"The Tell-Tale Heart" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rich

On that fateful New Years Eve, while Madeline danced with the patrons of the bar, Roderick stayed with his drink and spoke to Verna of ravens. While a portent of death for his mother growing up, Roderick was almost convinced by Verna's insistence that the raven could also be a bringer of good fortune. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know his fortune, but she told him, based on his palm, that his fortune was likely to make a change that very night. As a police car, siren wailing, stopped briefly in front of the bar, he and Madeline both gazed at it.

Roderick headed to the dance floor before the ball-drop, and as Madeline lit a cigarette, Verna complimented her, saying that it was a wonderful thing Roderick had his sister to look out for him. Verna asked about her New Year's Revolution-- after all, Roderick spoke on both their behalf earlier, saying they wanted to change the world. When pressed, Madeline said that she'd rather be rich than famous, never letting a man rule her life, and then she could get to work living forever.

As 1980 was rung in, Madeline turned to find her brother kissing one of the dancers at the party. Turning back, she locked lips with Verna, the mysterious bartender giving a cheers to her.

Answer: A jester

Dupin, frustrated that Roderick won't come around to the reason he and Madeline were in a bar on New Years, asks why he wasn't home with Annabel on the holiday and was, instead, kissing another woman. Roderick, however, isn't at that point in the story yet; he's not quite ready to confess.

Roderick and the rest of the Usher family, at least of those who could make it, attended a single funeral for the three Ushers who'd passed in the preceding days; Prospero, Camille, and Leo all lay in caskets in the church with a full house attending. While tapping at her cell phone, Tamerlane asked Madeline who the women on the other side of the church were, seated at the front. They were the mothers, she replied. Roderick, meanwhile, was afraid to lift his head during the eulogy for fear of looking into the eyes of his dead children. Their spectres watched him from the next pew. Turning to look back at the upper balcony he saw a figure in a jester mask watching.

Grabbing Juno and walking past the mothers, he would regrettably take one final look back at the caskets, seeing all three of his children-- at least their ghosts-- watching him depart. Madeline would have to hold his arm to help him walk out.

The last of the children-- Frederick, Tamerlane, and Victorine-- would meet up at an emptied bar shortly after the funeral, leaving their mandated bodyguards in the sitting room, so that they could talk about the situation. Victorine said that while they may have never seen eye to eye, then and there might be the time to band together. Of course, by the time the conversation is over, none of them believed that. As Vic left, Tam said that it didn't matter what Pym said, Vic was probably the informant.

Answer: Their home

Frederick and Lenore would stop in at the hospital after the funeral to check in on Morella, and to their relief, she was awake and more cogent than over the previous days. A doctor would inform Frederick that her blood oxygen levels were looking better, but given the damage to her lungs she'd need to remain on oxygen. With third-degree caustic burns covering much of her body, her organs were faring better than expected. Despite the doctor's insistence, however, Frederick was ready to take Morrie home, many weeks before skin grafts would be an approachable solution and well before most patients in her state would be expected to move. Frederick didn't care. He's an Usher.

Victorine received bad news as well. When Ali returned home, the jig was up regarding the unexpected surgery; Ali learned from her office that she was scheduled a week down the line for an experimental surgery with a candidate that she didn't even vet. Vic reasoned that her father wanted the heart mesh to work, and fast, so he fast-tracked two hundred million in funds, but only if they went ahead with human testing, but this discovery led Ali to realize the bigger issue-- her signature, all over their falsified testing data. Ali admitted she let it all go too far and, when she tried to leave, Victorine reminded her she was under a tight NDA-- Pym's special. Vic wasn't who Ali thought she was. She left with a final goodbye. She planned to tell everyone. In anger, Vic picked up a bookend and threw it at the apartment door.

Answer: There wasn't one

Vic would end up in her office, phoning Ali and leaving a message for the third time, hoping to work it out. When she put down the phone she started hearing the chirping coming from the vents-- a steady chirp not unlike the heart mesh device. Looking around she saw that it was likely the smoke detector on the wall, low on batteries. She took it down as Madeline came in to make her rounds and check on the kids. It was a quick couple of questions before Madeline's true purpose, to check on the status of the HeroVesta's human trials, became clear. All the while, Vic kept hearing the chirping coming from somewhere. And it was utterly distracting.

Pym and Dupin, meanwhile, would meet in the judge's chambers. The latter had to ask why, after all this time, 'the Pym Reaper' would stay by the Ushers' side knowing what he knows. Pym wouldn't be anybody without them though, and neither would Dupin for that matter. When Judge Neal came in, it was clear that there was a topic to discuss: the recent deaths in the Usher Family. Pym asked for a continuance; the family needed to investigate the reason behind the deaths, and if it had anything to do with Dupin's inference that an informant was in their midst, it would jeopardize the case and possibly put more lives at risk. Dupin repeated that the Ushers have had a history of evading prosecution, almost to supernatural extent, and Pym made a suggestion clear: they could avoid the need for continuance if Dupin revealed the informant and let an investigation take its course.

Roderick asks Dupin-- it doesn't matter anymore, obviously, but he's curious-- who the informant is. There never was one. Roderick has to admit he's impressed; Dupin gave up his ethics to play that card.

Answer: Computers

Dupin admits that his tactic made sense. Lying about the informant was always done with the intent to crack the Usher fortress and maybe even pit the siblings against each other. He never intended for the Ushers to start dying as a result. Roderick tells Auguste to relieve himself of the emotional burden; his kids died independently of the lawsuit and all factors associated with it. As he looks up to Dupin, he sees blood blossoming on the prosecutor's shirt and the man transforms into the spectre of Victorine, dead and moaning in agony.

It's the perfect opportunity for Roderick to continue elaborating on the past. Madeline would end up speaking to Rufus Griswold in his office at Fortunato, explaining how best to customize his sales force and annihilate the competition by tracking prescriptions via new computer technologies. Griswold wasn't excited to introduce computers, but her insistence was convincing.

Griswold would ask who would be responsible for overseeing the computers, and upon discovering that it would be Madeline running that company, he had to ask why a woman would want to do such a thing, especially alone, when she could do more as a secretary in his office. She snapped back at him a bit, and that's when the conversation unfolded with a bit more forthcomingness.

Answer: Dangerous

Griswold grew wise to Madeline's plan, especially since she arrived in his office merely days after Dupin's snooping into the potentially falsified signatures. To his understanding, she'd comin with new computer software, upload all the documentation and records into a database, and have a grip on Fortunato as a result. She asked if his plan was simply to humiliate her, but he didn't think he needed to go that far, especially since the office knew that she and Roderick were the bastard children of the former C.E.O. Griswold knew their mother and believed her to be a great full-service secretary...until her brain rotted and she killed Longfellow. It still worked for him, what with Longfellow being gone. That's just business.

That night, Madeline confided in Annabel and Roderick that she was glad to face Griswold eye-to-eye and understand they weren't up against much besides testosterone, hubris, and aftershave. He didn't need to be smart, however, to be dangerous. To their advantage, Dupin would be in the room with him. They all agreed it was an opportunity; if Griswold didn't think much of Madeline and Roderick, they could operate under the radar. And knowing the records still existed in hard copy in the basement meant they could nab them, quietly, in the shift to the new campus. It would be dangerous, but they'd do it.

Answer: Her eyes

Pym spread the photos out for Roderick and Madeline, all of which showed the same woman at different sites, all connecting back to the dead Usher children. Images of Verna were found on security footage at both Prospero's party and the R.U.E. morgue on the night Camille stopped in and on Leo's phone at the adoption centre. Madeline brought up her suspicions first, believing the woman in the photos to be the spitting image of the bartender from New Year's Eve back in 1979. Her theory was that, if Roderick slept with her, this could be a new heir, coming out of the woodwork and vying for inheritance. Pym declared that he would be the negotiator on behalf of the family should anything arise, and he would be hostile in his approach. He claimed he would bring receipt of the transaction. Madeline asked that the receipt be her eyes.

The woman, meanwhile, was with Vic in her office at R.U.E., listening to the Usher telling her that the procedure might be the most important thing the woman has ever done. While 'Pamela' talked, asking if she could meet Dr. Ruiz before her surgery, Vic kept getting distracted by the continual chirping still present in her office.

'Pam' asked Vic point-blank whether being famous was more important to her than saving lives, but the conversation came to a break before Vic could answer. Instead, Vic got up from her seat and started poring through the shelves looking for the source of the chirping, ignorant of the fact that she really wasn't paying attention to anything outside her own head. Later, Vic's phone would ring and she'd miss the caller. She'd phone Ali and offer her anything, just as loong as she came back and do the surgery.

Answer: A business asset

Lenore found her father in her Mother's soon-to-be recuperation room, pulling the pieces together for her state-of-the-art facility. There would probably be reporters, Frederick said, but they could ask Pym for some canned responses to give. Frederick sat his daughter down and reminded her of who they were as Ushers, people in the crosshairs of society. Pym was brought on to save them, and she it would be in her best interest to listen to the man. None of them could trust anyone. Even Morella lied to them, claiming she was going out with her girlfriends when she was really going to that party. Fortunately, they would almost have her at home.

Tamerlane, meanwhile, would check outside her door to find her private guard speaking to someone though, to her disappointment, the man claimed to be alone.

She would wake up to Bill asking if she fell asleep mid-sentence. She did. He was recommending postponing the launch; in light of everything, she needed a break. The conversation backfired on Bill who, after suggesting the slow-down, was informed that he was only a part of the business because Tam headhunted him for the sake of the brand; she could drop him in an instant. She also revealed that she knew about his time with Candy, what with her being on four of his streams and having been seen in public with her. He retorted that he was in the park with her, and she couldn't even remember it.

Reminding Bill that she was the owner of the BILLT brand, making him an asset, Tam said it'd be fine if he walked out the door. Bill said he wouldn't come back.

Answer: The sound of loud music

Roderick, swirling an expensive drink, spoke to a brick wall in a basement and said aloud that, perhaps, he was losing his mind. The doctor, after all, said not to trust his own mind considering the onset dementia. If it was all true, then he might know how to stop it. He'd just need to take a whole bottle of Ligodone, five pills at a time, and fall asleep in his chair. Or he could run himself through with a weapon off the wall in his boardroom. Or he could throw himself out the board room window. But he couldn't because he was a coward, even if it would save everyone.

He visited Vic at her apartment instead, stopping in to find her listening to loud music. He had her turn it down before they sat and talked though it was clear she was unwell. He talked about himself instead, letting her know that he was sorry about everything going on and having the kids pit against one another. The truth was that he would need her work more than she knew; it would make a big difference for him, so he would support her with everything.

He asked if she would turn off the music, again, while they talked, but she couldn't. If she turned it off, then she'd keep hearing the sound. She asked her father for help, seeing if he could hear the chirping sound, and to her surprise, he could. To her amusement, it confirmed that everything was working.

Answer: Success

That everything was working as intended was perhaps the most troubling thing of all as, on the night Vic and Ali had their argument, Ali made for the door and Vic grabbed a bookend from the nearby shelf, tossing it at the door. She repressed the truth, however. Instead of hitting the door, she hit Ali in the back of the head. Vic made to call 911, but she realized something then and there-- she had the perfect opportunity to test the heart mesh. Sending away her bodyguard waiting outside, she told Ali it was all an accident.

Vic realized she forgot what she did in that moment, but what she actually did was grab a scalpel, move Ali's body to the bedroom, and cut into her, placing the heart mesh into her dying body in an attempt to save her life.

Roderick, following the sound to the office, would open the door and find Ali's body inside, the chest held open while the heart mesh pumped away. As Vic entered the room, she spoke to her dead girlfriend as though she were still alive. Roderick had to convince her, first by telling her she was fully-funded and second by telling her that Ali was dead, that the chirping noise was just the useless beating of her empty heart.

But it wasn't convincing. Vic said that her father should've jumped and spared her the effort, but that she was kidding herself if she thought she'd have stopped her valuable work. Success, after all, was everything, and if they wanted to succeed, they'd just need a better heart to work with. Taking a knife, she plunged it into her own chest, only snapping out of her reverie seconds before collapsing, dead, to the floor.