Medieval Murder Mystery: Poor Henry, foolhardy drunk Henry, braved the haunted room for a dare, only to be found in the morning, in his locked room, rather dead.
The background to the story. The year is 1150 AD An old tower had been converted into two shops, one a bakery. Above one of the shops was a bedroom for the owner. However, for 20 years no-one had slept in that room save a few brave folks.
This room had a fearful reputation. It was haunted. Whoever spent a night in it was found dead the next morning, features contorted with fear.
So, of course, disbelievers had to try it out, from time to time, to see if this was true.
On this day in 1150 AD such a wager had been made. Three drinking buddies of the baker had been at the beer all day. One had mentioned the dreaded room upstairs. One said “Poppycock. That is just a silly tale. I will sleep in the room overnight. What wrong can come to me?” He couldn’t be dissuaded.
The others, in trepidation, escorted him up the ladder to the room and he barred the door behind them.
Morning came. No noise from above. The mates fearfully hammered on the door. No answer. After a considerable amount of force, the door was opened. Inside, one dead man, features absolutely contorted with fear. The window was secure. The door had been secure. What or who had killed Henry?
The tower was taken to the Christchurch Convention and the competition was available for visitors to enter. Quite a few people stopped for long times to study the murder scene. The only clue I was prepared to give was that the answer was in the room.
The competition winner was…… Debora Anderson. Debora studied the murder scene very carefully while at the NZAME public day. Roger will be in touch with Debora shortly about her prize.
Her answer: Poisonous Fungi fumes from the mattress. Dead right Debora! The answer for the Medieval Murder Mystery was potent poisonous fungi spores exuding from the filthy mattress. Henry died of Aspergillosis which turned into a systemic infection. It spread rapidly and was fatal. It has to be said that a previous landlady had poisoned her husband with a deadly poisonous powder in that bedding and the bedding was never changed. Subsequent foolhardy sleepers who disproved the supernatural causes of unexplained deaths in that room succumbed successively to this poison and the fungi spores that built up over time because no-one changed the bedding. Urgggh!
Thank you I am truly delighted. That was fun to figure out though I am surprised all the same. Poor Henry, a miserable death.
Hi Deborah. Well done. It was a tricky answer to come up with. Normally the prize for the competition is a free new digital subscription. But you are already a subscriber! I’m thinking the best solution is to extend your current subscription for 12 months at no charge. Happy with that? Regards, Roger.