Cold case files - The Riddle Case

[wickywackywoo2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 107060

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mayeaux45" <mayeaux45 at y...> wrote:
As far as I know, the servants can leave whenever 
> they are dismissed.  The Riddles could have been murdered that same 
> night.  The cook MUST have found them the following morning, so 
> therefore, they really weren't up late at all.  The Riddles could 
> have retired to the drawing room and in doing so, dismissed the 
> servants for the evening.  It's during this time that we (the 
> readers) are confused about what really transpired.

That's why I was hoping someone might tell us what a typical
upper-class British family schedule might be.  If dinner was at 8:00
PM, then we can theorize that the servants would have been around,
cleaning up, etc. until maybe 9:15 or so.  The Riddles weren't very
considerate people, so I don't see them caring much if the servants
get to bed early or late, but perhaps they would routinely dismiss
them after the dinnertime cleanup instead of having them hanging
around waiting for any further tasks.  The cook seems to think that
the murder took place in the middle of the night, when she and her
fellow employees were asleep, but that could just be because she can't
imagine anything happening earlier without someone hearing.  Maybe the
servants were out of the way and in bed by 10:00 PM.  It's possible
that the family could have been murdered as early as that, but is it
likely?  

If Tom Riddle deliberately plotted to murder them (and that's the
accepted explanation, though I favour something a bit more
complicated), then why did he come at THAT time?  Was it his first
good chance?  If it was early rather than late, then why would he
assume that he could safely kill 3 people in a house with other people
present, at an hour when someone could reasonably be awake?  If it was
*later*, then why were the Riddles still hanging around the drawing
room when he arrived?  If it was Tom Jr that Frank saw in the
afternoon, then why did he hang around for hours until nightfall, and
where did he go?  

The more I think of it, the more I believe that the Riddles were
expecting a visitor that night.  They didn't expect to be killed, and
they might not have known who their visitor really was, but I think
that they let Tom into the house, and they arranged the meeting for a
time when the servants were out of the way.  I'm not absolutely sure
that Tom went there fully intending to kill them, either; I think the
meeting could have been set up for a different purpose, but it got out
of hand and ended up in murder. (Maybe you can tell that I really
enjoy Agatha Christie books!)

Wanda