The Tale of Three Servants

“You knew that, every night, the oldest servant set the table, the second servant made the meal, and the youngest servant delivered the meal and cleared the table after supper was over. So, last night, you pretended to be asleep when the youngest servant delivered your meal. After he left, you quietly applied two different fast-acting poisons – one to the wild blueberries in the bread pudding and another to the fork on the table. After that, you pretended to be too exhausted to eat and went upstairs to bed, knowing full well that the youngest servant would grab the fork and sample the delicious, untouched pudding – which he did before he slumped over in your chair and died, violently. That was his repayment for a life of faithful service. He was robbed and killed by a trusted friend.”

“But that wasn’t the end of it. You framed your other two servants for the crime. You knew that the two poisons would likely be discovered by a detective like myself, and the most obvious conclusion would be that each of your servants was trying to kill you. After all, why would one gator use two different poisons to kill someone, when one alone would do? And what motive would you possibly have to kill the servant? None, because you were rich. So, that would eliminate you as a suspect, and leave only the banker and the other two servants. As the oldest servant was the only one who had access to the silverware before the meal, and the second servant was the one only who had access to the bread pudding before the meal, it would be easy to conclude that each of your servants tried to kill you with a different poison. And their motive would be self-evident: They wanted your alleged fortune for themselves. So, it would appear that they each had opportunity and motive to kill you, but that they had bungled the job. And to seal the deal, you were going to act completely shocked in front of the detective when he revealed that the youngest servant was killed by two different poisons, which would help prove your innocence and their guilt. And that was the repayment your eldest two servants received for their faithful service to you.”

The detective continued. “You probably rationalized the whole thing in your head. You had to do it. You needed the money so the youngest servant had to go. And the other two servants – well, they would probably figure out the truth eventually – so they had to go as well. I’m sure you loathed yourself for doing it, but you still did it.”