Close to Death

But in this case, Mr Strauss remembered that he had some straws left over from a party and it just seemed so appropriate – so biblical, almost. We would draw straws and whoever picked the shortest would have to kill Giles Kenworthy. Of course, sitting here in the light of day, it may seem very silly and irresponsible to you. But that’s what we did.

Phyllis Moore

We cut eight pieces of straw, each one of them a different size. There were eight of us there. And so there could be no cheating, Mr Strauss held them behind his back so he couldn’t see which straw was being taken. I went first. It was quite exciting. We all entered into the spirit of the thing . . . the game.

Andrew Pennington

It’s true. We were all very caught up in the spirit of the moment, and I might add that Roderick was probably keener than anyone. Mrs Winslow drew a straw that was about two or three inches long. I was next and mine was shorter, but I knew there was an even shorter one somewhere in there. There was quite a bit of nervous laughter as Adam shuffled from person to person until there was only him and Roderick left.

And then it was Roderick’s turn. He looked at the two straws that were sticking out of Adam’s hand and he milked the moment for all it was worth. Then he made his choice and drew the shortest straw, holding it up for us all to see. He wasn’t upset. He was almost triumphant. ‘Well, that’s it,’

he said. ‘I suppose I’d better go round and get it over with!’

Adam Strauss

It’s funny how quickly the mood changed after that. The whole thing was a joke, of course, but we’d reached the punchline and I suppose it wasn’t as funny as we’d thought it was going to be. The conversation turned quite serious again – the letters we were going to write, the actions that we might take. Andrew repeated some of the advice he had already given us. By now it was about half past nine and we were all tired and a little drunk. Nothing had been resolved. Things went downhill pretty quickly and everyone went home to bed.

Roderick was the last to leave and I was very worried about him. Not because I thought he’d go through with it and take it upon himself to kill Giles Kenworthy. That thought never crossed my mind. But he was desperately worried about Felicity. The meeting had achieved nothing. And I could see that he was depressed. I told him to call me the next day if he wanted to talk, but as things turned out, I didn’t speak to him again properly until the day he died. As you know, he called me and asked me to come round.

That was Wednesday evening. By then, Giles Kenworthy was dead. Three days after Roderick had told everyone he was going to do it. And Kenworthy had been killed in exactly the way that he had described – a crossbow bolt through the neck. Everything I told you, the last time we spoke about this, was true. The only thing I omitted to mention was the context, what had happened at that second meeting. It was the reason why Roderick was so upset.

In fact, he was terrified. He told me over and over again that he hadn’t done it, that it wasn’t him, and although I did my best to calm him down, I’m not sure if I believed him or not. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence – unless someone else in the room had heard what he’d said and had decided to do it themselves. But, hand on heart, I can’t say I suspect anyone here. And anyway, how would they have got into the garage with both Roderick and Felicity in the house? As far as I know, the up-and-over door was kept locked and they could hardly have sneaked in through the kitchen.

He had already been interrogated – twice – and he said he could feel the net closing in on him, that Detective Superintendent Khan was going to arrest him at any moment. And then there was the added worry that one of us would tell the police about the second meeting, drawing straws, everything you now know. If that happened, he’d be finished. He’d confessed to the murder before it had even happened!

Andrew Pennington

That second meeting has cast a very long shadow. None of us could be completely honest with you, Mr Hawthorne. We also had to conceal what we knew from the police. I’m sure you can imagine how difficult that was for me. It went against everything in my nature.