Planned or Not

[Inspector]

When considering the Borden murderer , I’ve felt the lack of blood being trailed and smudged through the house or stairways, must show planning.
However, if it was Lizzie, and she couldn’t procure the Prussic Acid, then there wasn’t much time to plan, unless she had previously worked on a plan B.

Both Abby and Andrew were in areas that show the murder might have employed stealth, but leaves the question of planning to be pondered .

In the past I thought the lack of any substantial blood on Lizzie was not a big deal (easily accomplished,) but now I try and factor in the planning aspect, only to be again amazed at how this could have been done so well.

If Lizzie was guilty, did she have a plan B, manufactured in only a 24 hour timeframe after not getting the poison?

If she didn’t, then she had to of had a stressful Wednesday evening, and is a masterful planner, or …,

[camgarsky4]

I don't think she slept a wink that night.

1. The poisoning plan blew up around 10:30
2. Lizzie visited Alice that evening and shared her anxiety that her father and possibly herself were in danger of unknown enemies.

Seems to fit the timeline if Lizzie decided to proceed using violence (new shiny hatchet) after the prussic acid rejection and before visiting Alice.

Probably thought thru a zillion scenarios all thru the night.

[Lorcan]

I think Camgarsky is correct that poison was the plan until Wednesday.

As for no blood trails, I think that was either handled by the mystery bucket of bloody rags, or simply wrapping the hatchet in a towel or other cloth, like an apron.

One of the authors has a theory that the poison idea might have been percolating all the way back to Lizzie's interest in drab green paint and the very poisonous additive to change that paint from Emerald to Drab. So, if you asked me did Lizzie fantasize about killing Abby for quite a while, I'd say probably. Did she have a plan for prussic acid? Very likely. Did she have a comprehensive master plan, in detail, of how to carry out the hatchet murders, I think the evidence is overwhelmingly no, not to the extent that she planned a consistent, plausible alibi for it, because obviously she did not.

I'm undecided as to whether she planned to kill Andrew prior to Andrew coming home. I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt, that she wanted Bridget to finish the inside windows and convince her to go shopping, then Lizzie could stage evidence of a break-in, leave, and come back home from shopping to a crime scene with a plausible alibi.

[Inspector]

I don’t think we’re too far off from each other.