Marble Hall Murders

Eliot is almost an hour late for their meeting. He apologizes, saying someone died by throwing themselves under a train. Susan internally notes that this is how Elmer’s first wife’s died in the manuscript. When Eliot asks, Susan confirms that Charles killed Alan and tried to kill Susan. Eliot is shocked; Charles was always kind to him. They met when Charles worked with Eliot’s grandmother on the Little People books.

Susan compliments the manuscript. Eliot asks about her relationship with Alan. She asserts that she helped Alan’s novels become bestsellers, and Eliot’s continuation could be successful as well. He asks for Susan’s criticisms. She suggests they wait to discuss them until she’s seen the end of the novel, but he insists.

Susan explains that she dislikes the title, finds the opening depressing, and isn’t sure about the setting in France. Eliot takes haphazard notes and insists that the novel must be set in France. Susan points out French words, as well as specific terms for furniture, that may be confusing. Then, she asks about the anagram and if Margaret is based on his grandmother Miriam because of their initials and heart conditions. Alan’s similar word games motivated Charles to kill him.

Eliot admits he hated growing up at Marble Hall and that Cedric is based on him. Susan is worried Eliot is using the novel as revenge. Eliot says that he needs to get going and walks out with Susan. In the building’s lobby, Charles’s wife, Elaine Clover, is waiting.

Elaine calls Susan an old friend. Susan feels like Eliot set her up, and it reminds her of how Alan treated her. Elaine holds Susan’s hands and says she made Eliot keep this meeting a secret. Susan suspects that Elaine blames her for what happened to Charles, but Elaine claims that Susan is a victim. Eliot checks his expensive watch. Elaine invites Susan to her house. Susan agrees, but she isn’t sure about rekindling their friendship.

On the way home, Susan thinks about the criticisms that she didn’t give Eliot, like the predictability of the will-reading scene and how the details about the Holocaust seem out of place. She also thinks some of the adjectives used to describe women are problematic. At their meeting, Susan felt out how Eliot reacts to criticism.

Charles and Elaine’s house brings back memories for Susan. The doorbell is a snippet of Bach played by Charles on the piano, and the house looks the same. Elaine admits she also invited Eliot and Gillian. Susan and Elaine talk about a trip to Edinburgh they took together. They drink champagne, and Susan feels guilty for putting Charles in prison. It ruined Elaine’s life and Susan’s career.

Elaine visits Charles twice a month; prison has changed him. She believes Charles is a good man but wasn’t “in his right mind” (188) when he killed Alan and attacked Susan. Elaine wants to be Susan’s friend again. Elaine tells Susan that Miriam was not a good person, which shocks Susan. Miriam made people sign non-disclosure agreements in order to access her money. Eliot was close with his siblings, Roland and Julia. Eliot’s uncle, Jonathan, and his wife, Leylah, had a daughter, Jasmine (named after a character in the Little People series), who died in an accident.

Eliot got into trouble when he started attending prep school after Miriam died. His mother is a painter, and his father is an art gallery curator. They didn’t know how to manage Eliot. Charles gave Eliot the opportunity to write the Dr. Gee series for Cloverleaf because he felt sorry for Eliot. Susan says it wasn’t a successful series. Elaine thought of Eliot like a son when he worked with Charles. When the books failed, Eliot experienced an overdose. He met his wife, Gillian, a nurse, in the hospital. Elaine wants Eliot to succeed and asks Susan to look after him. Susan says she isn’t a therapist. Elaine says Charles could’ve convinced Susan. Susan agrees to be a friend to Eliot.

Eliot and Gillian arrive. It looks like they have been fighting, and Eliot is intoxicated. Eliot says he’ll make some of the changes that Susan suggested, but only after he finishes the first draft. He insists on keeping it in France. Gillian asks if the book will be a success, and Susan describes various authors being rejected before finding success. She tells Eliot to focus on writing, not sales.

Over dessert, Susan asks Eliot if Miriam is the reason he became a writer. Eliot rants about how much he hates Miriam and her books. Then, he encourages Susan to visit Marble Hall, which has been turned into a museum. It was a prison for him, and he dislikes how Jonathan sucked up to Miriam. Miriam never encouraged Eliot to be a writer; she insulted Julia for being overweight; and she treated her adopted son, Frederick, like he was inferior.

Eliot, Julia, and Roland plotted to kill Miriam when they were kids. Susan is glad Miriam died of natural causes. Eliot hints that she didn’t. He describes how Roland defended him and Julia over the years. Gillian says she needs to leave, and Susan says she also needs to leave. Susan suggests that Eliot write about his grandmother, and he says he already has.

Michael gives Susan a second book to edit, and she starts researching Miriam. She thinks about the parallels between the novel and Eliot’s real life, such as similar character names and qualities. A couple days later, Susan visits Marble Hall and feels some negative energy. She sees taxidermy specimens, like a kingfisher, that were collected by Miriam’s husband, Kenneth. The woman working in the gift shop tells Susan that Frederick Turner, Miriam’s adopted son, still lives on the premises. Susan asks if she can talk to Frederick, mentioning that she is helping Eliot with a book about Marble Hall.

Frederick resembles Frederic from Pund’s Last Case; they have the same physical disabilities. However, Frederick’s injuries came from a car accident. He has tea with Susan and says he loves Marble Hall. She admits that Eliot is writing a mystery inspired by his childhood with Miriam. Frederick says his past is a mystery; he didn’t know his parents. Miriam saved him from the orphanage, but he only calls her Mrs. Crace. Frederick tells Susan not to trust Eliot. Jonathan gave Frederick an accounting job at the estate, then asked him to manage Marble Hall when it became a museum.

Frederick admits that he lived in the attic of Marble Hall but insists his childhood was happy. He says Eliot is trouble. Frederick hopes the book will help Eliot improve his life. When Susan asks if there was any suspicion of foul play in Miriam’s death, Frederick is offended and says Miriam died of a heart attack. Susan asks to speak with Miriam’s doctor, who has the same name as the lawyer in Eliot’s novel. Frederick says that’s not a good idea.

He says Susan is talking to him under false pretenses. He asserts that Miriam was a good person and Eliot is trying to destroy her reputation. After taking care of the bill, Frederick leaves.

Susan isn’t sure whether to believe Eliot or Frederick. She wants a third opinion, so she researches Miriam’s death and discovers that her doctor is in Urchfont. Susan drives there, goes into the local pub, and asks for Lambert’s address. The patrons tell her where to go. She drives to Pynsent House and sees Lambert’s Jaguar parked in front. When Lambert answers the door, Susan claims that she wants to make sure Eliot doesn’t publish anything about Miriam’s death that will damage the family. He invites her inside.

Susan says Eliot described his grandmother in negative terms. Lambert says he signed an NDA, preventing him from talking about Miriam, but Jonathan will be angry about Eliot’s claims. Lambert and his wife add that Eliot’s memories shouldn’t be trusted because he was a child when Miriam died. They discuss Lambert’s first job with the Crace family, delivering Leylah’s baby, and how Eliot was close with his siblings. Lambert explains that Julia was overweight because of a low basal metabolic rate and abnormal thyroid levels. However, he denies that Miriam insulted Julia’s body.

Lambert and his wife describe how, a couple days before Miriam died, Eliot stole Liqufruta, a non-lethal herbal cough remedy, from Lambert. Miriam had the same illness as Margaret in Pund’s Last Case. Susan reveals that Eliot is claiming Miriam was murdered. Lambert insists she died of natural causes. When Susan continues to ask questions, Lambert asks her to leave. Outside, she compliments his car. He claims to have bought it with money that Miriam left him in her will.

The next day, Jonathan calls Susan and asks her to come to his office. Jonathan makes small talk about Crete, then launches into a defense of Charles. Susan reminds him that Charles killed Alan and attacked her. Jonathan invites Susan to a party for the anniversary of Miriam’s death, then asks why she lied to Frederick and Lambert. Susan assures Jonathan that Eliot’s books are set in France in the 1950s and not about Marble Hall. Jonathan knows that Eliot is basing characters on real people in their family and claims that Eliot is lying. Marble Hall was “a miniature paradise” (242), Jonathan claims.

Roland comes into the office, and Jonathan introduces him as Eliot’s brother. Roland is unbothered by Pund’s Last Case, claiming no one will see the connections between fiction and real life. Jonathan continues to berate Susan for going to Marble Hall and lying, saying she wants to use a scandal to sell books. She assures him this is not the case. Jonathan threatens legal action if Eliot’s book causes people to suspect Miriam was murdered.

Roland explains that they are negotiating with Netflix to create a series and a movie based on the Little People series; they don’t want a scandal. Jonathan wants Susan to make sure Eliot doesn’t jeopardize the deal and asks her to stay in touch with Roland. Jonathan ends the meeting.

Over coffee, Roland apologizes for Jonathan’s behavior. Miriam once planned to sell her intellectual property rights, and this upset Jonathan; he loves the Little People series and running the estate. Jonathan’s daughter, named after one of Miriam’s characters, died by jumping under a train. This reminds Susan of how Elmer’s wife died in Pund’s Last Case, and she compares Roland with the character Robert. Roland asks Susan to forgive Frederick for telling Jonathan about their meeting. Unlike Jonathan, Roland’s father hated the Little People series.

Roland swears Susan to secrecy and confesses that Miriam was a cruel, controlling racist. He only pretends that Miriam was a good person for the sake of the estate. Jonathan is in denial about Miriam. Roland justifies his secrecy because other writers were terrible people; he separates the work from the writer. Frederick keeps Miriam’s true nature a secret because he needs the job at Marble Hall to survive. Miriam also made bigoted remarks about Jonathan’s Egyptian wife, Leylah, and disliked adding ethnically diverse characters to the books. It was Jonathan’s idea to do so.

Roland admits Eliot is angry at him because he works for the estate. Eliot, Roland, and Julia plotted to kill Miriam as children, but Roland assures Susan that Miriam died of natural causes. Roland confirms that nothing came of Eliot stealing the herbal cough medicine. When Susan asks to talk to Julia, Roland says he’ll give Susan’s number to Julia. Roland hopes Susan can help Eliot’s book succeed. Roland says Miriam didn’t leave money to anyone outside the family. Susan realizes that Lambert lied about how he bought his car.

When Susan gets home, Eliot is outside her flat. He’s drunk and admits he was at a club called Boon’s. He finished writing more pages and wants to give them to Susan; Michael gave Eliot her address. Susan invites him inside and makes coffee. Eliot is considering retitling the book The Man with White Hair, which Susan prefers over Pund’s Last Case. However, he has written new pages with the original title.

Susan tells Eliot she went to Marble Hall and saw how he turned Frederick into Frederic. They talk about Miriam’s party, and Eliot says he might attend. He’s been invited on the BBC show Front Row to talk about Miriam. Susan advises against this, saying tarnishing Miriam’s reputation may hurt his book sales. He agrees to turn down the invitation. She considers telling Jonathan or Michael about the interview but decides to read the new pages instead.