Moonflower Murders: A Novel

Pünd and Hare agree that Francis Pendleton is still a prime suspect. Hare points out that love and jealousy can be powerful motivators for murder, using the example of Othello, who strangles Desdemona in Shakespeare’s play.

The Collins children stay with the Mitchell family while their parents are in London. Nancy reads them a bedtime story: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. She has not yet told her parents about the pregnancy, as her father is violent and regularly beats her mother.

In London, Samantha Collins learns she has inherited £700,000 from her aunt. Leonard again advises her not to tell Algernon. Meanwhile, Algernon searches Leonard’s desk at Church Lodge and finds the solicitor’s letter informing his sister of her inheritance.

At Clarence Keep, Phyllis tells Eric that once the police investigation ends, she never wants to see him again. She is moving in with her sister, and he must live independently. Upstairs, Francis notices that the drawer containing Melissa’s underclothes is open, and an expensive silk negligee is missing.

Francis confronts Phyllis about the missing negligee. Phyllis admits that Eric is the likely perpetrator, as he was obsessed with Melissa. Francis tells Phyllis that she and Eric must leave by the end of the day.

At the Moonflower Hotel, Miss Cain tells Pünd that she searched the Gardners’ office and found evidence the couple was defrauding Melissa. Lance Gardner routinely overpaid suppliers and asked for the excess to be paid back into his account. Miss Cain hands in her notice, citing the distressing nature of the job.

DCI Hare drives Pünd and Miss Cain to Clarence Keep, revealing he is making an arrest. Hare confronts Francis about his claim that he attended The Marriage of Figaro. Francis stated there was nothing unusual about the performance. However, Hare reveals that Henry Dickson, who was due to play Figaro, was the victim of a hit-and-run incident. Consequently, another singer stood in for him and had to read from the libretto. Many audience members asked for a refund. Francis declares he will “make a full confession” (400), and Hare allows him to fetch his jacket and shoes before going to the station. While Francis is upstairs, a face momentarily appears at the window. Hare and Pünd dash outside, but the unidentified person has disappeared. As they reenter the house, Miss Cain screams, and they see Francis descending the stairs with a dagger in his chest. The dagger is a prop from one of Melissa’s movies, and it is usually displayed on a table downstairs. Francis stumbles and falls into Miss Cain’s arms.

Miss Cain is in shock and covered in Francis’s blood. Hare and Pünd search the house, but no one is there except the Chandlers. Two ambulances arrive: one for Francis’s dead body and the other to transport Miss Cain to the hospital.

The most likely suspects for Francis’s murder have a solid alibi. Only Algernon Marsh and Nancy Mitchell remain unaccounted for. Hare speculates that Francis killed himself out of remorse, but Pünd is unconvinced. He declares that, before they leave, they must find out why the wallpaper is torn in Melissa’s bedroom.

Pünd confronts the Chandlers. In the corridor outside Melissa’s bedroom, he removes a photograph of the Moonflower Hotel, revealing that there is a peephole drilled into the wall. Phyllis confirms that this is what she meant when she stated the Moonflower was “crooked.” She noticed the picture was askew and found the peephole Eric had made. However, Simon Cox misheard her as she stated it would kill Melissa if she found out. Phyllis launches a vicious verbal attack on her son, also accusing him of stealing Melissa’s negligee. Sobbing, Eric admits to making the peephole but denies taking Melissa’s underclothes. Pünd believes him, recognizing that Eric is “damaged” but not a killer.

A police search of Clarence Keep reveals Melissa’s unfinished love letter to an unknown person. DCI Hare takes this as confirmation that Francis killed his wife. However, Pünd insists they must work out the identity of Melissa’s lover.

Algernon confronts Leonard about Samantha’s inheritance, demanding half the money. He threatens to tell Samantha about Leonard’s unprofessional relationships with patients. They are interrupted by the arrival of Atticus Pünd and DCI Hare. Pünd declares Sun Trap Holdings is a Ponzi scheme designed to defraud its investors, including Melissa James. When they produce Melissa’s love letter, Algernon confirms that it was addressed to him, and he says they planned to run away together. Hare arrests Algernon for the hit-and-run incident, which the opera singer Henry Dickson narrowly survived. He reveals that Algernon’s cigarette was found at the scene, and a witness identified his Peugeot.

On the way back to the police station, Hare and Pünd encounter a crowd gathered around a bridge. Nancy Mitchell is standing on the bridge’s parapet, preparing to jump. Pünd approaches Nancy and tells her how he survived a German concentration camp in World War II while his parents and wife were killed. Pünd admits that he wished to die at the time but is now grateful for his life. He urges Nancy to think about her unborn child.

Nancy is taken to the hospital and tells Pünd she intends to keep her child. She reveals the baby’s father was Francis Pendleton. Francis was friendly to her when he visited the Moonflower and asked her to tell him if she saw evidence of the Gardners’ dishonesty. Nancy liked him and was flattered by his attention. One night, Francis was drunk and distressed in the bar and revealed he had discovered Melissa was having an affair. Nancy helped him upstairs to a hotel room, where they slept together. Nancy tells Pünd how Francis sent £60 and a doctor’s address when she told him she was pregnant. She admits appearing at the window just before Francis’s death, as she planned to threaten to expose him as the baby’s father. However, she vows she did not kill him.

Pünd tells Hare that, thanks to his earlier mention of Othello, he has solved the murders of Melissa and Francis. However, he still needs to find out why Melissa went to St. Daniel’s church.

Pünd visits St. Daniel’s church and finds Samantha Collins arranging the flowers. Samantha admits she disliked Melissa James, who would stop at nothing to get her way. She suggests that Melissa preyed on other women’s husbands and regularly called Leonard to her home when there was nothing wrong with her. She also reveals that, in light of Algernon’s crimes, she has decided not to share her inheritance with him. However, Leonard disagrees with her decision.

DCI Hare gathers everyone connected to the case at the Moonflower Hotel. Atticus Pünd addresses each suspect in turn, exposing their secrets and outlining their potential motivations for murder. He asserts that Algernon lied when he claimed to be Melissa’s lover, as he thought this would convince the police of his innocence. Pünd also confronts Leonard Collins, pointing out his suspicious change of heart toward sharing Samantha’s inheritance with Algernon. Pünd declares that Leonard was having an affair with Melissa and Algernon was blackmailing him. He asserts that Melissa came to Church Lodge on the evening she died as she wanted to speak to Leonard. However, when Melissa saw Leonard’s wife, she entered the church to throw Samatha off the scent. Pünd speculates that Melissa told Francis she was leaving him when she returned to Clarence Keep. Overcome by jealousy, Francis strangled her with the telephone cord at 6:18 p.m. Kimba barked, aware of his mistress’s distress. Francis was remorseful when he believed he had killed the woman he loved and fled the scene. However, like Desdemona in Othello, Melissa did not die immediately. Reviving from her unconscious state, she went downstairs to call Leonard at 6:28 p.m., dropping one of her tear-soaked tissues by the phone. Leonard arrived at 6:45 p.m. Instead of comforting Melissa, he strangled her with the same telephone cord Francis used, creating a second set of ligature marks. Leonard admits the truth, stating he had an affair with Melissa as he was bored with his wife and tired of struggling financially. However, everything changed when Samantha learned of her inheritance, becoming a wealthy woman. He could not risk his wife finding out about his affair.

Amazed, DCI Hare asks Pünd why Leonard killed Francis. Pünd asserts that a second murderer was responsible for Francis’s death.

Atticus Pünd admits that he feels personally responsible for Francis Pendleton’s death. Francis would still be alive if Pünd had been more observant. Pünd confesses he should have heeded his reservations about accepting a case over the phone. Furthermore, in Edgar Schultz’s correspondence, he noticed Britishisms that he would not expect an American to use. Last night, he called Edgar Schultz, who confirmed he had never contacted him.

Pünd also points out aspects of Miss Cain’s behavior that were suspicious. She unwittingly revealed that she was Melissa James’s fan when she admired Clarence Keep and observed that Melissa did not star in the movie The Wizard of Oz. When Pünd produces a lilac letter from Melissa’s greatest fan, Miss Cain admits that she wrote it and pretended to faint in Melissa’s bedroom to distract Pünd from seeing it. She also took Melissa’s negligee and got an actor friend to pose as Edgar Schultz. Pünd asserts that Miss Cain killed Francis, believing he was Melissa’s killer. He observes that Miss Cain was likely influenced by Pünd’s belief that the death sentence would soon be abolished. Miss Cain declares that Melissa’s killer deserved to die.

DCI Hare and Atticus Pünd bid goodbye at the train station. Pünd climbs aboard the LMR 57 steam engine to London, telling Hare he plans to hire a new assistant on his return. DCI Hare thanks Pünd for allowing him to retire at a high point in his career.