Twisted Logic

The Murder of Mr Speare - Answers

It wasn’t with Bailey that Dick was engaged (literally and figuratively) in the missionary position. It also couldn’t have been Elizabeth as she claimed to have been taking the evening air or Reeves who was with Bertie. As he is athletic he is not in need of a diet, and thus couldn’t have been Ernst’s lover, so it must have been Yvette.
Thus Dick Speare was with Yvette, having sex in the missionary position at the time of the murder, and was innocent of killing his father for refusing to help pay off his debts. However, he isn’t innocent of much else, if Yvette’s word is anything to go by.

Bertie and Reeves were together at the time of the murder, so Bertie couldn’t have been Ernst’s lover who has been forced to go on a diet, or Yvette’s lover who was refused money. He also didn’t have an illegitimate child and wasn’t in fear of Mr Speare discovering his affair, so he must have been the one about to be forced into marriage. They weren’t taking the air with Elizabeth or in position with Dick. Neither were they in the billiards room, and happily they weren’t guilty of murder.
Thus Bertie Hereford and Reeves were together at the time of the murder, in the bath. Bertie’s Uncle had been trying to force him to marry Angeline but had failed repeatedly, thanks to the clever interference of Reeves. His original statement noted that his only companion in the bathroom had been a duck, but upon realising that Hackett was an open minded sort of chap, Bertie agreed to give a second statement, this time from his valet’s lap, wherein he admitted that no rubber toys had been necessary in the bath once his loyal man had turned up.

Elizabeth had been ‘taking the air’ on the balcony when the murder occurred. She had been with a female member of the family, but not Angeline, who isn’t intelligent. Her partner also couldn’t have been Marlene, whose lover is a man. Thus she was with Agatha. They weren’t worried about money, an illegitimate child, an enforced diet or a forced marriage, so they must have been concerned that Ezekiel had discovered their illicit affair.
Thus Agatha had been with Elizabeth, ‘taking the evening air’ when the murder occurred, and was not guilty despite her possible motive of wanting to keep her affair secret. Hackett, a thorough investigator, had inspected the balcony where the two (rather handsome) women had been spending their time together and discovered a device made of rubber and a good deal of fabric straps. While he realised it wasn’t the murder instrument, he couldn’t quite work out what it was. The only thing he was sure of was that something more than air had been taken on the balcony that evening!

Ernst’s hungry lover could not have been Marlene who is skinny, and so must have been Angeline. She is innocent of the murder, and so they must have been ‘playing billiards’ together.
Thus Angeline had been with Ernst and they were in the billiard room at the time of the murder. Despite her enforced diet, she had not borne sufficient ill will against her father to kill him. Hackett found the billiard room to be in something of a state, with unusual marks on the baize surface of the table and a number of surfaces stained with what appeared to be chocolate syrup. It seemed Ernst liked the larger lady, Hackett decided, and more power to him, though he wasn’t sure that, in the chef’s situation, he would have chosen such an old billiard table for an assignation. Angeline had no knowledge of her late father’s attempts to marry her off to Bertie, and has now happily announced her engagement to Ernst.

That leaves Marlene, Mr Speare’s widow, and her lover Bailey, the butler. It transpired that Marlene had wanted to keep secret from her husband the fact that Dick was Bailey’s son, but her inability to do so led her to commit murder to prevent Bailey from being sent away. She had called Hackett with the intention of tricking him into believing her sister-in-law, Agatha, was the guilty party, but she was unaware of Agatha’s affair, and thus the alibi she shared with her lover. This became evident when she couldn’t convince Hackett of her location with Bailey at the time the murder took place. Hackett, with Elizabeth’s efficient assistance, summoned the police and presented only the necessary and convincing details to them, which led to both Mrs Speare and Mr Bailey being arrested and led away.

All’s well that ends well; Daniel Hackett successfully solved his first murder and the rest of the Speare household were so pleased they not only paid him double, but Dick also invited him to spend the weekend with them. During his stay, Hackett discovered that there were a lot of skeletons in the closet of the Speare household…

But that’s another story.


Answers in brief;
Bertie, Reeves, ‘bath’, forced marriage.
Angeline, Ernst, ‘billiards’, enforced diet.
Marlene, Bailey, murderers, illegitimate child.
Dick, Yvette, missionary position, refusal of money.
Agatha, Elizabeth, ‘taking the evening air’, discovery of affair.

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