Farewell to the Faulkners story
The Faulkners were an odd family - two spinsters living in a large mansion, served by one maid, with their only relative being their young brother, married but living elsewhere. When one night one of the sisters suddenly disappears without a trace - leaving her clothes behind - everyone is puzzled, but the remaining sister refuses to call the police, thinking on the family's good name - as there have been cases of insanity in the family before. A private detective finds nothing, and a few months later the other sister disappears in the same manner. The police are now alerted and begin to investigate - and soon it is revealed these two were not the first disappearances in the family. Directed by: Peter Sykes. Story by: Alun Richards, based on the story by Miriam Allen DeFord.
14 total · 1 choice · 8 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| appearances can be deceiving | choice | A key point of the story is that Philip was a gentle, likable young man whom nobody would suspected of doing evil. In a plot twist, it turned out that behind his mild mannered and ordinary exterior there was, in fact, a cold, calculating, cross-dressing killer. Before he murdered his two elderly sisters he had also done his wife in and spent years impersonating her to allay suspicions. |
| brother and sister | major | The plot turns on Philip murdering his two elderly sisters to, in part, hasten his inheriting of the family fortune in which the two sisters lived. |
| family honor | major | The Faulkners was reluctant about involving the police in the missing person investigation because they might unravel such points of family dishonor as a distant relative that had suffered amnesia. |
| fratricide | major | The plot turns on Philip murdering his two elderly sisters. The motive stemmed from a combination of deep seeded resentment and a desire to hasten his inheritance of the family fortune, or perhaps it was merely because he was deranged. |
| greed for riches | major | The plot turns on Philip murdering his two elderly sisters to, in part, hasten his inheriting of the family fortune in which the two sisters lived. |
| law enforcement | major | A police inspector was tasked to find the killer of two elderly sisters. |
| master and servant | major | The Faulkner sisters employed Martha as their housekeeper. When the sisters went missing one after the other, Martha became a key figure in the subsequent police investigation. Martha commented on how kind Philip was in contrast with his cold-hearted sisters. |
| spouse murder | major | In a surprise twist, it was revealed that Philip had long ago murdered his wife and had been living under the pretense that she was still alive. |
| the importance of reputation | major | The Faulkners was reluctant about involving the police in the missing person investigation because they might unravel such points of family dishonor as a distant relative that had suffered amnesia. |
| gender bending | minor | Philip turned out to be a cross-dresser. |