Ship of Fools: Our Excellent Adventure Revealed

Posted on by

40

Or, Exactly Who Did Kill Lupita Davenport?

A HUMONGOUS thank you to all of you who participated in Bella’s and my Excellent Adventure!

Here’s a sampling of mysteries set on the high seas. See below for more.

Thank you, too, to those of you who read it and kept coming back to see it develop! We loved you for hanging in there while the story unfolded before your eyes.

Most of all, thank you to my fellow blogger, my friend and partner-in-crime, Bella.  She is so amazing, and has a not-to-be-missed blog, One Sister’s Rant. Bella is witty and enormously creative, too. Undertaking this Adventure on the High Seas project was her brilliant idea. So, kudos to you, Bella!

If you ask me, Bella and I have some very imaginative readers, who conjured up a cast of characters.  A proverbial ship of fools, I’d say. In other words they were, for lack of a better expression, to die for. Story contributors (besides Bella and me), include, in order of appearance:

Ellenmgregg

Jodi Aman

Robert

Karen Bidgood

Trisha Richter

Ashley Rodriguez

Clare Pister

Imelda Evans

Eloise Currie

DeBatterman

So which of these characters killed Lupita Davenport? We know she died at the hands of one—or more?—of her conniving classmates from the Gene Kelly High School of Performing Arts. Class of 1982. But who?

And, what were all of these alumni up to for the last 20 years? Who knows? But one thing’s for sure. They all seemed to suffer from major chips on their shoulders, jealousy, hangovers, hangnails, and envy, and had their own reasons for wanting to exact revenge, to right a wrong or just plain have a go with the man (of some) of their dreams: Thurston Davenport, III. Heir to the Davenport Pickle Company, and otherwise known as the Pickle King.

Seems he was a hot commodity, with looks and wealth, and devotees, such as Sally the songstress who, prior to her transformation, had once been George, Thurston’s best friend in high school; Katrina, who was thin and gorgeous, and despised Lupita; and Denise Diamond, the aging, Glock-carrying movie star who was about to star in the role of a lifetime. As herself.

To be sure, there were some red herrings. Like Kent “the Rocket” Johnson who jostled Elphie, when they first heard the maid’s blood-curdling screams. Or Lizzy Kelcher and Ryan Holden, who were having a tryst of their own. Milady Miranda Mudgeon, who seemed to have a secret agenda that involved a certain fellow named Ashley Montague, despite being married to Cur, a man who’d been found alive and shaken, lying in a pool of pickle juice.

Jane, who was now in the witness protection program—and, why she’d risk leaving it for a high school reunion with classmates she hadn’t seen in 20 years, we’ll never know. Then there’s Snidley Crumburger, who seemed to be constantly sweating bullets, and Cliff Thompson, who seemed to be rather nosy, listening in on other’s thoughts. And a few others who I’m sure I’m leaving out from this convoluted reunion on the high seas.

Finally, there was Sister Mary, the lesbian nun in love with Lupita. We knew from the outset she couldn’t do it, though we wondered why she stole Lupita’s ring. But, it was clear she was still carrying a torch for her darling Lupita.

And, let’s not forget the weapons. A cornucopia that included a Glock, a knife, a candlestick, an umbrella and a hatpin.

But, was there enough motive? Who could have been so maniacal as to end the life of Lupita Davenport? And, does it really matter?

For the life of me, this is one I couldn’t figure out myself. So, to find the answer, I turned to my friend and colleague, Bruce. He has a background in engineering, and a methodical mind as sharp as a tack. In other words, I can’t keep up with his uncanny knowledge and way of analyzing and deciphering everything so that it makes sense. Which is why, I assumed if anyone could determine the killer of this highfalutin story, it would be him. So, I asked Bruce, as a neutral, unbiased party, to read the mystery and figure out the name of the culprit.

Upon reading it, Bruce said this story reminded him of a Federico Fellini film. For those who don’t know, Fellini is the Italian director known for his surrealism and use of hallucinatory imagery, showing people at their most bizarre. Which was all I needed to hear.

He loved it! Since Fellini is highly acclaimed for his work, I’m sure what Bruce was trying to say was that this story is truly brilliant, and should be turned into a film! Now, I’ll drink to that!

I thanked Bruce profusely for the compliment, but asked him to get on with it and tell me who murdered Lupita!  After all, inquiring minds have to know!

Exasperated, Bruce looked at me, and declared,

“Only one could have done it. The one who lost her marbles and was crazier than the whole lot of her classmates put together. Who disrobed down to her Manolos, shot bullets in the ceiling with her Glock, and pulled her hair out when she couldn’t find Thurston.”

Why, that person is, none other than Denise Diamond!

So, there you have it. Another case closed.  Mystery solved!

Now, be sure to head over to Bella’s so you can learn the results of her version of the story!

Oh, and, if Bruce is right, and we ought to make a film out of this story, tell me, who do you think we should get to play each of the parts?

Thanks again to all who participated!  Let’s do it again soon!

40 thoughts on “Ship of Fools: Our Excellent Adventure Revealed”

  2. Oh Monica, I cannot believe I missed this. I hope I get to participate the next time. It was such fun, I think you are both so talented and creative – the characters are so marvelous, even though, I didn’t get to follow all of it, some of them are still in my head. Absolutely loved it.

    • I know, MM! I’m so sorry you missed it, too! I was so sure it’d be more fun with you adding to the story. Well, if we ever do it again, I’m counting on you. By the way, did you post today about Duran Duran? I tried to go read it after I got the notification, but there was nothing there. So, just wondering.

      • I did Monica, it was so weird. I couldn’t find it either. It’s now up there, I had to go in and re-do the whole post. I have no idea what happened.
        My time has not been my own these last few weeks. I really feel as though I have been running around way too much. I was away at a wedding and I’m going away again with friends visiting from Australia. I will join in the next time, it is absolutely something I enjoy.

      • Well, I hope you have a good time with your friends! I am off to check out your new post. And, fyi, if you like theatre, I hope you’ll check out my new post on a great theatre right here in San Diego. 😉

  4. Monica, thank you soooooo much for putting this together and figuring out whodunnit. I tell you, both stories would have me sitting down with pages of names and arrows and floorplans and who was where and when. Kudos to you for figuring it out!

    Yes, I’d definitely do this again.

    • It was rather difficult figuring it out, Eloise. I had to read it several times. Then I printed it and laid it out in front of me to read some more. It really was a lot of fun and I’m so glad you enjoyed it, too! 😉

  5. Thank you Bella and Monica, for the chance to do this. It was great fun and Robert, I apologise wholeheartedly for hijacking your Sister Mary. It was Denise’s fault. By that stage she had got away from me completely and my manners went with her. I hope it didn’t ruin the story for you.

    I’m not surprised Denise did it – by the end there, I was beginning to think she was capable of anything! Although I still want to know what Katrina was up to with that hatpin. She definitely did something and if she didn’t kill Lupita, what did she do? I wouldn’t be surprised if Lupita was already in a drugged sleep, courtesy of a poisoned hatpin, when Denise shot her. But I am letting it get away with me again.

    I think my favourite character was George/Sally and I’m glad she got Denise’s dress!

    Thanks again, everyone!

    • Your forgiven for hijacking Sister Mary.

      I only chose the character as I thought it would be amusing for a male atheist to write about a lesbian nun!!!

      • Yes I always forgive. Life is too short not to I always think.

        Just in the middle of sending Monica some pictures of the English Countryside, I did not realise I had so many!!! Will keep me busy for a few hours.

    • Imelda, there sure were some memorable characters in this story, and I loved yours. If truth be told, I was leaning toward Katrina as the culprit, but since I had asked Bruce to analyze the story and give me his opinion, I went with Denise. My personal feeling was that Denise was too obvious, she being the one with the Glock. But we had some wonderful stuff going.

      Bruce actually suggested we take this further and make a book. A crowd-sourcing book, where Bella and I are the editors, and you, and everyone else keeps the plot going through your respective characters. If we really could accomplish this, it would be a first! I’m giving it some thought. Hmm…..

  6. It was so much fun clicking the “Excellant Adventure” to see how the story evolved. I loved Sister Mary and Sally George so I’m glad they didn’t do it.

  7. Monica,
    I did not participate this time, but I LOooooVE when you & Bella get your two beautiful heads together. FABulous. Creative. Magic. A great community of woman….XX

    • Oh, Kim, I really, really, really hope you participate next time. It was just so much fun. Bella and I had such a good laugh over this. I swear I had tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard!! So, please, please join us next time, sweetie!

  8. I was setting up the mysterious Ashley Montague as the culprit. Here he was, nowhere to be seen, despite Miranda Mudgeon (married to Cur) frequently going to find him, her mysterious journal entries, and then voila, at the end of the story, making her way up the staircase, and gasp, there he was. But as Jessica Fletcher would say, “I know who did it!” and Bruce did just that.

  9. Monica, you are too sweet! Thanks for the shout out, sister! It is very much appreciated. I must say, this venture could not have been possible without you. You’ve been a stickler for detail, the master behind the numbers game, the creator of our title and hashtag, and you’ve added the glue to our stories! Muchas gracias, amiga! I’m so glad we did this. I laughed so much every time I read your story or mine. These readers are worth their weight in gold! I would definitely have singled out Katrina as the killer in your story! Eloise, you did it again! ha! 🙂

  11. Pingback: And the killer is… | One Sister's Rant

Comments are closed.