The Poison Pen Affair: Plot point (RESOLVED)

I believe I have satisfactorily settled this plot point, but you’re still welcome to read this post.

When programming, I often reach points where I am flummoxed how to continue. And in desperation, I often ask for help in programming forums, but despite the kindly suggestions of other programmers, I rarely get an answer. But I often find that simply posing the question helps me resolve the matter myself, often by avoiding the problem in the first place. So in this post, I’m asking my three readers (I exaggerate) how I should resolve the following plot point. The question is posed below within spoiler tags, so only click if you like opening presents before Christmas!

[spoiler title=”Click to read question”]How do I find justice in the matter of Miss Winslow? She has been cruelly used by Lord William, but the obstacles to justice are formidable. A mere woman, subject to whims and fancies, must claim that a the son of an earl has viciously attacked her, both raping her and disfiguring her with a knife. She has only the proof of her injury and her word that he is to blame. He can simply deny his involvement.

If this were a Conan Doyle story, Holmes and Watson could actively seek revenge outside the law, although that rarely happens and is usually limited to Holmes threatening with his stick (A Case of Identity). More often, justice is left to a higher court: the guilty are already dying (too numerous to mention), die at sea (The Five Orange Pips) or are killed by another (Charles Augustus Milverton).

Actually, that last would be perfect. Lord William is killed by another victim, or someone acting on behalf of another victim. However, I find this solution unappetizing because I had hoped to keep Lord William around and it means that the affair is not solved by House’s acumen but by a cheap cinematic trick, to borrow from What’s New, Pussycat?

My desire, rather, is that House manages to trap Lord William into making his true character known to the world. If this were a modern day police drama, Miss Winslow would be wearing a wire! Further complicating matters is that House would prefer to avoid a trial; Miss Winslow and her mother have already suffered enough. Of course, House could pay someone to have Lord William roughed up or killed, but that hardly seems the mot juste.

No, better to assemble the interested parties and some representative of authority into a confined space and goad Lord William into revealing his true nature. But here we come to what Poirot would call understanding the psychology of the individual. Does House have enough information to believe that Lord William, whom she has already called cunning, would so lose his judgment as to threaten Miss Winslow before witnesses? Of course, the trick is to make him think there are no witnesses. Aha!

Another question involving the psychology of the individual is Miss Winslow’s decision to send poison pen letters in the first place. She is driven to this extreme because she thinks no one will believe her accusation of Lord William. And yet House and Woodsen very quickly believe her story, admittedly under rather dramatic circumstances.

Of course Miss Winslow believes (or hopes) that she can derail the wedding while House believes that Mrs. Ashby would risk almost anything — or deny almost anything — to secure her daughter’s marriage.

My husband suggests a confrontation at a masked ball, where Lord William, believing himself to addressing Miss Winslow, is actually addressing Miss Ashby, who will then know his true nature and end the wedding herself, although that will lead to breach of promise problems.[/spoiler]

I do not as yet know the answer to this problem. When I do, I will mark this post as resolved, although my four readers (assuming I attract a fourth) can still click the spoiler button, although it may no longer be relevant. And if you do have a solution, please send me an email with “ppaplotpoint” as the subject line.