Investigative Improv

[Inspector]

There was so much varied testimony in the trial that one would have to be quite intelligent to put it all together chronologically. and utilize it in a meaningful way using memory alone.
Chalk boards would be a good visual aid, especially for the prosecution. It’s still amazing how Lizzie was practically on top of both crimes, yet saw nothing.

[Lorcan]

I found a map that shows the Borden farms in Swansea and I notice a lot of familiar surnames on the map. The original is somewhat cropped, so if someone has a complete original, I can try to apply the same enhancements on it. This actually was AI but with very specific instructions to be careful and check its work. If you see any mistakes, please note them. I don't want to post faulty content, but in this case, I think by including the original and the enhanced one and since it is relatively simple data, it might be a net positive without adding AI slop to the forum.

[camgarsky4]

Is that snippet all you've got? I can get you a larger view or possibly a link to the entire map. Stay tuned....

AJB's farm that Morse visited is on this same map, would be on up the road at the top right of snippet where a cemetery is labelled.

[Lorcan]

Yes, I grabbed that original - as is - cropped, from somewhere on this forum. If you send a fuller version I can try the same technique to clean it up.

[Inspector]

That would be great to have for all the areas around Second Street and downtown too. Visualizing where all the key locations of witnesses and businesses are on a map would really help folks understand the case better.

[Lorcan]

Same warning as last time. The original and the AI version are included. I tried to make it as accurate as I can, but if there are errors please point them out. I won't make a habit of posting any AI content, but this is a special case where I think it might be more helpful than harmful. If moderators want to blanket ban AI content I wouldn't be offended. I offer this as a use at your own risk. Mistakes might have been made.

Yep - Durfee Street is rendered as Coffee Street. I think the general locations are pretty good, but AI is absolutely awful at reading text on images, so a few streets might have been hallucinated. I think it still might be more helpful than harmful, so I won't delete the post.

[Lorcan]

To give you a little bit more on the closeness of everything - the 3 photos are of Andrew Jennings house, Rev. Buck's house, where Emma moved immediately after moving out of Maplecroft, and Jenning's house from Buck's house.

So, if you walk out of Rev. Buck's house door, turn left (north) on June Street, you'll see the Jenning's mansion just 2 or 3 doors down. It's on the corner of June and French Street. If you then take a right from Jenning's house and go East up the hill of French Street, within 3/10ths of a mile, you'd be back at Maplecroft.

The map is a walk from where Lizzie was born on 12 Ferry St., to the Second Street Borden house, to Maplecroft, then to Oak Grove Cemetery. Just over two miles in total.

[Inspector]

That’s great Lorcan, Some of the other main properties in the case will be easier to visualize with this map. Like Halls, Bowen, Churchill etc…
Thanks for posting.
I don’t mind AI as long as I’m warned about it..lol

[Inspector]

The map has already helped me, I thought the Whitehead residence was more north, and also it’s easier to visualize Turner st, and Harrington.
Interesting that old Dr Handy is in the middle.

[Lorcan]

ok, we might need Camgarsky or others on this one, but here is the original Whitehead house that I believe was physically moved to the back of the lot on what is now the corner of Spring and 4th Street. The larger house in front was built later.

It is interesting that the general size and shape of the small, original Whitehead house is so similar to the Borden house and the new one is so similar in size and shape to Maplecroft.

The other house with the two porches is the Emery house on Weybossett Street.

The map is the short walk to the Whitehead house - not sure if there was a cut-through - I think there was because the Crowe yard testimony talks about getting through an ungated opening between the Crowe and Kelly properties. Perhaps Spring Street was extended at some point as well.

The footprint of where Alice Russell was living at the time of the murders is now where the bushes are in the upper right of the map. I put her name roughly where that house was. Alice Russell used to live at the Kelly house next door to the south of the Borden house and I assume that's when she became friends with Emma and Lizzie.

[Inspector]

That is interesting how the houses look similar , The Emery house even has the side door and steps

[camgarsky4]

Spring Street from Second to Fifth Streets was extended years after the murders. Rodman Street (or Borden Street) would have been the street taken if walking from the Borden's to the Whiteheads in 1892.

[Lorcan]

If anyone is curious, that would be 2/10ths of a mile via Borden Street and 3/10ths of a mile via Rodman Street.

[camgarsky4]

What are you thinking?

[Lorcan]

I was just thinking of how close those houses are and how after almost 3 years, Bridget wasn't sure the exact houses. I think it shows a bit that as much as I think Bridget would grow to become a friend of all those women, that class divide appears to have been a canyon in some ways.

Bridget / Alice Russell — she knew generally, but first went to the wrong house.
Trial, Vol. I, Bridget Sullivan direct, pp. 245–246. Bridget says Lizzie asked if she knew where Miss Russell lived; Bridget answered yes, but then she first went to “the corner house” and learned Miss Russell was not there:
“She wanted to know if I knew where Miss Russell lived, and I says, ‘Yes.’ She says, ‘Go and get her. I can’t be alone in the house.’ …
Q. Where did you first go to get Miss Russell?
A. I went in the corner house, the corner of Second and Borden street. …
Q. You learned that Miss Russell was not there?
A. Yes, she was not there. …
Q. You learned where Miss Russell lived from some one?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did you go?
A. She lived on Borden street.
Q. In the little cottage house next the baker shop?
A. Yes, sir.”


Trial, Vol. I, Bridget Sullivan direct, pp. 247–248. The first form:
“Oh,” I says, “Lizzie if I knew where Mrs. Whitehead was I would go and see if Mrs. Borden was there and tell her that Mr. Borden was very sick.”

“I said, ‘Miss Lizzie, if I knew where Mrs. Whitehead’s was I would go and see if Mrs. Borden is there.’
She said, ‘Maggie, I am almost positive I heard her coming in,’ she said, ‘I am sure she is up stairs.’
I said, ‘I am not going up again.’”

There is also a Preliminary Hearing row/cell C11254, where Bridget says:
“I said I would go over to Mrs. Whitehead’s… I said I would go over there, if I knew where the house was.”

[Lorcan]

Too late to edit it, but what I meant to say above is:

I think it shows a bit that as much as I [would like to ] think Bridget would grow to become a friend of all those women, that class divide appears to have been a canyon in some ways.

I have heard many different explanations of why Bridget was called Maggie.

1. The worst case: It was Emma and Lizzie being complete $%^$%^ about it.

2. The middle case: It was common to call our domestic, our Maggie, as a position title, not a personal name (that is hard to believe, since she was addressed directly, not just talked about as "our Maggie" when an outsider wouldn't know who they were talking about if they just said Bridget.

3. The absurd case: Lizzie and Emma couldn't be bothered to learn her name. 0% probability of this - I don't know why people say this.

4. The unlikely nicer case: There was a comic (I'll attach it) that used the term "Bridget" as a degrading term in the way that many of us might think "Maggie" was being used - to define her by her position rather than as an equal human being. If this were the case, they might use Maggie to outsiders, but Bridget when addressing her directly, which they apparently did not do.

5. Unfortunately, I think the most likely is that Emma and Lizzie were just emphasizing their difference in class by addressing her by her position. They were grown women who were not in charge of their own house and family, so the only one that they could be above in the social hierarchy was the hired help.

[camgarsky4]

I agree. Throughout history, society has come to accept terms to call other different people whom we usually view as a lower level' than ourselves. This was a example. As these two cartoons demonstrate, "Bridget" was often used as a another common name for Irish domestic servants, just like Maggie. Sort of ironic.

[Inspector]

What did Andrew mean by the term “Dr Handy style?”
According to Alice, Lizzie told her that Andrew wasn’t happy about Dr Bowen’s unannounced visit Wednesday morning. Said he didn’t want Bowen coming over Dr Handy style.
Wheather he was upset or not, or wheather Andrew used the term or not, never mind.
I’m more concerned with what the term meant to Lizzie.
Was this a reference to Dr Benjamin Handy?

[Lorcan]

Alice Manley Russell’s written statement to William Henry Moody, dated June 2, 1893, in the Hosea M. Knowlton papers, catalogued by the Fall River Historical Society as HK212 / Object Identification No. 1989.056.212. FRHS describes it as a nine-page signed holograph statement about Alice’s conversation with Lizzie Borden.

A copy of it is on page 227-229 of The Knowlton Papers

“Mr. Borden said ‘well I don’t want him coming over here Dr. Handy style.’ Mrs. B. said he didn’t come over here Dr. Handy style.”

What I'm almost 100% sure was meant by that is Dr. Handy would show up for "house calls" without prior authorization and bill for them.

This behavior could range from checking in on an existing patient without a specific appointment pre-arranged all the way to something like a truly unsolicited house call when he heard someone with deep pockets had a sick family member. He likely went to the same church, barber shop, etc. with the deep pocket crowd. My intuition is he might have had a charming personality and genuinely took good care of his patients, so most of his wealthy patients would chalk it up to him honestly wanting to help, rather than just padding his bank account.

[Inspector]

I tend to agree. and with that. just one more coincidence in the case. Strange that an actual Dr Handy lived close by, and is a figure in the whole mess.
Some are very suspicious of him. Including myself.
I imagine the term “Dr Handy style “ was a common expression back those days.
I wonder if Lizzie used the term out of the same bag which contained:
—strange visitor
—Hiram Harrington
—figure seen run from house at night
—Benjamin Handy
In other words, a way of distancing. yet presenting other leads for the investigators.

[Lorcan]

This is pure conjecture, but I think Lizzie might have had these goals:

1. Show Andrew behaved in a way to generate enemies:
a. The story of denying a store
b. The story of how he treated Dr. Bowen
c. The group of stories to Alice

2. Show Lizzie was a loving, caring daughter:
a. The story to Hiram that was over the top in how much she attended to Andrew
b. Her testimony offering a slightly less over the top version, but still very attentive to making Andrew comfortable when he got home

[Inspector]

FYI: As I mentioned previously, Fleet and Mullaly both were told by Lizzie that she heard a visitor Thursday morning, not just Fleet.

Surprisingly, and perhaps more alarming is that Officer Charles Wilson verified that Lizzie told Fleet she last saw her mother in the guest chamber, making the bed about nine o’clock. (Trial, 637)

[camgarsky4]

I had forgotten that.....good reminder on Wilson's corroboration of a very 'eyebrow raising' comment by Lizzie.

I've always assumed, and still do, that 'Dr. Handy style' is referencing the Dr. Handy involved in the case. He probably at some point, billed the Borden's for something that Andrew felt was not requested or approved by the family. Another unprovable opinion (actually pure speculation), I've pondered whether Handy had a little crush on our Ms. Lizzie.

[Inspector]

I too thought there may be a connection, because I did a quick search on the term “Dr Handy style”, and didn’t find anything about it having a certain meaning.
Certainly Benjamin Handy had some curious activity and closeness to the case. I don’t think the police thoroughly considered some of his actions or words.

[Lorcan]

Shelly made a short video from Dr. Handy's Grave at Evergreen Cemetery in Marion. I have photos of the cottage in Marion. Let me resize and post them. Here's Shelly Dziedzic's video. Her book about all the dresses and her book about Oak Grove cemetery are both very good. She worked at the Borden house for 18 years, I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNzuH4OuLmM

[Lorcan]

OK, so apparently I photographed the building named Knowlton House and walked in between the two houses to get a view of the water - maybe someone can piece together exactly where everything was, but it's not a large area. There are a lot of private roads and I kind of felt like I was intruding but there was nobody in sight, so I took a couple of quick photos.

Here's is my research so far:

There appear to have been two Marion-related places, close in the same Marion waterfront / Old Landing orbit:

Dr. Benjamin J. Handy’s cottage
This is the cottage Lizzie was reportedly planning to visit. The witness statements say: “She was to spend her vacation at Dr. Handy’s cottage at Marion, with his daughter.” Modern Borden-history material places the site of Handy’s cottage close to the fishing pier and notes that the current building shown there is not the original.

The Knowlton Marion place
In 1892, Hosea and Sylvia Knowlton did not yet have the present Knowlton House at 283 Front Street. At the time of the trial they reportedly had a summer rental at 294 Front Street. They later built the present Knowlton House at 283 Front Street in 1900. The Massachusetts Historical Commission form confirms that 283 Front Street is the Hosea and Sylvia Knowlton House / Knowlton House, built in 1900, and says the Knowltons first rented 294 Front Street around 1890 before moving into 283 Front in 1900.

There were separate Marion places associated with Handy and Knowlton, and they were likely near each other in the small waterfront area; but the present “Knowlton House” was not standing during the 1892 murders/trial period. In 1892, the relevant Knowlton site was the 294 Front Street rental, not the later 283 Front Street Knowlton House.

[camgarsky4]

Here is the only known photo of Handy's 'cottage'. Published in the Hatch. Don't have the edition info readily available.
All known info about his home and vacation house are in that article.

click to enlarge

Screenshot 2026-06-30 031056.png

[Lorcan]

I heard back from the CEO of the company that made the ballistic dummy for the Smithsonian Channel show "The Curious Life and Death of..." season 1 episode 1. It turns out that this same company made the ballistic dummies for Forged in Fire, which we've extensively discussed. Dr. Stefani Koorey and Dr. Cara Robertson are both in this episode and it looks like part of it was filmed in Maplecroft.

Something really interesting came out of it and it actually backs up the controversial take I had from personal experience. If someone has had extensive experience growing up throwing baseballs, footballs, or other similar chained rotation games the force follows a rotational hinged whip motion - if right handed the left foot is driven into the ground and the hips rotate hard to the left as the right arm is moved as far back as it can go, then the torso twists to the left until the right pectoral and deltoid is at its limit, then the elbow is rotated along with the upper arm, followed at full extension by the forearm then the final snap of the wrist. I'll put some baseball illustrations to show the exaggerated motion I am referring to. ok keep this in mind and I will explain the rest in the next post.

[Lorcan]

Now, take a look at how the presenter, who was new to hatchet striking, and obviously not an experienced person at that motion (hammering, throwing overhand, tennis, etc.)

Do you see how even two-handed her motion interferes with itself and doesn't deliver the full rotational hinged whip motion?

Even so, she destroyed the skull.

The ceo said, "Hi Paul, We did a test 6 years ago. Dad got hit in the face, a much stronger area due to the pallet and the amount of bone. Mom got hit in the. back of the head. So it depends on which one you are studying. I also believe there is evidence that says the number of blows may have been exaggerated. The answer to your underlying question is that the resin we make the bone out of has the strength of an average human skull; however, it is resin, so it does not react exactly like live or green bone."

So, we have a bit more evidence, but crucially, we need a real police/fbi forensic expert to hear about living bone. I have those 3 outstanding emails out to forensic schools, but no answer yet.

Here's Doug (5' 6") from Forged in Fire - see the baseball type rotation (hips, elbow forward, wrist cocked, etc.)

[Inspector]

Bump

[Inspector]

This is a stretch, but figured I’d run it passed ya’ll.
According to Emma, both her and Abby had gossamer rubber outside type waterproofs, but didn’t describe Lizzie’s as that type.
Her’s was plaid,brown and blue. Although all the waterproofs were accounted for —supposedly—, could the blue be a light blue or possibly white.
It sounds like the one found by Mr Libby.
Probably nothing, but strange.

[camgarsky4]

Libby reportedly found an apron, not a raincoat. Are you thinking it was misidentified?

Witness reports page 17.
Wednesday (August) 17. Called on Maurice Libby, from whom we got an old brown and white plaid apron
stained with blood. He found it in the yard adjoining his shop on Turner street. This we left in the office.

[Lorcan]

When we consider a raincoat or anything out of the ordinary we have to keep in mind several factors.

1. The first wound was face to face. The second wound was a partial miss to the head that hit her back just below the neck, presumably was she turned away from the attack and fell. All other wounds appear to be delivered as she was face down on the floor.

2. There was no scream loud enough to be heard.

3. There are no defensive wounds.

4. It is six steps from the door, around the bed to where Abby is.

5. There is a large mirror pointed directly at the door.

So, we have to ask ourselves:

1. If Abby was hit in the face by the hatchet and didn't have time to instinctually raise her arms nor scream who could have been in that bedroom with her and what could they have been wearing?

1a. Lizzie naked is out.
1b. Lizzie is a raincoat is out.
1c. Lizzie in a blue dress is in.
1d. Bridget in a dress is in.
1e. Any other plausible ideas?

[camgarsky4]

Theoretically, it could have been anyone that Abby wasn't afraid of, not limited to Bridget or Lizzie.

If a woman, that person could have had on an apron.

[Inspector]

You are correct, I was mixing descriptions, sorry about that.

[Lorcan]

Let's go through how many people on Earth could Abby have walk in on her in that bedroom, that morning, and it not put her on guard. It's an exceedingly small number. Remember that the bed was already made and she went upstairs to put pillowcases on. She would have heard anyone trying to get in via the front door. That staircase is an acoustic chimney. So, who could have shown up at the screen door and walk up those stairs unannounced? The proper thing would be for the guest to be offered a seat and refreshments and Abby notified of her guest so she didn't walk in disheveled from chores and unaware. The logistics are pretty daunting for anyone other than Lizzie or Bridget when we really think through the time limits and the social norms.

What I'm getting at is Lizzie was in the kitchen and dining room. Bridget was outside. The Kelly's maid was outside. Mrs. Churchill was a notorious curtain twitcher. We are left with Lizzie, Bridget or an extraordinarily lucky killer who was hiding during the whole time Abby was alone making the bed, remember 1892 bed making was beating the feather mattresses and smoothing with a stick. They let her go back downstairs and she came back up to put the pillowcases on. How would the killer know she would come back up alone to do that? The clothes press and Lizzie's door were locked. There is not hiding spot in the guest room except behind the open door. The stairs and landing are in full view. It's 6 steps to reach Abby from the doorway, 5 steps awkwardly from behind the door.

[Inspector]

Morse wouldn’t cause a scream IMO.

[Lorcan]

Leaving Morse's rather strong alibi aside, would a 6 ft tall able-bodied rancher and butcher, in a house with two potential witnesses to hear a scream use a hatchet from arms length on a small, near elderly, overweight woman? He could simply strangle her silently, with ease. Not swing wildly and create a potential bloodbath and the noise of her 200+ lbs hitting the floor. Strangling solves both problems.

The hatchet is a real problem - it is a weapon that would be used if the attacker wasn't confident they could silently kill. Not only is it messy, it was poory weilded (first two strikes were off target) and even after the target was stationary, several blows were very poorly aimed. Are those the blows of a butcher and rancher?

[Lorcan]

Inspector - don't take my pushback as personally aimed at you. I'm just trying to really think through the practicalities of the physical crime.

For instance - if it's a conspiracy, why so poorly planned and executed? If the goal is Abby dies first, why not have her attacked on the street next time she visits Mrs. Whitehead or goes shopping? A mugging, a shot from a passing carriage, a stab and run, etc.?

[camgarsky4]

FOREWARNING.....Rant about to commence.

Lorcan, this is not directed at you and is a bit off topic....but, Morse being referred to as a butcher has always 'scratched the chalkboard' for me. Its right there with Lizzie referred to as a "Sunday school teacher".

Indications are that Morse participated in the butcher business as an employee of the Davis family at least four decades prior to the murders. His role working for the Davis's may not have even included chopping up carcasses. He may have been the guy who cleaned up afterwards or hauled the meat to the market or shops. We don't know. He was likely in his early 20's and the murders happened when he was about 60. You will find it posted on this forum a couple dozen times that since 'he was a butcher' and they were bludgeoned to death, that makes him a prime candidate to be the killer. Nonsense.

Saying all this to make the point that his employment almost half a century prior most likely has nothing to do with the murders. Swinging a hatchet against someone's head doesn't take tremendous talent and practice. Which is pretty much what you are pointing out.

FYI. Lizzie had ceased being a Sunday School teacher when she left for Europe and chose not to reengage. I suppose its less sensational to refer to her as an ex-Sunday School teacher. Creates a slight reduction in the shock factor.

[Lorcan]

I can sympathize with the rant - and you're right, I was trying to make the opposite point. I think a 60 year old man who had a background in ranching and employment at a butcher shop, even long ago - heck, just a man of his era in general, at some point likely handled chopping and hammering instruments. Whether working around his farms or helping out with the Davis family, Morse strikes me as having considerable experience with hand-held 5lb or so 12 inch handled or so instruments. Hammers, hatchets, etc. Running two farms and being in the livestock business is hard manual labor at times.

Some of Abby's blows were so catastrophic as to render her certainly unconscious or worse, therefore stationary. When we look at the 17 head blows, many are erratic, glancing, and poorly aimed. A few are devastating and fatal, but too many are poorly aimed for me to think a man like John did it - especially when his alibi (his real, documented alibi, and Dr. Bowen's location as per the Jennings Journals) - and on top of that the practicalities of John getting back in a 2nd time for Andrew's murder, with or without a conspiracy. It's not like Morse was inconspicuous. He looked like Abe Lincoln.

[camgarsky4]

For instance - if it's a conspiracy, why so poorly planned and executed? If the goal is Abby dies first, why not have her attacked on the street next time she visits Mrs. Whitehead or goes shopping? A mugging, a shot from a passing carriage, a stab and run, etc.?

I'm not sure if you are being rhetorical or not. There are fairly straight forwards answers to your questions and scenarios.

1) It was 1892 and person-to-person communication outside of face-to-face was minimal. Coordination only as good as the most recent chat.
2) Conspiracy does not equal professional assassins.
3) A plan that starts to breakdown ends up seeming poorly planned and executed due to spur of the moment decisions and panic.
4) We can't know if the killer understood the necessity for Abby to die first.
5) A mugging likely requires constant surveillance and then acting publicly.
6) A shot from a passing carriage requires assurance of not missing or wounding and being identified. Carriages seemingly were recognizable like our cars.
7) Stab and run fits with the mugging challenge.
8) How easy would it have been to kill Andrew after his wife was killed, especially if it appears she was targeted.

The 'Lizzie is innocent' folks create a similar list highlighting how stupid Lizzie must have been to think she could get away with the crime, so she must not have done it. I think their list is just as easy to critique.

[Lorcan]

There were a lot of unspoken assumptions in my theoretical conspiracy. Here's what I was assuming in this fake conspiracy - as a thought exercise. Again, I was trying to make the opposite point by pointing out an implausible alternative, but I need to stop doing that because it's not clear I am trying to point out the unlikely alternatives to Lizzie working alone.

So, say Lizzie and potentially Emma are so dead set to make sure Abby doesn't inherit or control in any way a significant portion of Andrew's wealth upon his death. The triggering event is either some perceived or real legal change (wills, deeds, etc.) or a general, but increasing worry, Andrew will die first and Abby and Andrew's proven ability and willingness to make financial deals without the daughters' knowledge exacerbates the daughters' fears.

The goal becomes Abby dies first, and soon. What is the cleanest way to do it with solid alibis.

There are 2 choices, do it yourself or enlist someone to do it for you.

I wanted to explore the 2nd option, hire it out. I just listed some common ways a hired killer might do it where Emma and Lizzie could be elsewhere with witnesses.

I was trying to say a hired assassin would use one of those on the street methods or Lizzie and Emma would be out of the house with witnesses. So, no hired assassin.

Then we move on to conspiracy with Uncle John, but why would Lizzie leave herself without an alibi? So, that's out as well.

Camgarsky's suggestion is very plausible - there was a plan and it went south - and then it was improvisation for the rest of the morning. My question would be, can we piece together what the original plan might have been and what went wrong? Things like the bucket being left downstairs and Andrew coming home early, or Bridget refusing to go shopping, all might be hints.

If there was a Lizzie & Bridget conspiracy, I think they would have both left the house with evidence of a break in and taken the money out of Andrew's wallet.

Maybe I'm missing something else.

I'm working under the assumption that the only people who we know of with ANY reason to want Abby dead are Lizzie and Emma. The only other thing I can think of is did any of Abby's heirs think she was worth way more than she was and hurried along their inheritance? I know there are huge problems with this, but I don't think we've explored that possibility. Maybe they had faulty information and assumed Andrew didn't get her share, that she had her own will.

[camgarsky4]

Assuming Lizzie's involvement, I've always figured Andrew was intended to be dispatched in the afternoon, after Bridget left to go shopping or whatever. I've bought into the unproven supposition that Thursday afternoon's were Bridget's personal time.

[Lorcan]

I think all we know for sure is she was able to go out Wednesday night and it seemed normal that she could do personal shopping Thursday afternoon. My best guess would be she could go out after the evening meals were cleaned up. She likely had most, if not all, of Sunday off for religious reasons. Thursday afternoons off seems reasonable, but I don't see anything direct in the testimony.

From Google:
The Standard "Maid's Day Off" in the 1890s in late-Victorian America, the working conditions for domestic servants were grueling—often 14-hour days, six and a half days a week. However, to keep servants from quitting, mistresses adhered to a strict cultural norm regarding time off:The Weekday Afternoon: By far, the most traditional day for a domestic servant's afternoon off was Thursday.

The Sunday Rotation: Servants typically got every other Sunday off, or at least a half-day on Sunday. Because many domestic maids in New England at this time were Irish immigrants (like Bridget Sullivan), they were strictly granted time on Sunday mornings to attend Catholic Mass, returning to cook a lighter Sunday dinner.

[camgarsky4]

I've tended to interpret Lizzie's sharing the Sargent's sale info and encouraging Bridget to go and Bridget not saying something along the lines of "thank you for the extra time off offer" as implying Thursday afternoon.

Your google info matches up perfectly! Thanks for posting.

[Inspector]

Lorcan, I didn’t take anything personally.
I was addressing your comment on what other person on earth, and obviously that would be Morse.

Morse was in the sitting room when he last saw Abby and she may not have been aware that he had even left the house when she was upstairs.
Of coarse We have to trust Bridget and Lizzie’s testimony on exactly when or if Abby really came back down after making the bed, and if she really made the comments about going back up to put on the pillow slips.
That time frame is a little sketch for me because I wonder if Abby even came back down after making the bed.
I can see how Morse going back upstairs, making a comment of forgetfulness, hiding the weapon behind his back, and striking, could have been completed fast with Lizzie’s help in the cleaning to get Morse out of the house.

None of that should have caused Abby to be afraid or alarmed, since he slept in the guest room the previous night IMO.

I can see several scenarios where Morse kills Abby, but not Andrew, so that alone diminishes the chances of it being the truth.

I also trust the diligent research and tracking that Cam has done on Morse, and see not much point in my trivial theories, just speculation.

[camgarsky4]

Inspector - Keep poking on Morse...your theories are not 'trivial' until you are convinced he was or wasn't involved. I would love to be wrong about Morse and it turns out he adds some clever and devious flavoring to this story.

Off the cuff, I would think Lizzie would have preferred handling Abby versus her father, but to your point, the 'easiest' envisioning for Morse to be involved would require the flip of that...Morse killing Abby and Lizzie her father.

[Lorcan]

Inspector, I agree - Morse has got to be one of the top people to suspect.

PURE SPECULATION below, but sometimes thinking about a wild, implausible theory ends up inadvertently shaking the puzzle pieces enough to see something useful from a new angle.

I mentioned this a few posts ago, but does anyone know if Abby's heirs were thoroughly looked into? An innocent comment or even a humble silence by Abby in front of the wrong person - or even the plain old rumor mill without Abby's input - could have had one or more of Abby's heirs thinking she was personally worth a lot more money than she actually was?

If there was a psychopath in the half-sister's orbit, I could see them expediting Abby's inheritance and then maybe a year or two later, a tragic house fire and suddenly that psychopath inherits it all.

[Lorcan]

I found a bit of an article involving some of Abby's relatives:

New Bedford Evening Standard, Tuesday, August 9, 1892 Page 8
From Yesterday's Third Edition.
A HIRED ASSASSIN.
Belief of Murdered Mrs. Borden's
Brother-in-Law.
He Thinks Lizzie and Morse
Concocted the Plot.
Gives His Reasons for His Direct
Accusation.
[By Associated Press.]

Hartford, Ct., Aug. 8. --- George B. Fish, of this city, whose wife is the sister of the murdered Mrs.
Borden of Fall River, in a published interview says that he believes Lizzie Borden and J. V. Morse
concocted the deed and hired someone to do it.

Lizzie and Emma are step-daughters of the murdered woman and have never been on good terms
with her owing to trouble over the division of property left by the girl's mother to Mr. Borden who
gave it to the second wife instead of the girls. When asked what Lizzie's object would have been in
doing this, Mr. Fish replied: "Simply to get them out of the way. No one made any money out of it, nor
could they in any way by murdering the couple."

Mr. Morse was asked what he had to say in regard to this interview.
"Nothing at all. Mr. Jennings, our counsel, has advised me to have nothing to say for publication,"
he replied.

"But that directly implicates you and Miss Borden. Have you nothing to say to that?"
"You know as well as I do what grounds there are for such an absurd charge as that. It is entirely
unreasonable; that is all I will say."