{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/5592",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "urth",
  "thread": {
    "id": 5592,
    "subject": "The coins, torpedo, and George",
    "messages": 8,
    "voices": 2,
    "first": "2010-05-03T17:01:17+00:00",
    "last": "2010-05-05T15:18:07+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<331192.93829.qm@smtp816.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Mo Holkar / UKG",
        "address": "lists at ukg.co.uk"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-03T17:01:17+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) The coins, torpedo, and George",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Hi all,\n\n\nJust a quick note about something that struck me. When Bax first \nfinds the coins he says \"I believe the city must be Corinth, but I've \nno idea whose head that is\" (75). I'm curious as to how he identifies \nthe city. It can't be the word 'KORINTHOS', or he would be certain \nabout it. Presumably then it's from an emblem that he knows is \nusually associated with Corinth. A quick Google suggests that lots of \nCorinthian coins depicted the Pegasus on the reverse of Athena's \nhead, so that might be a candidate.\n\nThen when he takes a coin to Port St Jude (127), we are told 'The \nhelmeted woman on the obverse... presumably she is Athena' and that \nthe reverse depicts a different woman, with breasts (plural), a spear \nand a sword. So either (a) Bax did earlier silently identify this \nother woman, and associate her with Corinth, or else (b) the three \ncoins don't all have the same design -- which seems more likely, but \nleaves wide open the question of who the woman is. Warrior women who \nare not Amazons are pretty rare in Greek myth. Not Artemis, as she \nwould have a bow; not Athena as stated; maybe the obscure war goddess Enyo?\n\n\nOn another, unrelated note: do we assume that the 'long, skinny \ntorpedo' seen with the Greek (198) is Nicholas the Butler? Odd that \nalthough Iron Mike gave the Greek the names of Shell and others who \nwere close to Bax, this doesn't seem to have been followed up on. \nPerhaps knowing that Bax was 'doing swell' was all Skotos really needed.\n\n\nAnd a question: how did George get from following Nicholas into the \nhouse (233) to being picked up 'on the street' by the police (270)? \nIn between, he seems to have written Letter 37 (assuming that's not a \nBax forgery), whch Bax 'found' in an unspecified place, but \npresumably at the house (265). He also may have checked out of the \nHilton (266), although that could have happened earlier. And then he \nsomehow gets away from the police again (\"I doubt they'll keep him \nlong\" (276)) and is back at the house trapping Nicholas (282). We \naren't able to guess much about George's motivation apart from \ninsensate hatred of Bax, but I'm curious as to how his timeline goes.\n\n\nMo\n\n\n\n\nMo Holkar\nUndying King Games\nmo at ukg.co.uk\nhttp://www.ukg.co.uk "
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<003501caeb58$69240c60$21d04a0c@rclackey>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Roy C. Lackey",
        "address": "rclackey at stic.net"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-04T07:07:03+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) The coins, torpedo, and George",
      "in_reply_to": "<331192.93829.qm@smtp816.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Mo Holkar wrote:\n[snip]"
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "On another, unrelated note: do we assume that the 'long, skinny\ntorpedo' seen with the Greek (198) is Nicholas the Butler?"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "I think so.\n\n[snip]"
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "And a question: how did George get from following Nicholas into the\nhouse (233) to being picked up 'on the street' by the police (270)?"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Just a guess, but it seems that the house may have outlets into faerie at\nsome remove from the house. That is, Bax left old Nick at the house when he,\nMartha, Winker and Toby drove to the Skotos Strip, which is some miles away\nand on the other side of the river. Yet, as the river battle ended, Nick\ncame walking up to the scene. How did he get there?\n\nNicholas may have left the house in a similar way and come out Here, not\nThere, and George followed him. Or Nicholas may have come out of the house\nThere and knew or found another way back Here. On the day of the river\nbattle, Martha phoned and read Bax an article from that morning's newspaper\nabout two rural families who had been victims of a tall man in black who had\nsucked their children's blood (276). That was Nicholas, so that may be how\nGeorge got out of the house and back to town.\n\nIt seems that it was the afternoon before the river battle that Kate came to\nthe house to look for George. After the failed search is when she called the\nstation and learned that George was back in jail. It had been night when\nGeorge let Nicholas out of the trunk and followed him into the house, so\nthat must have been the night before she and Bax searched the house.\n\nGeorge had not skipped bail, so there was no real reason to keep him in\njail. He may have been released that same day he was picked up or the next,\nthe day of the river battle.\n\nBut all this brings up another nasty problem I should have seen before. In\nthe middle of the river battle, Bax got that silly phone call from Nicholas,\nwho was supposed to be locked up again in the trunk. The problem is, the\ntrunk was on the back of Bax's old car, the same car he and the others drove\nout to the Skotos Strip in. So was Nicholas back in the trunk when Bax drove\nthe car out of the driveway of his house that day? If so, then Nick failed\nto tell Bax before he set out, and Bax had talked to him.\n\nDid Doris, Orizia, George and old Nick find and confine Nicholas sometime\nearlier on the day of the river battle? It isn't clear the time of day that\nMartha phoned Bax, but after the call he got dressed for the trip, talked to\nNick, collected Toby and Winkler, then drove over to pick up Martha and went\nout to the Skotos Strip. Or was Nicholas captured the day or night before\nthe battle? During the phone call with Martha he told her that George was\nsafe in jail. He must have been wrong about that, but still . . .\n\nThe postscript to Doris's last letter just confuses me more. She said that\nafter they found and locked up Nicholas she went with Orizia to her hotel\nroom and talked a bit, and was now going to bed. That makes it seem like it\nwas late in the day if not at night when she was writing. So when did they\nput Nicholas in the trunk? The real estate inquiries Nicholas got on her\ncell phone suggest the calls came during business hours.\n\nI'm so confused.\n\n-Roy"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<370240.97486.qm@smtp822.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Mo Holkar / UKG",
        "address": "lists at ukg.co.uk"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-04T08:42:37+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Nicholas timing and trunk, etc",
      "in_reply_to": "<003501caeb58$69240c60$21d04a0c@rclackey>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "At 08:07 04/05/2010, Roy wrote:\nBut all this brings up another nasty problem I should have seen before. In\nthe middle of the river battle, Bax got that silly phone call from Nicholas,\nwho was supposed to be locked up again in the trunk. The problem is, the\ntrunk was on the back of Bax's old car, the same car he and the others drove\nout to the Skotos Strip in. So was Nicholas back in the trunk when Bax drove\nthe car out of the driveway of his house that day? If so, then Nick failed\nto tell Bax before he set out, and Bax had talked to him."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Hmm, that is tricky. I guess it's possible that the trunk had been \nremoved from the car. I have the impression that it's detachable -- \n\"the trunk is an actual trunk, a huge piece of luggage that could... \nbe carried\" (108). So it could still be back at the house, wth \nNicholas inside it, during the battle. It would seem a bit of a cheat \nnot to mention this though (plus, who would be the notional four men \nrequired to move it?)"
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "Did Doris, Orizia, George and old Nick find and confine Nicholas sometime\nearlier on the day of the river battle? It isn't clear the time of day that\nMartha phoned Bax, but after the call he got dressed for the trip, talked to\nNick, collected Toby and Winkler, then drove over to pick up Martha and went\nout to the Skotos Strip. Or was Nicholas captured the day or night before\nthe battle? During the phone call with Martha he told her that George was\nsafe in jail. He must have been wrong about that, but still . . .\n\nThe postscript to Doris's last letter just confuses me more. She said that\nafter they found and locked up Nicholas she went with Orizia to her hotel\nroom and talked a bit, and was now going to bed. That makes it seem like it\nwas late in the day if not at night when she was writing. So when did they\nput Nicholas in the trunk? The real estate inquiries Nicholas got on her\ncell phone suggest the calls came during business hours."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Those calls may have been received just shortly prior to the river \nbattle, during the presumably daytime period while Bax was collecting \nhis passengers and driving to the Strip, so I don't think they \nnecessarily say anything about when Nicholas was confined. But yes, \nthe Doris postscript strongly implies it was evening.\n\n\nI am now wondering why it is that on pp242, 244 Bax is hiring cabs \nrather than driving himself. Maybe he is now wary of using the car, \nbecause of the associated (he believes, although Mme Orizia has \nalready told him otherwise, 221) faerie effects?\n\n\nAlso, this cab period follows a conversation with Nick which Bax says \nhe will give Millie in its proper place (242) -- but, as far as I can \nsee, he never does so. I don't think it can be the conversation that \nhe reports to George on 254 et seq, because after that he goes to bed (259).\n\n\n\nWhen I reread this book properly, I'll try to do up a timeline...\n\n\nMo\n\n\n# ~ # ~ #\n\nWolfeWiki -- a wiki about Gene Wolfe\nhttp://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/ "
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<003501caebae$e7d037e0$35d14a0c@rclackey>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Roy C. Lackey",
        "address": "rclackey at stic.net"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-04T17:26:10+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Nicholas timing and trunk, etc",
      "in_reply_to": "<370240.97486.qm@smtp822.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 2,
          "text": "Mo Holkar quoted and wrote:\nBut all this brings up another nasty problem I should have seen before."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "In"
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 2,
          "text": "the middle of the river battle, Bax got that silly phone call from\nNicholas,\nwho was supposed to be locked up again in the trunk. The problem is, the\ntrunk was on the back of Bax's old car, the same car he and the others\ndrove\nout to the Skotos Strip in. So was Nicholas back in the trunk when Bax\ndrove\nthe car out of the driveway of his house that day? If so, then Nick\nfailed\nto tell Bax before he set out, and Bax had talked to him."
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "Hmm, that is tricky. I guess it's possible that the trunk had been\nremoved from the car. I have the impression that it's detachable --\n\"the trunk is an actual trunk, a huge piece of luggage that could...\nbe carried\" (108). So it could still be back at the house, wth\nNicholas inside it, during the battle. It would seem a bit of a cheat\nnot to mention this though (plus, who would be the notional four men\nrequired to move it?)"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "No, it was on the car. In her postscript Doris said, \"We cornered Nicholas\nand he agreed to go into the trunk (tied on the back of your car) and let us\nclose it if we would give him a cell phone.\" (290) That she bothered to make\nher parenthetical comment at all bothers me. Bax knew where the trunk was.\nIt's almost as if Wolfe was drawing attention to this timing issue. I must\nbe missing something.\n\n[snip]"
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "I am now wondering why it is that on pp242, 244 Bax is hiring cabs\nrather than driving himself. Maybe he is now wary of using the car,\nbecause of the associated (he believes, although Mme Orizia has\nalready told him otherwise, 221) faerie effects?"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "He was going downtown to search courthouse and library records (243), so he\nmay have anticipated difficulties parking his big old car, difficulties\nDoris had mentioned earlier when they left the lawyer's office."
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "Also, this cab period follows a conversation with Nick which Bax says\nhe will give Millie in its proper place (242) -- but, as far as I can\nsee, he never does so. I don't think it can be the conversation that\nhe reports to George on 254 et seq, because after that he goes to bed\n(259)."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "I think it is the conversation in that letter (# 36) addressed to George.\nThough the letter is addressed to George, he didn't know where George was so\nhe was sending it \"to your dear and loyal Millie\" (255), knowing she would\nread it (260). He went to bed but hadn't finished the letter. The postscript\nwas evidently added the next morning after breakfast. (ibid.) In fact, in\nthe postscript he says that Martha \"has asked me to join her in search of\nher son Emlyn.\" Martha told Bax in the phone call she made to him the day of\nthe river battle that that was the real reason she had called (278). She\nwanted to search the house for Emlyn, but Bax thought that it would be\neasier to find him by finding Lupine, and that was the reason for the trip\nto the Skotos Strip.\n\n-Roy"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<000d01caebbf$5c2219a0$0ed04a0c@rclackey>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Roy C. Lackey",
        "address": "rclackey at stic.net"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-04T19:23:57+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Nicholas timing and trunk, etc",
      "in_reply_to": "<370240.97486.qm@smtp822.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Just to follow up on what I wrote earlier:\n\nEven if the trunk had been removed from the back of the car by an unknown\nperson or persons for unknown reasons after Nicholas was back inside it, I\nfind it very hard to believe that Bax either failed to notice it was gone\nwhen he went out to the car, or failed to mention it if he did. After all,\nhe troubled to mention that he put the cased pistols under the seat and the\nsword in the compartment intended for golf clubs. If the trunk had been\nmissing it would have been a big deal to him and I know of no reason why he\nwould fail to make mention of it. And when he got the phone call from\nNicholas he seemed completely ignorant of Nicholas's plight.\n\nBut even if these objections could be waved away, that doesn't address the\nissue of *when* Nicholas was found and put in the trunk. Worse, where was\nBax while Doris and Orizia and George and Nick were searching his house?\nWhere was he when Nicholas was put in the trunk of the car?\n\nI said before that it would seem to have been late in the day when Doris\nwrote her postscript and went to bed. For Nicholas's sake, it should have\nbeen after sundown when he was put into the trunk. I think that Bax\nsuspected, by the time George showed up at night and wanted to open the\ntrunk, what the trunk might contain. Which is why he said, \"Because I\nbelieve it wiser to open it when we have daylight.\" (232)\n\n-Roy"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<306475.76967.qm@smtp819.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Mo Holkar / UKG",
        "address": "lists at ukg.co.uk"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-04T22:08:39+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Nicholas timing and trunk, etc",
      "in_reply_to": "<003501caebae$e7d037e0$35d14a0c@rclackey>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "At 18:26 04/05/2010, Roy wrote:\nNo, it was on the car. In her postscript Doris said, \"We cornered Nicholas\nand he agreed to go into the trunk (tied on the back of your car) and let us\nclose it if we would give him a cell phone.\" (290) That she bothered to make\nher parenthetical comment at all bothers me. Bax knew where the trunk was.\nIt's almost as if Wolfe was drawing attention to this timing issue. I must\nbe missing something."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Mm, that is odd. And Mme Orizia speaks on p292 of locking Nicholas \n\"in an old trunk\" which she then advises posting on somewhere, rather \nthan eg. \"in the trunk of your car\". I supose it's reasonable that \nit's obvious to her that the trunk is meant for detachment, but again \nit feels like it's being brought to our attention."
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 2,
          "text": "Also, this cab period follows a conversation with Nick which Bax says\nhe will give Millie in its proper place (242) -- but, as far as I can\nsee, he never does so. I don't think it can be the conversation that\nhe reports to George on 254 et seq, because after that he goes to bed\n(259)."
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "I think it is the conversation in that letter (# 36) addressed to George.\nThough the letter is addressed to George, he didn't know where George was so\nhe was sending it \"to your dear and loyal Millie\" (255), knowing she would\nread it (260). He went to bed but hadn't finished the letter. The postscript\nwas evidently added the next morning after breakfast. (ibid.)"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Yes, I guess that must be it. It's complicated by the way that when \nmentioning the conversation to Millie earlier (242) Bax says it was \nprompted by Nick interrupting him having just been speaking with \nDoris on the phone, prior to which he was in lethargy, but on 254 \nthere's no reference to any such interruption or phone call -- \nrather, the conversation with Nick there seems to follow on from Bax \nfinishing searching for George. Of course it would be otiose for Bax \nto give overlapping accounts of events in these two letters which he \nexpected to have the same reader, but to be marshalling incidents in \nthis way -- such that the timeline skips back and forth between the \ntwo letters -- is quite a strain on my deductive powers, never mind \nMillie's :-)\n\nbest,\n\nMo\n\n\n# ~ # ~ #\n\nWolfeWiki -- a wiki about Gene Wolfe\nhttp://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/ "
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<433763.64740.qm@smtp820.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Mo Holkar / UKG",
        "address": "lists at ukg.co.uk"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-04T22:42:08+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Nicholas timing and trunk, etc",
      "in_reply_to": "<000d01caebbf$5c2219a0$0ed04a0c@rclackey>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "At 20:23 04/05/2010, Roy wrote:\nJust to follow up on what I wrote earlier:\n\nEven if the trunk had been removed from the back of the car by an unknown\nperson or persons for unknown reasons after Nicholas was back inside it, I\nfind it very hard to believe that Bax either failed to notice it was gone\nwhen he went out to the car, or failed to mention it if he did. After all,\nhe troubled to mention that he put the cased pistols under the seat and the\nsword in the compartment intended for golf clubs. If the trunk had been\nmissing it would have been a big deal to him and I know of no reason why he\nwould fail to make mention of it. And when he got the phone call from\nNicholas he seemed completely ignorant of Nicholas's plight."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Another thing: Bax speaks with Nick on 279 while he's packing the car \nto leave for Martha and the Strip, so you'd think Nick would have \nmentioned then that there was a recaptured vampire butler in the \ntrunk. He may have had sorcerous reasons for not doing so, but I \ncan't think of any."
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "But even if these objections could be waved away, that doesn't address the\nissue of *when* Nicholas was found and put in the trunk. Worse, where was\nBax while Doris and Orizia and George and Nick were searching his house?\nWhere was he when Nicholas was put in the trunk of the car?"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "I think it would have to have been during the otherwise-event-free \nnight between Bax and Kate's search for George, which ends at dinner \ntime (270), and Bax's phone call with Martha, which is in the morning \n(276). This would mean Bax was incorrect to say George was still in \njail at the point of that phone call; but that's not a problem, as he \nwould have had no way of knowing."
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "I said before that it would seem to have been late in the day when Doris\nwrote her postscript and went to bed. For Nicholas's sake, it should have\nbeen after sundown when he was put into the trunk. I think that Bax\nsuspected, by the time George showed up at night and wanted to open the\ntrunk, what the trunk might contain. Which is why he said, \"Because I\nbelieve it wiser to open it when we have daylight.\" (232)"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Although Bax would naturally want the precaution of daylight to \nprotect himself from a possibly rampaging Nicholas, I guess if \nNicholas is willingly agreeing to go in the trunk, that could be \naccomplished during the day if it was indoors so no daylight actually \nfell on him? But as you say, the Doris postscript strongly implies \nevening anyway.\n\nThere is also the question of how he steals washing if he's only \noperational at night. Not really common practice to hang one's \nwashing out to dry during the hours of darkness?\n\n\nI get more puzzled the more I look into this, rather than less! Hmm.\n\nbest,\n\nMo\n\n\n# ~ # ~ #\n\nWolfeWiki -- a wiki about Gene Wolfe\nhttp://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/ "
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<001101caec66$2f88e340$bdcd4a0c@rclackey>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Roy C. Lackey",
        "address": "rclackey at stic.net"
      },
      "date": "2010-05-05T15:18:07+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Nicholas timing and trunk, etc",
      "in_reply_to": "<433763.64740.qm@smtp820.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>",
      "reply_link": "header",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "Mo Holkar wrote:\nAnother thing: Bax speaks with Nick on 279 while he's packing the car\nto leave for Martha and the Strip, so you'd think Nick would have\nmentioned then that there was a recaptured vampire butler in the\ntrunk. He may have had sorcerous reasons for not doing so, but I\ncan't think of any."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Neither can I. But he seems to be notorious within his family for staying\nout of his children's disputes. In their earlier conversation, Nick told Bax\nthat he (Nick) was just a \"thing\" that had never even been born (256),\nsomething like a living tool in the service of the master (or owner) of the\nhouse, a thing grown in a \"trough\" (258). Rather than get distracted here by\nthe veracity or implications of Nick's claims, I will just point out that\nBax asked Nick to serve George as well. Nick agreed and said, \"I shall\nassist him to the best of my ability, provided that his interests do not\nconflict with your own.\" (256)\n\nThis may explain why, in the letter addressed to George about the river\nbattle, Bax said that he knew that it was really their father (\"as Nick, my\nelderly butler\" ), not George, who had found and cornered Nicholas (286). If\nGeorge had asked Nick to help him find Nicholas, Nick would probably have\ndone it. I can think of no reason why getting Nicholas back in the trunk\nwould have been contrary to Bax's interests. George might even have asked\nNick not to mention it unless asked."
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 2,
          "text": "But even if these objections could be waved away, that doesn't address\nthe\nissue of *when* Nicholas was found and put in the trunk. Worse, where was\nBax while Doris and Orizia and George and Nick were searching his house?\nWhere was he when Nicholas was put in the trunk of the car?"
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "I think it would have to have been during the otherwise-event-free\nnight between Bax and Kate's search for George, which ends at dinner\ntime (270), and Bax's phone call with Martha, which is in the morning\n(276). This would mean Bax was incorrect to say George was still in\njail at the point of that phone call; but that's not a problem, as he\nwould have had no way of knowing."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "That stinks. Not your reasoning, but the void in the narrative. We don't\nknow for sure that Bax had dinner with Kate; just that she offered to buy.\nBut it was definitely well after noon when they finished searching the house\nand she learned that George had been picked up. Bax had walked to the diner\nwhere they had lunch, so Kate must have driven there in her car. After they\nsearched the house they looked at his car and the trunk. If they did have\ndinner somewhere, they would have taken her car. Bax would have come back\nhome to write the letter about the search with Kate.\n\nNext thing we know, Bax is writing the letter about the phone call from\nMartha and the river battle. That, of course, was written in the wake of the\nbattle. So there is really no way to tell how much time passed between\nKate's search and Martha's phone call. Even if we assume just the one night\nbetween those events, where was Bax when Doris came to the house?\n\nThat house scared the hell out of her, as she makes plain. Bax even said\nthat she was willing to help search it for George, but only in his company\n(260). She went to the house for just one reason -- to make up with Bax. Yet\nshe got drafted into searching for a vampire while Bax was out somewhere\nwith Kate? Or Bax was home writing the letter about their search of the\nhouse that day? Something isn't right.\n\n-Roy"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}