Slip or Trip?

Queenie arbitrarily left the house to a party at the country club after a tiff with her husband, Arthur. Later, she left the club and invited her friends over for another drink. Queenie arrived at home ten minutes before her friends. At the door she informed her friends that Arthur had slipped and fell on the stairs when he was coming down for another drink, and that she thought he was dead. The autopsy confirmed he was drunk and died from a wound on the head. The question is, did he slip or did she trip him? When you look closer you can conclude that Queenie killed Arthur. Arthur and Queenie had a fissure making it clear that she had the motive to murder him. The story says she tore out of the house, so it must have been a pretty intense fight considering she had to leave. The food cooking on the stove may be seen as evidence of Queenie’s innocence. People could argue that she would not have had time to kill him if she was cooking. However, we do not know that he died within the ten minutes she was home. She could have killed him before she even left to the party. Also, if you look at the food you see smoke rising from it. That is an indicator of burnt food, meaning she was not paying much attention.

These are two valid points for the quandary that can help prove the guiltiness of Queenie. Looking at the rug, wall, the glass in Arthur’s hand, and his clothes you see that everything is in top condition. When falling down the stairs a person would drop anything in their hand to catch their fall but Arthur has an unbroken cup in his hand. Clothes should also be at least a little askew. His clothes are neat, no evidence of the beating someone would have after tripping down the stairs. The rug would have been pushed out of position, but it is not disturbed. If Arthur had fallen, Queenie would not have been worried about the state her opulent home was in, or his clothes. Unless those slight details could uncover something more. Queenie had a very petite figure; she was 5 foot 6 and 110 pounds. It could be assumed that she could not kill a man as big as Arthur. But, the autopsy confirmed he was drunk.

Knowing he was drunk, it was very possible for a girl like Queenie to be able to kill him. Arthur was lying on his back at the bottom of the stairs; his arms sprawled to his sides, and his feet up on the stair. If he really fell down the stairs he would have fallen on his stomach. No matter what the reason he fell was, he would not have fallen on his back. Also, when going down the stairs he would have been holding onto the rail. The rail was on the left side coming down the stairs and the glass was in his left hand. If he was going down the stairs it would not have been in that hand. People might question the fact that Queenie was having friends over if she killed her husband. This piece of the story might make her look innocent, but it was ten minutes before her friends got there.

She waited far too long to call an ambulance or the police. Anyone with any gumption would have immediately called for help and not waited for their friends to do anything. It makes sense that she did not call right away if she killed him because she would be hiding evidence. The evidence found does not support Queenie’s claim. We can conclude from the condition and position of both the house and Arthur, the hesitance to get help, the clear motive, and the easy situation that Queenie killed Arthur.