzy, any woman of any century would not give a thought to propriety, whether in a corset, bikini or floorlength skirt. Actually the bell or morning glory skirt of the 1890's was extremely practical, gave ample striding and leg movement room and was a boon to the increasingly active late century woman. Then came the hobble skirts of 1911 which all but rendered a woman helpless.

[Shelley]

The popular bell skirt 1890's circular wide bottom. Gored skirts were also popular with 3,5,7, or 9 panels, narrow at the top to fit smooth over the hips and very wide at the bottom , forming a circle when assembled.

[Shelley]

A typical walking skirt for country or at home 1892

[Shelley]

The charming demi-trained skirt which Mr. Harrington so lovingly describes on Lizzie's pink and white -striped wrapper.

[Shelley]

A 1892 cycling fashion plate

[Kat]

Thanks for the pictures!

I think it's a question to be considered, but I agree with Shelley- and I see Lizzie at least- as a kind of tom-boy. I suppose because she liked to fish and *camp*- although I think the *camping* done at Dr. Handy's cottage was more like sleeping all in one room?

[Angel]

I agree- if one has reached such a state of frenzy that one is chopping someone else to bits, the last thing on one's mind would be if she should be poised in a certain lady-like way. Murder isn't too lady-like.

[Oscar]

Well, if Lizzie did do it, was directly involved in the assaults, I can only think that she must have had help subduing Abby in some way. Uncle John or some other party probably had a hand it.

I don't know about Andrew, but how could Lizzie have cleaned up and concealed her guilt so well, with no trace of blood and no found weapon?

[Shelley]

Picture a 64 year old, not physically fit, heavy woman, totally unaware of what was about to happen. Then, picture a figure familiar to the victim with a concealed weapon entering the room, continuing a heated disagreement begun downstairs moments before.

Then quite unexpectedly (on the part of the victim), a blow is struck to the left side of the head, stunning the aged woman. There is no exit- too stunned to crawl across the bed to flee out the only door to escape, the old lady gasps to make sense of what was happening. . Staggering and collapsing to the floor, the vigorous young assailant continues the onslaught without missing a beat- pushing the hapless old lady down and pinning her flat on her face as a rain of blows continue from the relentless weapon slicing through the air.

At last, rage spent, the killer- breathless with pulse pounding, sits back and observes the work. Surprisingly an inner peace rises within the murderer at the removal of the hated object-at long last. Standing up, surveying the carnage on the floor, the killer regains breath and composure, thinking what to do next. There are splatters of blood on the killer's garment necessitating a change of clothing -there is plenty of time to walk the few steps to the clothing closet, remove and hide the incriminating garment, wash one's hands, smooth every hair into place, conceal the instrument of death.

Sitting down by the stove, soothingly rocking gently, the killer wonders if this had all been a dream- was it imagined, -someone else must have done it. In the safe warm familiarity of the kitchen with the smell of coffee and cookies, -all the reassuring sounds and smells of every day life, surely the killer was safe here. Nobody would believe such a deed could be done by anyone but an intruder- a man- a maniac- an enemy. Stick to what was simple and familiar, and plan a way to destroy the garment at the first opportunity. Let someone else discover the horror upstairs.

That's my take on it Oscar!

[Angel]

Excellent!

Then, imagine Lizzie, thinking she had time to put on her hat and get out of the house so she could be seen shopping in town, having her adrenaline shoot up through the roof again when Pop comes into the house too soon. Now a frenzied new plan has to be whipped up immediately with no time to cover any holes in the story.

No wonder she seemed detached afterwards. She must have been totally exhausted from the two surges and come down from the "fright and flight" thing her body must have gone through.

[Shelley]

Yes, I imagine after the initial realization of the deed had sunk in, then came the deliberate calculating on what to do next. I do not believe anyone premediates a hatchet killing calmly beforehand. That was spontaneous, and some fast peddling had to come after to cover the tracks. I see Lizzie checking the clock, making certain of Bridget's whereabouts, -then the cunning begins.

Thinking like the killer-maybe it goes something like this, : It would be best not to be in the house when the body is discovered. Where to say I have been? Everyone knows I like shopping, like going to the stores. And there is a sale today.....I should change to go out, get my downtown dress on, hat and gloves. Arrange to slip out when Bridget is not observing- that way she will never know when I left the house. Father will come home and find her upstairs and think it was a burglary or some enemy looking for him and being discovered by Mrs. B.

Coming down the front stairs in order to slip out the front, then lock the door behind me.... suddenly a knock and Bridget runs to the front door. Too late! Father is home, and the gig is up. How to keep him from looking for Abby? A note has arrived and she is out. Buying time to figure out what to do next-but not much time. Soon John will be back, Father will be looking for dinner. Father will KNOW. If he finds Abby he will KNOW who has been inside all morning with her. . I probably will not hang, but be put away for life in Taunton asylum as criminally insane. Father must die- regretful, but there it is. Trying to get Bridget to go downtown to that sale which would have been my alibi fails, but she is only too willing to go lie down a while- not long.

Death comes with lightening speed to Andrew as soon as the coast is clear. Blissfully unaware of what is to happen, he is defenseless with eyes closed. This time the killer is wise enough to cover her clothing. Like a cornered rat the killer strikes again- this time it is self preservation. Peeling off the victim's coat, and returning it to the arm of the sofa, the killer sinks down on the diningroom lounge a moment, as the blood seeps into the black jacket near the battered head. Trembling and shaken, the murderer, goes to the sinkroom in the kitchen where her father had brushed his teeth just that morning. She smooths a damp strand of hair into place, washes and dries her hands. After regaining her composure she steps two paces to the back stairs and calls down for Bridget.

While Bridget is gone for the doctor, Lizzie, carrying the now-washed murder weapon, slips down the cellar and conceals the weapon in the pail of soaking napkins in the washroom. It takes but a moment-then she returns to the doorway where she is spotted by Mrs. Churchill.

So there's that possibility. Now here's another corker. Just suppose Emma had been quietly poisoning the old folks all along, goes away, thinking Lizzie was still going to be away another week when the fatal dose would have been consumed=they both would have been gone from the house some time . Did Abby and Andrew take any medications daily? Was the medicine chest examined, castor oil, patent tonics? Then, Abby blabs to Dr. Bowen about poison, Lizzie panics and thinks she and Emma will be exposed-and takes matters into her own swift and sure hands! I don't much buy into that incest scenario, but Emma was just the right age and personality for a victim- more so than Lizzie, when their real mother died.

So many possibilities.

[shakiboo]

wow Shelley, you should be a writer!!! That was so clear I could see it in my head! (goosebumps!) If Knowlton had painted that clear a picture, she'd have probably hung!

[Oscar]

Great ideas Shelley. Your writing is very good and descriptive. I'm not sure what to respond with. It' all sounds possible. I'll wait for Ray S's response...