Challenge 756

Piercing Pictures

1. In Max Christopher’s “Conditioned Love”:

   1. Why does Sid’s mother tell her husband to leave her tied up?
   2. What is the form and function of verbal humor in the story? Is there situational humor?
   3. What does Sid learn from Sally about treating wounds?
   4. What might Brenda be about to tell Sid, at the end?
   5. What might be the significance of the painting?

2. In Sameer Kulkarni’s “Crown vs. Ducastle”:

   1. How does Graham Bailey’s know that Vicar Ducastle was lying to the chaplain about a trustees’ meeting that was not actually going to take place?
   2. How could the vicar have forced the chaplain to withdraw a large sum of money from the trustees’ account?
   3. Why might the vicar not have needed to frame the chaplain for embezzlement in order to ensure the chaplain’s dismissal and arrest?
   4. Did the vicar commit murder or did he impel the chaplain to commit suicide?
   5. Is Mrs. Bong complicit in the scheme? Might part of her testimony in court be ruled inference rather than an eyewitness account?

Responses welcome!

Copyright © April 9, 2018 by Bewildering Stories
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