The Setting:
Late 1920s Surrey, England.
The Victims:
Edmund Creighton Duff, Died April 27, 1928. Had fallen ill after going fishing and then eating supper on April 26. Originally ruled natural causes. Later found to be poisoned by arsenic.
Vera Sydney, Died February 16, 1929. Had fallen ill after eating lunch on the 14th. Later found to be poisoned by arsenic.
Violet Sydney, Died March 5, 1929. Had fallen ill after eating lunch. Was concerned about the abnormally gritty texture of her tonic prescribed by Dr. Nothing found to be wrong with tonic. Death ruled suspicious, either murder or suicide.
Background:
Violet Sydney was left a single mother after her husband abandoned her and her three children, Vera, Grace, and Thomas. Grace later married Edmund Creighton Duff, a man of many failed investments, and had four children. Thomas married Margaret, an educated American and had two children. Vera, Grace, and Thomas were left an inheritance from a wealthy aunt in the years preceding the murders. It has been alleged that Vera was the only sibling with any of the inheritance left just prior to the murders.
Possible Solutions:
The Mad Maid/cook- I doubt this as a likely outcome. She tried the soup that Vera had eaten and also gave some to the household pet. Both became ill and she threw it out.
Crazed Doc- It has been alleged that he developed a blood lust. There is no evidence for this.
Grace Sydney- Treated as the main suspect by the police for the rest of her life, Grace Sydney is an obvious suspect. Her husband had led them to ruin due to his bad investments. It has been alleged that Grace killed her husband to stop the bad investments. She then killed her sister in order inherit her money and limit the divide of the inheritance from their mother. Finally, she killed her mother in order to inherit her money. She could not kill Thomas, because the money would have gone to his wife and children and then she would have had to have killed all of them.
Thomas Sydney- Julian Fellowes, of Downton Abbey fame, believes that the most likely murderer is Thomas. He was a failed musician and was in desperate need of money. Fellowes alleges that his wife was about to leave him due to their financial circumstances. It has been alleged that Thomas killed Edmund as practice, or for the fact that he didn't much care for his brother, or to lay a foundation to blame his sister. He then killed Vera, in order to gain her inheritance, and finally then killed his mother. It is also alleged, much like with Grace, that he did not kill his final sister, because the money would have gone to her children and he would have had to kill them as well.
IMHO: Most sleuths argue that this murder has the most simple answer; Grace wanted her husband out of the picture and the family money. For me, I would need to know how intelligent Grace and Thomas were. If Thomas was cunning, then it had to be him. If Grace was stupid, then it would have been her. The death of Edmund is key here. Grace would have had to have known that the police would have been immediately drawn to her as a suspect after the death of her husband. It would have been smart for Thomas to kill Edmund first; pointing suspicion away from himself and towards the only other surviving family member. It is also suspicious to me that Thomas' branch of the family was the only one left untouched by poison. Matriarch; dead. Vera; very single and very dead. Grace; lost her husband and put into even more financial ruin. This really is a tough case and without more evidence, it's hard for me to say.
...Stay Tuned...
Further Readings:
Julian Fellowes Investigates Episode 4
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