Nicholas timing and trunk, etc

Mo Holkar / UKG · 04 May 2010, 22:42 · from 2010-May.txt.gz

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From: lists at ukg.co.uk (Mo Holkar / UKG)
Date: Tue, 04 May 2010 23:42:08 +0100
Subject: (urth) Nicholas timing and trunk, etc
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At 20:23 04/05/2010, Roy wrote:
>Just to follow up on what I wrote earlier:
>
>Even if the trunk had been removed from the back of the car by an unknown
>person or persons for unknown reasons after Nicholas was back inside it, I
>find it very hard to believe that Bax either failed to notice it was gone
>when he went out to the car, or failed to mention it if he did. After all,
>he troubled to mention that he put the cased pistols under the seat and the
>sword in the compartment intended for golf clubs. If the trunk had been
>missing it would have been a big deal to him and I know of no reason why he
>would fail to make mention of it. And when he got the phone call from
>Nicholas he seemed completely ignorant of Nicholas's plight.

Another thing: Bax speaks with Nick on 279 while he's packing the car 
to leave for Martha and the Strip, so you'd think Nick would have 
mentioned then that there was a recaptured vampire butler in the 
trunk. He may have had sorcerous reasons for not doing so, but I 
can't think of any.

>But even if these objections could be waved away, that doesn't address the
>issue of *when* Nicholas was found and put in the trunk. Worse, where was
>Bax while Doris and Orizia and George and Nick were searching his house?
>Where was he when Nicholas was put in the trunk of the car?

I think it would have to have been during the otherwise-event-free 
night between Bax and Kate's search for George, which ends at dinner 
time (270), and Bax's phone call with Martha, which is in the morning 
(276). This would mean Bax was incorrect to say George was still in 
jail at the point of that phone call; but that's not a problem, as he 
would have had no way of knowing.

>I said before that it would seem to have been late in the day when Doris
>wrote her postscript and went to bed. For Nicholas's sake, it should have
>been after sundown when he was put into the trunk. I think that Bax
>suspected, by the time George showed up at night and wanted to open the
>trunk, what the trunk might contain. Which is why he said, "Because I
>believe it wiser to open it when we have daylight." (232)

Although Bax would naturally want the precaution of daylight to 
protect himself from a possibly rampaging Nicholas, I guess if 
Nicholas is willingly agreeing to go in the trunk, that could be 
accomplished during the day if it was indoors so no daylight actually 
fell on him? But as you say, the Doris postscript strongly implies 
evening anyway.

There is also the question of how he steals washing if he's only 
operational at night. Not really common practice to hang one's 
washing out to dry during the hours of darkness?

I get more puzzled the more I look into this, rather than less! Hmm.

best,

Mo

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