Overture to Death Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dr. Templett had just been diagnosed with cancer

Before the meeting about the church charity play, Henry Jernigham had an argument with his father Jocelyn over his desire to marry Dinah Copeland, the rector's daughter. Jocelyn disapproved of this because he did not consider Dinah wealthy enough to be his son's wife. Also, their cousin Eleanor Prentice also disapproved of the arrangement and made her feelings known. This tension carried on into the meeting about the charity play.

At the meeting, Dr. Templett unexpected arrived with Mrs. Ross, with whom it was rumored he was having an affair. Her presence angered spinsters Miss Prentice and Miss Campanula who viewed Mrs. Ross as an amoral temptress. They were not happy when everybody jumped at the chance to perform Mrs. Ross' play "Shop Windows".

Miss Prentice and Miss Campanula were both friends and rivals. They were both middle-aged spinsters who were active in various community projects and charities. They were both also madly in love with Mr. Copeland, the rector, who did not return either's advances.

Answer: It smelled of eucalyptus

Doctor Templett was married; however, his wife was an invalid. It was widely suspected that he was having an affair with Mrs. Ross who was a newcomer to town. This alleged affair was frowned upon by Miss Campanula who sent an anonymous letter to Mrs. Ross warning her to get out of town or else. Mrs. Ross gave the note to Doctor Templett who noticed it smelled like eucalyptus which Miss Campanula was taking for her cold. Templett intended to compare the handwriting on the note to one he knew came from Miss Campanula.

However, he never did that because he left the note in his coat pocket where it was found by Alleyn after the murder.

Answer: Her finger was infected

Miss Prentice had injured her finger in the weeks before the play and it became infected and swollen. Dr. Templett had warned her that she would not be able to play the piano because of her finger but she insisted anyway. On the night of the performance, Dinah saw Miss Prentice in her dressing room, crying from the pain but still insisting she could play. Mr. Copeland managed to convince her at the very last second to step aside and let Miss Campanula take over.

Answer: Georgie Biggins

Georgie Biggins was a mischievous child who constantly pulled pranks on other people. He was removed from volunteering for the charity play because of these pranks by Miss Prentice and Miss Campanula. In order to get back at Miss Prentice, he rigged a contraption so that when she played the piano during the play, it would squirt water at her. However, someone had discovered the prank and replaced the water pistol with an actual pistol. Moreover, Miss Prentice never played the piano as she was replaced by Miss Campanula.

Miss Campanula had almost caught Georgie when he was rigging the piano with the water pistol. If she had, it would have saved her life because her murderer got the idea for the killing when he or she discovered Georgie's prank.

Answer: Dinah Copeland

It was originally speculated that Dinah was Miss Campanula's heiress. However that turned out not to be the case when the will was discovered. Dinah's father, the rector, received the bulk of the estate which he refused to accept. In addition to a small legacy for her servants and a long lost nephew somewhere in Africa, Miss Prentice also received a fairly decent sized inheritance.

Alleyn wondered if money was the motive since it was not clear who the intended victim was, Miss Campanula or Miss Prentice. Since Miss Campanula only took over the piano job a few minutes before her murder, Alleyn believed Miss Prentice must have been the target.

Answer: She played the piano about an hour before the play started

Gladys Wright was a volunteer girl who signed up to help set up and pass out programs before the play began. She arrived at the hall early, saw that it was empty and decided to play the piano to pass the time. Since she was not shot this causes a lot of confusion for Alleyn and Fox as they had believed the piano must have been rigged with the pistol on Friday night.

The piano could not have been rigged later than Friday night because it was decorated with heavy flower pots and bunting that were not moved.

Moreover, members of the cast and crew were in and out of the hall Saturday morning and afternoon so there would be no time for someone to switch the pistols without being caught.

Answer: An onion

Alleyn found an onion covered with pink powder on the floor of the refreshment table Mrs. Ross had prepared. It became something of a running joke with Alleyn bringing it up for no reason to his friends and the suspects several times, causing them to laugh.

It turns out Georgie Biggins pulled another prank and put the onion in the teapot. However, somehow it wound up covered in pink powder and on the floor. Alleyn knew this was important because no one would admit to finding the onion in the teapot.

Answer: The safety catch on the gun

Alleyn was trying to figure out if it was possible for the pistol to have been rigged in the piano before Gladys Wright played and if so, what spared her. By the way the pistol was rigged into the piano, Alleyn realized the safety catch could easily be removed very quickly. The safety catch stuck out from the back of the piano and was hidden by the bunting. Anyone could have quickly pulled the safety catch just before the play began. This explains why Gladys Wright was not shot when she played the piano an hour earlier.

However, when Miss Prentice was replaced by Miss Campanula, Alleyn realized that the would-be murderer could very easily just replaced the safety catch so Miss Campanula would not be shot. However, since that did not happen, Alleyn knew Miss Campanula was the target.

The incorrect answer choices are all proof of Miss Prentice's guilt. Her sheet music was wet because she playing it when she discovered the water pistol shortly after Georgie rigged the piano. She removed the pistol and then thought up the idea of murdering her friend and rival Miss Campanula by putting a real pistol in the piano. She returned to the hall later that evening to put the pistol in the piano but Dr. Templett and Mrs. Ross were there. She was too short to see through the window so had to stand on a box to see in. Miss Prentice's alibi for Friday night when the real pistol was rigged was that she was home at Pen Cuckoo. She had called the rector to cancel their meeting. However, the phone was dead at Pen Cuckoo because of the storm. Miss Prentice had actually called from the hall whose phone is an extension of the rectory's. This made it look like no one called the rectory Friday night, according to the phone operator. But since a call had been placed (Dinah answered it) it could have come from the rectory itself or the hall. This placed Miss Prentice in the hall at the time the pistol was rigged in the piano.

Answer: She saw Jocelyn Jernigham kissing Mrs. Ross

On the Friday before the murder, Miss Prentice went to confession with the rector. She and Miss Campanula frequently went to confession to say nasty things about each other and poison the other in the rector's mind. The first traumatic event that happened to her was the rector gave here a severe penance for ratting on Miss Campanula and told her not to do such a thing again. On her walk home from confession, she walked passed the hall and witnessed Dr. Templett and Mrs. Ross having an affair inside the building. Neither Templett or Ross ever admitted to this scandal. On her walk from the hall to Pen Cuckoo, she stumbled across the unmarried Henry and Dinah making love in the woods. Again Henry and Dinah do not admit this because at the time (1939), this was considered very scandalous and embarrassing.

The final shocking event occurred later that evening when she went to pay the rector a visit at his home. She saw Miss Campanula hugging the rector in a passionate way. Miss Prentice misinterpreted the scene and thought the rector had chosen her rival over her.

It was after that event she went to the hall, rigged the pistol and phoned the rector to cancel her meeting.

Answer: She was crying before the play started

Miss Prentice was half-Jernigham and Jernighams were known for stolidity. They never cried even when experiencing extreme pain. This is mentioned in passing several times. However, before the play began, Dinah saw Miss Prentice crying backstage allegedly because of the pain her finger was causing. Alleyn reveals that Miss Prentice had hid the onion she found in the teapot in her face makeup to help give her the appearance she was crying. That scene caused everyone to band together to make sure Miss Prentice didn't further cause herself pain by playing the piano. That was all part of her plan and everyone felt sorry for her.

It also made her look like the intended victim and not a murderess.