Magpie Murders

The team goes to Brent’s house to see if he has any of the stolen items from Magnus’s house. Brent says that he found the belt buckle on the lawn and sold it to Johnny. They take him back to Pye Hall and he shows them the spot where he found it. Atticus suggests that they should send divers to the lake for more clues and that the lake might reveal “the true reason why Pye Hall was burgled on the same evening as Mary Blakiston’s funeral” (144). Atticus asks Brent to show them to the door used during the burglary. Atticus also asks whether Magnus had fired him, and although Brent is defensive, he admits that Magnus had let him go. The group comes upon Frances and Jack kissing in the garden.

Frances and Jack aren’t too surprised when the others discover them together. They explain that Frances was unhappy in her marriage, and she describes Magnus as aggressive, childlike, and possessive. A few days before his death, they had had an argument about her affair. Magnus used the sword to slash at the portrait of her in the hall because he “knew it would hurt” her (147). On their way back from the house, Chubb tells Atticus that the fragment of paper found in the fireplace had blood on it, which matched Magnus’s blood type. Chubb, who has recently gotten a call from Emilia about her father’s death and his confession, suggests that they visit Clarissa next.

Clarissa is shocked by the news that she is the legitimate heir to Pye Hall. Atticus suggests that Magnus’s cryptic note may have had something to do with the secret of their true birth order. Atticus asks her about the missing poison, and she admits that she took the poison with thoughts of committing suicide. She willingly gives them the poison, and when they leave, Clarissa reflects that she might not want to fight for Pye Hall after all. Now that she knows the truth about her birth order and family, she finds that her cheated inheritance holds less power over her. Pye Hall “no longer had the power to intimidate her” because “it was hers” and “always had been” (153).

Atticus and James meet with Emilia and Arthur. Chubb is with the divers inspecting the lake. Atticus indicates that he is close to solving the mystery of Magnus’s murder, and says that Mary’s husband Matthew may hold the key to fitting the final pieces together. Emilia reveals that Matthew was the stranger in the hat at the funeral. She knows that Matthew lives in Cardiff, having had to send medical records for him there. Mrs. Weaver comes to clean, and Atticus accuses her of writing the threatening letter, to which she confesses. She admits to writing the letter but insists that she “didn’t mean any ill by it” (157). As Atticus continues to question Mrs. Weaver, he falls to the floor and doesn’t seem to be breathing.

Atticus recovers in the doctor’s office and tells Emilia that he has a fatal condition for which nothing can be done. Atticus admits to her that he is “quite cheerful” in the face of death, and they leave the office together (158).

The divers surface from the lake with the Roman treasure stolen from Pye Hall. Chubb is surprised that Atticus knew where it would be and is confused about why someone would dump the treasure in the lake. He reflects on “so much silver, glinting in the evening son” and wonders what other secrets Atticus’s investigation may reveal (158).

Atticus and James go to visit Matthew Blakiston, who seems old, tired, and sad. Fraser thinks that he had “never seen anyone who looked more alone” (161). Atticus asks Matthew to tell him his story, and he agrees. He is 58 and lived in Cardiff for 13 years. He grew up nearby, and although his family came from a long line of farmers, he was a mechanic. He met and married Mary, and they had two sons. They were happy but didn’t have much money. Matthew was wary about the house and job offer at Pye House, but they didn’t have a choice.

Matthew disliked Magnus and was annoyed that his wife looked up to him. When the war started, Matthew worked away from home at an airport and came home on weekends. Magnus used to play games with the boys and send them on treasure hunts. One day, he hid a piece of fool's gold by the lake’s edge, and Tom drowned trying to find it. Matthew felt guilty for not being there, and after Tom died, Robert and Mary pulled away from him.

The day of Mary’s death, Matthew saw a magpie and had a premonition that something was wrong; he called her but she didn’t answer. He heard about her death in the paper a few days later. Matthew blamed Magnus for both Tom and Mary’s deaths, and went to the house a few days later to confront him. Matthew wanted to ask Magnus to give Robert his mother’s pension. He drove to the house and sat in the car working up his nerve, and noticed a bicycle parked nearby. At first Magnus refused to let him in, and then asked Matthew if he really believed he had killed their dog before shutting the door in his face.

Matthew drove away, but soon turned back in anger, and rang the bell again. When Magnus didn’t answer, Matthew looked through the letterbox and saw Magnus lying on the ground in a pile of blood. Magnus knew that the police would suspect him, so he said nothing and drove away, passing Frances’s car on the way.

Atticus and James are quiet on the way home. Atticus is convinced that the fool’s gold that Magnus hid for Tom on the day of his death is important. Atticus is certain he knows the details of the crimes now and indicates that he thinks Matthew killed his wife.