Tuesday, July 27: Mystery Masterclass
The 400 YEAR-OLD SOLUTION
by James Lincoln Warren
My primary computer is temporarily occupied and I can’t use it to access the internet to provide a guest column today. When things return to normal, I will provide the Gentle Reader with new material worth reading. Until then, may I suggest checking out the following Medici mystery.
With gratitude and apologies,
JLW
***
A Venetian Mystery
On the 17 October 1587, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco I de’Medici, and Bianca Cappello, his former mistress and second wife, died.
Scribbler’s Notebook:
• Both died on the same day!
Wagging tongues claimed Francesco and Bianca conspired to rid themselves of her husband, then poison Frederic’s first wife, 31-year-old Joanna of Austria. This was construed as a Medici pattern presumably followed by his younger brother, Don Pietro in making his wife go away as well as the death of Isabella, their unfaithful sister. We’re talking Medici, remember? Sharp daggers and poison rings?
Another brother, the Cardinal Ferdinando I, awaited in the wings, hot to seize authority. For Francesco and Bianca to die on the same day, that couldn’t be coincidence, could it?
This mystery appears to have been solved. Read the dénouement.
Cool. Glad to know some Medicis died of natural causes. Reminds me of I CLAUDIUS. Only one important character in that book dies of natural causes, and that was the worst person in the whole story.
Actually, I did not post the Medici mystery — that was Leigh, leaping a tall building in a single bound when he learned of my computer problems (which are now all fixed). After obtaining my permission, he edited my original post, which did nothing more than direct readers to our archive, and then added the paragraph and illustration below it. This is why it looks more like one of Leigh’s columns than one of mine.
And for the record, there is no such critter as a Scribbler’s Notebook — I always use footnotes for asides. So it really ought to be called the “ADD Detective’s Notebook”. Credit where credit is due.
Thanks, amigo!
You’re welcome, of course!!
(I didn’t think it looked different, just shorter.)
I’m glad I’m not the only person who thought of “I Claudius” reading this! There could be a mini-series about the de’Medicis! (“Paging Brother Cadfael…” Yeah, i know he was a lot earlier!!)