(urth) AEG again

[David Stockhoff]

The fact that no one shows up with a horrible facial scar, when one was so clearly indicated, does suggest that Something is Up. Either it's a red herring or ... 

We could speculate as to who might be able to heal from such a wound, knowing that any such explanation/identification demands that we know the assassin. If we don't know the assassin, we don't need to know he healed. So either he was a nobody who means nothing (hah!) or he was someone we do know who healed, and whom we (or Cassie) would have recognized if he had not. Otherwise, there's no point to the clue.

Who would have the ability to recover from such a wound?

1) An unknown government or other agent with access to advanced medicine
2) Someone who is a doctor and is from Woldercan 
3) Someone working for Bill, who has unpredictable powers
4) Someone with access to time travel (who could heal with time travel a la the Conciliator, if one accepts that)
5) Someone who works for a god with unknown but verifiable powers
6) Someone who never received a wound in the first place 

#1, #2, and #3 are not much help. The government has no claim to advanced biology the way Woldercan does, and an unknown agent would not be of interest anyway. We don't know of any Woldercanian agents on Earth, right? Chase, the only doctor we know from Woldercan, is not known for his time traveling, so would not have had an opportunity to attack himself, let alone a motive. Bill said he was wooing Chase for a long time, though Chase thought he was behind the attack, so Bill as the assassin or the assassin's boss seems unlikely, especially given what Chase did for him/Cassie/his son. 

#4 and #6 are just guesses. Maybe Bill could have healed the assassin or healed himself with time travel, but that doesn't tell us who the assassin is or give us a motive for Bill. Margaret (or any other apparently normal human) could only have done it if she meets any one of the requirements in a way that is unknown to us; for example, if she is Cassie she could have used time travel (IF that even works). I have no explanation for #6, but you can never trust Wolfe. The logic laid out above still applies in this case---the clue is pointless if we don't know who WOULD have been wounded by the cleaver. Similarly, unless werewolves are described as having healing powers, it wasn't a werewolf.

#5 points to Cthulhu, whose powers in support of his worshipers are vaguely but evocatively described and have direct effects on the bodies of same.

So by this logic either the assassin was sent and healed by unknown Woldercanians with their medicine (since we have many pointers to that advanced skill) or he was sent and healed by the cultists with their magic as part of their war with Bill---but as they are homicidal loonies who work for Cthulhu, it's not critical that their actions make perfect sense. Or do they know that Bill and Chase will be/were friends, and believe that Chase is a way to Bill?

Incidentally, is it possible that Bill simply caused Jimmy to have a heart attack out of fright? He seemed a candidate for heart trouble and was plainly and justifiably afraid. It wouldn't be the first time a Wolfe character said "Yes, I killed" someone who died accidentally as a result of someone the character did. Bill does say he has killed people, but he doesn't say who or how. Jimmy may have been one such person. Bill wouldn't need a motive, just a means and opportunity.

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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:52:11 -0700
From: Dave Tallman <davetallman at msn.com>
To: urth at lists.urth.net
Subject: Re: (urth) AEG again
Message-ID: <4B1D952B.8060508 at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Brunians wrote:

> Is there a problem with Jimmy being the assassin, and a liar?
>   
>   
Unless there is time-travel involved, yes. He was dead before the 
assassination attempt on Chase.

A better candidate is Donny Duke. Here are some clues.
1) He played a murderer in the Mars play.
2) He is associated by initials with Diana Diamond, the SG cult's assassin.
3) He is a small man, not the same physical type as the heavyset John.
4) He drinks green, slimy drinks (like the green, slimy spittle of Diamond).
5) Diamond said one of their number saw her dance a hornpipe with flower 
pasties on her breasts. Donny Duke was her dance partner.

The case would be that Duke was an SG follower who tried to kill Chase 
because he was close to Cassie, as they killed Brian Pickens. He appears 
without a scarred face after the attack, but the cultists might have 
their own means of magical regeneration.




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