[It is time now to introduce another topic of conversation. Susan is talking quite a lot, but then, her life is on the line here.]
I've just examined the tape we assume was used to gag Lydia. There's a lot of it. Quite a lot of it. Judging from the coloration, only one strip was placed over her mouth, meaning the rest must have been used elsewhere.
[A slight pause now.]
Many of us have been examining the reasoning behind the slow filling of the bathtub. The evidence given by Miss Marlow suggests it was running on a relatively low power; her words have been collaborated by the others who first stumbled upon the body. If this is the case, then the bath had been continually filling until somewhere around the area of 12:45 to 1:15 as Alice has tested. While it's possible that the killer might have turned the tap to low at some point after drowning Lydia, let's first examine this possibility in full.
That is to say, let's examine the possibility that the time of death came at 2 o'clock - but the actual crime came much earlier. I said to Miss Ashe at the beginning of the trial that we ought to consider ways in which the murderer might have killed without actually being in the same room. While I was thinking of something else at the time, those words have become relevant once more.
Consider the following proposition:
Between 12:45 and 1:15, the killer began to run the tap at low power. The killer drugs Lydia and covers her mouth with a single strip of tape to ensure that she can't scream if she awakens. They take her to the bathroom, bind her with the tape so she can't move, then position her head at a certain point in the bathtub, again using tape to secure her head - there was a small strip behind her ear. Then, they exit the room and having either practiced beforehand or simply being quite skilled, they use the piano wires to manipulate the chair into place.
Then, they simply had to wait until she drowned. The sound of the running tap would cover any of Lydia's struggles if she awoke.
...You will also notice that the vast majority of us were taking lunch at that time, increasing the probability that the killer's actions would go unseen.
If this theory is true, the alibis we've most closely examined have become worthless, and we need to go through the timetables once again. I think many of the clues are adequately explained as well - The toilet paper was to absolutely ensure that the stopper wouldn't come loose. The unnecessarily long strips of tape were used to bind Lydia in place. The mystery of why the bathtub needed to be on and flowing slowly is also explained.
The lipstick, I'm afraid, doesn't come into this, but perhaps someone else can provide an explanation at this point.
...The prospect is, of course, horrible, if Lydia did indeed awaken at any point in time. If this theory is correct, our killer is... well. Certainly deserving of execution.
no subject
I've just examined the tape we assume was used to gag Lydia. There's a lot of it. Quite a lot of it. Judging from the coloration, only one strip was placed over her mouth, meaning the rest must have been used elsewhere.
[A slight pause now.]
Many of us have been examining the reasoning behind the slow filling of the bathtub. The evidence given by Miss Marlow suggests it was running on a relatively low power; her words have been collaborated by the others who first stumbled upon the body. If this is the case, then the bath had been continually filling until somewhere around the area of 12:45 to 1:15 as Alice has tested. While it's possible that the killer might have turned the tap to low at some point after drowning Lydia, let's first examine this possibility in full.
That is to say, let's examine the possibility that the time of death came at 2 o'clock - but the actual crime came much earlier. I said to Miss Ashe at the beginning of the trial that we ought to consider ways in which the murderer might have killed without actually being in the same room. While I was thinking of something else at the time, those words have become relevant once more.
Consider the following proposition:
Between 12:45 and 1:15, the killer began to run the tap at low power. The killer drugs Lydia and covers her mouth with a single strip of tape to ensure that she can't scream if she awakens. They take her to the bathroom, bind her with the tape so she can't move, then position her head at a certain point in the bathtub, again using tape to secure her head - there was a small strip behind her ear. Then, they exit the room and having either practiced beforehand or simply being quite skilled, they use the piano wires to manipulate the chair into place.
Then, they simply had to wait until she drowned. The sound of the running tap would cover any of Lydia's struggles if she awoke.
...You will also notice that the vast majority of us were taking lunch at that time, increasing the probability that the killer's actions would go unseen.
If this theory is true, the alibis we've most closely examined have become worthless, and we need to go through the timetables once again. I think many of the clues are adequately explained as well - The toilet paper was to absolutely ensure that the stopper wouldn't come loose. The unnecessarily long strips of tape were used to bind Lydia in place. The mystery of why the bathtub needed to be on and flowing slowly is also explained.
The lipstick, I'm afraid, doesn't come into this, but perhaps someone else can provide an explanation at this point.
...The prospect is, of course, horrible, if Lydia did indeed awaken at any point in time. If this theory is correct, our killer is... well. Certainly deserving of execution.