12-25-Tudors-DIGITAL | Page 20

The scenario
It’ s late on Christmas Eve. Emergency services have been called to a devastating fire at Bell- Brow Manor. The fire officer on the scene, Officer Roy Upright, arrived at the property at 10.14pm to find the new housekeeper, Jenny Yarn-Chopper, unconscious on the front lawn being guarded by the family’ s loyal golden retriever, Beswick.
Ms Yarn-Chopper has not been harmed by the fire but has been taken to hospital where she remains unconscious. Here’ s the mystery: the wealthy Cutpurse family, who have owned and lived in the manor for seven generations, all went to bed in the house shortly after 9pm. The online alarm system shows that the house was locked from the inside by Jenny at 9.37pm. The kitchen door was unlocked again by her at 10.05pm, when she escaped from the property. But security cameras only show her and the dog exiting the house. The entire Cutpurse family have vanished!
So where have they gone? How have they escaped the fire, and why?

The Cutpurse family

As Chittering-on-the-Weald’ s primary
private detective, you’ ve been drafted in to
find out what’ s happened. Oh, and no one
is getting any Christmas dinner until you’ ve
worked it out.
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Write to us at readers @ aquila. co. uk with your deductions and we’ ll print as many theories as we can, together with the solution, in a forthcoming issue of AQUILA.
Lord Cyril Cutpurse:
Dad of the family, not the one in charge. Missing.
Lady Catherine Cutpurse: Mum of the
family. No one knows what her lineage is. Missing.
Reptilia( Tilly) Cutpurse: Eldest,
bossy, very clever. Holds a grudge. Missing.