Phryne has invited the madrigal choir over to her house for a
rehearsal and to hear the latest gossip. Whilst passing round the
champagne cups Claude Greenhill informs her that the clubs lothario
Lawrence has dumped Diane whom he was meant to be marrying to take up
with Violet her younger sister. One of the other girls Alexandra is
gutted as she thought she was next after Diane.
Claude says Lawrence is not as bad a Victor who is the clubs casanova
however everyone knows it so none of the girls would fall for him.
Phryne notes that Jane who is moping has. Victor comes over and tells
Phryne not to believe all she hears from Claude but Phryne reminds
him that she knows him. Lawrence joins the conversation and announces
that he and Violet are to be married and he wants to choir to sing at
the reception.
Diane thrusts a bouquet of roses into Lawrence hands and
congratulates him. Lawrence is cut by one of the thorns on the roses.
The choir start to sing but halfway through a song Lawrence keels
over. One of the choir Anne who is in the medical profession checks
him over and proclaims he is dead.
Phryne
ushers the choir into another room and calls the doctor. The doctor
comes and states Lawrence died from anaphylactic
shock and asks what he ate. Phryne lists the foods including
strawberries. The doctor says it would have been the strawberries and
writes the death certificate. Phryne says if Lawrence knew he was
allergic to a food he would have avoided it but the doctor tells her
that these allergies can sneak up on people.
Phryne
calls Lawrence parents and hires an undertaker. She then asks Anne to
get Victor and Claude to come see her. Phryne asks Victor if he put
something in the wine that Victor had popped when the wedding
announcement was made as he had opened it outside the room. Victor
asks why they would think that and Claude says maybe Victor and
Lawrence were lovers. Victor said they had been once or twice but
Lawrence didn't really like him. Victor says he put nothing in the
wine but Lawrence was allergic to bee stings. He also tells them that
Lawrence wanted him to marry Diane but he just couldn't and breaks
down crying. Phryne sends him to wash his face in the bathroom.
Victor returns and Phryne asks him to do something for her she says
Jane. She’s in a bad way. I want you to resolve her future, Victor.
Settle quite a lot of money on her. I’m not asking you to marry
her,’ Victor agrees and Phryne send him back to rehearsal and asks
him to send Violet and Alexandra out to her.
Phryne
asks them if they knew of Lawrence' allergy. They say no and they
thought they would as he told them everything. Violet says Diane
might have known. Phryne sends them back to the rehearsal and Claude
says it looks like they didn't know about the murder. Phryne agrees
but grabs Claude by the ear and says he did though. Claude questions
her and she say he is the librarian and arrange the order the music
would be sung and he was trying to send a message to someone by doing
this.
Claude
eventually says the message was for Diane as he knew she was furious
and hoped it would shock he out of doing something like this. Phryne
realises that Diane must have put bee venom on the thorns of the
roses that she gave to Lawrence. Claude says that Lawrence is worth a
lot of money and changed his will to include her when he was going to
marry Diane but he was short on his income and borrowed money from
her and did not pay it back.
Claude
and Phryne realise that the venom would no longer be on the flowers
so there is no way of proving the crime. Claude says they could call
the police but Phryne says they have no evidence. They are thinking
about this dilemma when Claude spots a drunken bee climbing out of
one of the roses. The pair fall about laughing realising that the
death was simply an accident.
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