I am once more participating in the April A To Z Blogging Challenge! For an explanation of this event, click here.
Today is the day of the great Theme Reveal, and I am eager to reveal mine. It is to be a mystery, and every day in April (except Sundays) I will describe a different suspect. Read on for further details!
WHO KILLED LORD CADBLISTER?
Introduction:
Unhappy Families
“Went down to the village today,” remarked Marge Bantree in her hearty voice. “Feeling is running high, I must say.” She looked significantly at Lord Cadblister, a sardonically sneering figure at the head of the table. The table at large had gone quiet at the word “village,” and the remnant of her remark rang out in the silence.
“Yes, Cadblister. Meant to have a talk with you about that after dinner,” said old Colonel Crabbit, eying Miss Bantree with a certain amount of disapproval in his glance.
“So you were going to badger me too, eh?” Snorted Lord Cadblister.
“Someone clearly has to,” replied the Colonel defiantly.
“Someone has. Lots of someones. Bally badgerers, everywhere I turn. Well, it won’t do any dashed good. I have made my decision.” Lord Cadblister looked around the table, his rheumy eyes shining with malice. “And it’s not the only decision I’ve made, either.” And he smiled unpleasantly.
“What do you mean, Uncle?” Asked the Hon. Percy Neville Bloater.
Lord Cadblister now turned his malevolent gaze upon the young man. “Ah!” He cried triumphantly. “What indeed? Well, I’ll tell you. Yes, yes I think I’ll tell you now. I was going to wait until tomorrow, make it a kind of Christmas present for you all, but as it has come up…” He rubbed his hands together and chuckled. “You see, I’m making some changes in my will. The estate is to some extent entailed-” and he glared at the empty seat at table where young Viscount Diddums, Lord Cadblister’s son and heir, ought to have been sitting, had not ‘business in town’ delayed his arrival, “but my private fortune will go… elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere?” Lady Cadblister shrieked this from the other end of the table. “To that- that-” and she found herself unable to say more.
“Yes, m’dear. To that- that-” Lord Cadblister’s tone was a cruel parody of his wife’s shrill cry. This was most embarrassing, for everyone at table knew exactly who was meant, but none was willing to admit this knowledge. Colonel Crabbit made a throat-clearing noise, Miss Bantree laughed heartily, Lady Cadblister let out a noisy sob, Aunt Theodolinda clutched her napkin in a claw-like hand, and the Hon. Percy Neville Bloater made a noise more suggestive of a horse than of one endowed with the divine gift of speech. As for young Lady Belinda, she rose to her feet, signaling to the women that they should withdraw. When this maneuver had been accomplished, Colonel Crabbit opened the subject of the village once more.
“Suppose you’re not going to attend tonight’s meeting, under th’ circumstances,” he remarked.
“Meeting? Meeting? What meeting?”
“It is to be held after evensong in the church. More or less an indignation meeting, I dare say.”
“You mean that the pathetic fools are going to try to find some way to stop me, don’t you? Well, well.” Another malevolent chuckle. “You know, Colonel, I think I will attend. After all, it is only fitting that the villagers be told where they stand. They’ll all be out on their ears come February, and there’s not a bally thing they can do about it.” Lord Cadblister stood up. “But if I am to be in good time, I must set out at once. Good evening, gentlemen.”
“But surely the Daimler could get you there in no time flat, sir,” said the Hon. Percy.
“Daimler? Daimler? Bah!” Cried Lord Cadblister. “My two feet will get me there quite well enough, thank you.” And he strode out of the room.
*
And Lord Cadblister did go to the meeting. There was no possible doubt about that the next day, when it became necessary for the police to trace Lord Cadblister’s movements. Why, everyone was there, from the village constable to the vicar to the old witch who almost never bestirred herself from her little cottage in Yeoman’s Woods nowadays. He hadn’t stayed long, but when he left, there was little reason to hang about. He’d efficiently and ruthlessly crushed all hope that he could be stopped. The meeting broke up two minutes after the church door had slammed behind Lord Cadblister. The villagers went out into the dark of a night without stars or moon, and silently went their separate ways. Some say they saw him, his figure bent against a sudden sharp wind, toiling up the lane towards Cadblister Hall.
But there is a place along the lane where the shadows lie thick, a place where tall trees have grown together into a kind of tunnel. And it was in this place that Lord Cadblister’s body was found the next morning, horribly murdered.
And now the question that runs like an electric current through the village is: Who Done It? Who knows more than they are willing to say? Who is telling lies?
Who indeed?
Perhaps, dear reader, you can spot the murderer. During the month of April, I shall write a different character sketch each day (except on Sundays). Each sketch will describe a villager or a member of the Cadblister household, focusing on his or her movements on the night of the crime, motive for killing Lord Cadblister, and other pertinent facts. I will try to make the thing fair-play, and I will certainly make it exciting and, I hope, amusing. With each sketch I hope to include a picture of the villager in question. I myself will (I hope) be dressing up as each villager, unless my friends and family agree to lend me their faces for some of the portraits. Anyway, that is my plan at the moment.
What a great idea! Can’t wait to follow along!
Thanks Veronica! Your A To Z looks interesting, too!
Can I say YES, PLEASE? This sounds like an amazing theme, and I a really excited to get to read more of your work!
Yay! Thanks Alex! Your A To Z (which will be all about Japan, which Alex is regretfully leaving after many years) looks like a winner, too!
Yay! Your posts were so much fun last time!
Hey Lori! Thank you! I can’t wait to read your Favorite Characters, Round 2- Round 1 was simply great!
Sounds like a great idea! Should be quite entertaining.
Thanks! Just looked at your blog, and yours looks fascinating, too- I am breathless with curiosity to see what on earth you do for Q!
Oh, this sounds like such much fun! What an inventive idea!
Hello P.T. Monster! I am interested in your theme as well- an alphabet of Lady Monsters! I will be moseying over to your blog regularly to meet your feminine fiends!
This is a fantastic idea, I can’t wait!
Hey Hannah! Your idea, too, is fan-tastic, and I am especially intrigued as I used to work at a comic book shop… and I can’t think of anyone to fit in with your LGBT+ theme… except for Apollo and The Midnighter… and… is that really it??? Hm… I can’t wait to see who you come up with!
Thanks! I adore Apollo and The Midnighter, so they’ll definitely be making an appearance veeeery soon. 😉
That’s cool you worked in a comic shop! I’d love to hear about that at some point, because my first comic shop was awesome but they went out of business a couple years ago and my experience as a ladyperson in other nearby comic shops has been lackluster.
Hannah- oh no! That is a shame! Ladyperson at comic book shop can be quite a strain, I know. I liked lots of things about the job- learning to play and demo Warhammer (to which I am now semi-addicted, but whatever- since I don’t actually have any time to play it, it is more of an occasional intense craving to play than anything else), reading comics, sorting the back-issues, talking to all the interesting people- but there are definite downsides, too.
That sounds fun! I just visited a new shop in Mississippi and it was delightful, so it’s definitely not every shop! 🙂
Oh, my goodness, this is the coolest idea I’ve heard.
Count me in 🙂
Hey Jazzfeathers! Thank you! I can’t wait to read your Roaring Twenties A To Z- will it be a single fictional piece? Total excitement!
Does seem like an interesting theme! It will be interesting too if people figure it out along the way who could be the murderer 🙂
betty
Hey Betty! Yes, I hope people do that, it will make things more fun! Thanks for stopping by!
I love your theme and I will definitely be back in April to read all your character sketches and try to solve the crime. I am delighted to meet another mystery writer/blogger participating in this challenge.
I am also hosting a mystery as part of my A to Z crime fiction theme. I will have prizes each week for solving daily clues and a grand prize for solving the mystery. I hope you will stop by in April. Best of luck with the challenge
http://fictiontoolbox.blogspot.com
Melissa- ooh! Your mystery looks great! Hooray! I am very pleased to meet you, fellow mystery writer/blogger! Are there any more of us, do you happen to know? We could make a list of mystery A To Z challengers, if so, and put it up on all our sites. Anyway, thanks for visiting, and I hope you come again. I will certainly be trying to solve your mystery 🙂
I’m intrigued! This sounds like a lot of fun. I like trying to solve these kind of things but I’m never really good at it. Lol.
Sarah from Scribbles and Shorts
Sarah- I almost never solve the mystery when I am reading one, and when I do solve it, I solve it by “cheating”- that is, I solve it through the conventions of the mystery genre, not by, like, actual clues or anything. I mean, if a guy is the romantic lead, he probably isn’t the murderer. That sort of thing. Anyway, thanks for stopping by! And I like your Scribbles!
Wonderful idea!! Looking forward to the delicious thickening of the plot.
Sorchia- I am glad you are looking forward to it! I can’t wait to thicken it, myself! I will mosey on over to your A To Z as soon as I can, and see what you are up to! Come again!
Fun! I love the format! Will be back for more clues 🙂
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary – Epics from A to Z
MopDog – The crazy thing about Hungarians…
Tarkabarka- great! Thanks for stopping by, and I will return your visit as soon as I can. Do come again! 🙂
You have hooked me, I will be back to figure out who done it.
http://www.findingeliza.com
Yay! Good luck, Kristin! And I will mosey over to your blog soon, to see what you’re up to over there.
What a wonderful idea! This is my first year in the challenge and I am amazed at some of the things I have found.
Thea- hello! Welcome! This is my second year of A To Z-ing, and it really is neat to see what everyone gets up to! I will visit your blog soon to see what you’ve decided on, and I hope you’ll visit here again!
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