They have taken my keys

[Steveads2004]

Abby told a friend (Alice?) that "Now they have taken my keys" and something along the lines of "I'll tell you all the details later" but of course she had very few "laters" left in her account. I feel like that is a major part of the conspiricy that is often overlooked. Opinions?

[Curryong]

That was days before the murders and it was to Phoebe Bowen, who was her friend and was very upset about her murder. She said, (paraphrasing here,) after she met Phoebe in the street and said to her 'come and have a chat at my house' (and presumably a cup of coffee) "We can't go in through the front door because 'they've' taken my keys". Phoebe told the police that they went in via the kitchen instead.

This shows what a good close friend Phoebe Bowen was to Abby, as in those days most friends would be entertained formally in the parlour.

I don't think Abby said 'I'll tell you the details later" on this occasion. I think that was on a call to Mrs Chase some time before and it was in reference to the 'daylight robbery' of no 92 the year before. It's a pity she didn't speak about it as it would have been interesting.

I can remember discussions on this some time ago and must try and bring up the thread. The trouble is, we don't know who 'they' were. It's unlikely to have been Emma as she had been at Fairhaven for some time.

Lizzie was in charge of locking and unlocking the front door in the morning or night.
She might have, premeditating murder or just as an act of spite, have pretended to have lost her own front door key and so borrowed her stepmother's, thus making sure she couldn't come and go out of the front without her (Lizzie's) knowledge.

Andrew could have lost his key and asked Abby to hand over hers temporarily, until he got another one cut. It's odd, indeed, that she referred to 'they' but it's unlikely that Andrew and Lizzie ganged up on her.

[Steveads2004]

Thank you for the clarification Curry.Its so easy to get the elements confused. I think its very interesting that days before the terrible events Abby's keys were "taken". Where did they go, more to the point to whom did they go? Since there is so much controversy about the locks, Andrew's fumbling at the front door,etc. those missing keys it seems may hold a significant clue. To my mind it points to the possibility of an outsider being given a means of entry by a co-operating member of the household.

[Aamartin]

I wonder too if they were given to someone in order to allow them entry.

The question in my mind is, why such a security conscience family would allow keys to floating around somewhere. Why not change the locks?

[Curryong]

Actually, I've checked (the old memory fading) and what she actually said to Phoebe was that they couldn't get in through the front because 'they have taken my KEY'. As in one singular key, the key to the front door. The way that Phoebe told it though doesn't seem as if Abby was agitated by it, as you probably would be if you thought it was stolen.

And, Anthony as you say, in such a security conscious household, if there was any thought of that, Andrew would be screaming for a locksmith. It does sound as if either Andrew or Lizzie might have said to Abby "I've misplaced my key. Could I borrow yours until I find it again?"

Of course, that doesn't discount someone lying and letting another person have the key.

[MysteryReader]

In the book I Did It! (I referenced it earlier), "Emma" says she took Andrew's key(s) in order to get in and out the front door, keep it locked. Don't know. Also, "Emma" says that the robbery that took place was done by one of Bridget's companions. But of course, none of it can be true.

[Curryong]

Andrew had his ring of keys in his pocket. Dr Bowen got them for Bridget and Mrs Churchill when they went upstairs to get the sheet to put over Andrew's body, but of course the key to his bedroom was in its usual place on the shelf in the kitchen. The undertaker and Dr Dolan listed Andrew's keys as having been in his pocket.

That daylight robbery is a weird one, as Emma, Bridget and Lizzie were home at the time and yet no-one saw a thing!