Malice Domestic 21 — Friday, May 1st 2009.
This year, we managed to get to the convention at lot earlier than usual. In the past, we arrived for Opening Ceremonies and missed the programming that was held earlier. So, we managed to check out the silent auction items, visit the dealer’s room, and get to some panels before Opening Ceremonies.
[NOTE: We didn’t get back until quite late and can’t seem to find the download cable to the camera so photos will probably be added tomorrow sometime.]
2:00 – 3:30 PM: The Poison Lady – Lucy Zahray
This program item is always a big hit because what writer doesn’t want to know how to kill off that annoying or evil character in a manner that will be a challenge for their protagonist to identify and find the killer. Everything is turned around in ways that would help to make a story more interesting.
The following is a smoothed out version of my notes from this panel. However, the information is general and as a writer you really need to make the plot fit the facts as much as possible and be plausible as well as working as a traditional mystery.
Poison is not a rare crime it’s just usually undetected. People are rarely caught on their first poisoning. When a poisoner is caught on their first victim it is usually because they got drunk and bragged, spent money like crazy, or killed five people in five days (overkill).
The topic today is the Big 3: Arsenic, Strychnine, Cyanide
Arsenic – a rock that’s mined straight from the ground. It’s the 25th most common earth element.
LD 50: 150 milligrams (NOTE: LD 50 is the dose at which 50% of the subjects will die from the dose.)
always arsenic doesn’t break down, found in cremains, found in cemeteries.
There are a lot of areas where the water or land is contaminated with arsenic. During the Civil War the dead were sent home, if the first war where the dead could be transported back to their homes. The bodies had all the parts that could spoil or hold disease removed and the cavity with arsenic. So, most cemeteries with Civil War bodies buried in them would contaminate the land and water around them.
You can find arsenic in antique stores – usually as fly paper, or any products that say something like “sure death” or have a skeleton on label. Often the products don’t say poison – just read the ingredient label.
Fly paper is good and common way to find arsenic. It’s water soluble and has no flavor or odor (slight garlic smell when cooked/hot), looks like sugar in a bowl and could be put in coffee, tea, juice. If someone was dosed in the morning they might not get sick for hours and the killer could be far away from the crime. If symptoms not recognized might not even no it was murder.
Two Methods – acute way – big dose get sick and die or the chronic way give tiny doses over time and they sicken/recover/sicken again then finally die usually seen by doctor in between and thus have a history of health problems so death is not suspicious. The trick is to give the poisoner a good motive and to make the murder interesting enough to deserve writing about it.
Many myths have developed around arsenic:
One is that taken a bit over long period of time and then get immune – what you get is dead.
Medically you can test bodies for arsenic so it could be found. They can test hair, for example. Many people live in environments with high background levels of arsenic (causes intestinal problems, rice water type diarrhea – may indicate arsenic poisoning.)
Arsenic has been used to treat refractory cases of leukemia (kills off blood cells) and used to kill off intestinal parasites.
Lots of history behind arsenic – once called inheritance powder…
First reliable test didn’t come along to 1850s Marsh Test after that it could be tested for. Previously to this test, they ground up parts of body and fed it to animal and if animal died same way then it was presumed to be poison.
Strychnine:
Again antique stores good place to buy it. It was sold until 1965 as a vitamin (chocolate coated to make it taste better). It was believed to improve your blood and wind and GI motility (constipation treatment).
Strychnine is one of the most bitter flavors (1 part in 15,000 is detectible from bitter taste) so it was chocolate coated, or licorice or espresso. Or put in something that is supposed to have a bitter taste so it would be less noticeable.
The phrase “If it tastes bad it is good for you” was basted on the strychnine taste.
LD 50: 15-30 milligrams.
Didn’t need Rx or doctor’s orders, you could just buy it.
If you spit it out because of taste you still might have enough to die or at least get very sick. It inhibits the ability of the cells to not send messages. Everything is stimulated to contract (example with fist, thumb in and pull toward body). All senses are heighted and don’t loose consciousness. Strongest muscles controls contractions so body bows (head and feet on ground, body raised up). Victim can’t breathe because diaphragm is contracted. Anything can set off next wave of contractions – still aware and more sensitive to the pain.
Becomes cyclical. Most victims die between 3rd and 5th set of contractions.
You really, really, really got to hate someone to use strychnine.
Organic compound, comes from a tree can by seeds (when extracted is tarry black substance, if further processed then white powder). Seeds are size of quarter; round fuzzy, small indent (myth says that indent is finger print of God).
Any old poisons have a lot of myths and legends associated with them.
Still used in US as predator control. Legal to buy it – no real control on sale.
It was thought for a long time that if you survived contractions (can survive if get to hospital, give huge amounts of muscle relaxation drugs, put on a vent). But now they know that the contractions cause body to heat up to 106 or 108 temperatures – in about three weeks liver, spleen, and kidneys got too hot to keep functioning. Now we know there’s a latency period and will die of complications weeks to months later. More distance between victim and poisoner the less likely of being found as the murderer — which makes for better plots and the killer being harder to find and identify in the story.
Taken off market as vitamins in 1956.
When a drug is withdrawn you can sell what you have in stock…can’t make anymore. If it is Recalled — take of shelves and send it back..
Most things are withdrawn not recalled.
Rigor mortis sets in almost immediately, and body stays in contracted state by time rigor set in it’s really just wearing off – throws off the time of death.
Cyanide:
If you want instant death – hydrogen sulfide (death on indrawn breathe)
LD 50: 2 milligrams.
Between 2 to 30 minutes to die, bitter almond smell, most people can’t smell it and most of the people who can’t smell it are men).
Death in few minutes or 3 hours depending on dose (everything depends on dose).
Generally inhaled is fastest way to kill someone
Injection is second fastest way (but harder to do)
absorbed through intact or abraded skin. (patch)
Cyanide binds up oxygen carrying cells so it’s a suffocation type of death.
Blood testing for poisons: No general test for poisons just a test for each individual poison or drug. Tests are expensive, time consuming, need to know what to test for or you won’t find it. So has to narrow down the field via symptoms or lifestyle. Test take time and often find the problem after victim is dead.
3:45 – 4:45 Mystery Shrouded in Classic Literature: The Mystery of Emma.
Panel: Jane Cleland & Peggy Ehrhart.
First, Jane Cleland went over the definition and identifying characteristics of a traditional mystery. Her talk was very interesting and filled with lots of observations and quotes. Here’s a few from my notes:
What is a traditional mystery?
Definition: work of fiction, drama, film dealing with crime.
Fair play mystery – audience knows everything as soon as the detective but it’s identifying the important from the non-important hides the clues.
Thriller – stopping the crime is the crux of the story.
Traditional mysteries – suspense is not as crucial. Try to figure out what happened.
Mystery is novel of revelation not action.
Contemporary mystery has evolved into whodunit and whydunit
Traditional mystery – character drives plot, reader must crave knowing how this person will handle that situation.
Reader engaged not by trill seeking by need to know.
Traditional and cozy are often used interchangeably.
Qualities for traditional: murder usually happens off stage, if violence occurs on stage no graphic details, murder occurs in first chapter or two, no swearing, victim and killer are known to one another, solution is from deductions of sleuth, in series secondary characters occurs. Red herrings.
Red herrings are crucial elements of trad. Mystery – false trail. A narrative element to distract reader from something else.
6 ways red herrings used:
- overlooked detail
- wrong interpretation of a known fact
- casual mention in conversation
- no reason to be significant unless you have specialized knowledge
- absence of something that should be there
- band wagon fallacy – when someone argues for a certain interpretation because of their own beliefs. Popularity is unrelated to its correctness.
Next Peggy Ehrhart discussed Jane Austen’s Emma as a traditional mystery but without a murder. It’s a mystery that rather than solve a murder tries to determine who loves who. P.D. James said that if Austen was writing today she’d be one of our greatest mystery writers.
Emma is blind to obvious clues. Mr. Knightly is far more observant. Shown best by the fact that Emma doesn’t recognize Mr. Elton true characters when she tries to match him with Harriet Smith.
Three examples of Emma’s blindness: painting of Harriet, the riddle delivered to Emma not Harriet, and the party that Harriet misses.
Second misunderstood plot element: Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax (secret engagement).
If Austen wrote mysteries they would be fair play ones since all the clues are there. Frank always promises to pay a visit to his father but only actually comes when Jane is visiting her relatives. Austen disguises this fact so that reader misses as does Emma. Jane plays piano and Frank is off to London for haircut and suddenly Jane gets a piano delivered. (to hide his involvement with Jane he grabs onto Emma’s notion that Jane must have an admirer and runs with it, setting Emma on the notion that Mr. Dickson is the man).
Clue hidden in plain sight: Mrs. Bates very talkative. At ball, Frank helps Jane on with her wrap which shows his interest but his clue is buried in the tons of other information that Mrs. Bates talks on and on about.
Mr. Knightly brings up the fact that he believes Frank and Jane are a couple and gets pooh-poohed by Emma.
Frank’s letter in Chapter 14 after Mrs. Churchill’s death is much like the final reveal in a traditional mystery.
In many of Austen’s works you end it and then it’s the realization that you should have seen this because all the clues are there.
Opening Ceremonies: Announce the Guest of Honor, the nominee for the various awards and welcome every one to the convention. This was followed by a reception.
7:30 – 8:20 pm: Humor Panel
Panel: Elaine Viets (moderator), Don Bruns, Pari Noskin Taichert, Parnell Hall, and Jeff Cohen.
There was lots of joking around and some serious discussion of humor in mysteries. The most important point that was made was that:
The humor has to come from your character not from you.
If you try too hard it will fail.
If you think what you wrote is hilarious, wonderful humor — it probably isn’t.
This was followed by the auction but we had to leave at this point. We’ll be back tomorrow to cover the full day of programming.