Taking Chances, by E. L. Van Hine and L.H. Nicoll

[DeeDee]

Listening to the ballad

[notBastet]

DeeDee,

Thanks so much for a wonderful laugh!
 
Kelly

Lucise - can the cat and the ballad go in the gallery somewhere?  and will people post here when there are gallery updates?
Gracias.

[ranchgal]

Seems like smarmy [dumb] Brad is on his way to getting out of their lives, huh?  At least, I hope so. 

Regarding Leslie's comment about Brad maybe having a good heart deep down, just being confused (sorry Leslie, I'm paraphrasing)... personally I don't have any sort of impression of what he's really like deep down.  I haven't really tried to sympathize with him though.  I have of course been totally annoyed with his flirting with Ellery all along, and I am glad Ellery seems to have lost all tolerance for it.  Maybe if I learn more about Brad and his life I will care more about him, but I just don't right now.  One of the things I'm confused about is whether or not the Brotherhood knows he is queer? (sorry that was a horribly worded sentence.)  Okay I don't know why I'm having such a strong reaction to Brad - aside from the fact that he got his former friend killed and hampered another investigation and had Ennis beaten up/kidnapped.  Okay, I'm also pissed 'cause he seems willing to let his money do all his work for him.

I dislike Brad more than Amos right now, is that crazy?

Okay I'm going to try and calm down and read neatfreak's post again.

 

Well I posted back to Leslie too, because I am sorry, but hiring  hit people to harm anyone, even if he didn't specify killing---What he really did is murder or assault with intent to do bodily harm for hire---that is NOT being confused---that is being maliciously mean spirited and cruel.  that is not a poor choice, it is conscious action that says to me that is a person with a bad/evil heart, not to mention being a spoiled brat.  Don't mean to argue or anything, but being confused means you confront them yourself and find out what's going on,  or write them a letter, hiring anyone else to do your physical harm because your feelings are hurt, says you have an evil thought pattern and no conscience, he isn't even sorry now-except that he got caught, and they are figuring everything out-- He goes way beyond poor choices into criminal.


Just because now he thinks he has a crush on Ellery and doesn't know what to do about it--He already turned hit men loose in Laramie--he doesn't get any sympathy from me.  He is cowardly little rich kid who thinks that laws apply to others, cause he uses money instead of his own fists so he doesn't get dirty. 
that is how I feel about it.  I won't post any more about this chapter though, but I had to say my feelings in answer, since you brought it up. LOL

[magicmountain]

Love that cool cat Dee Dee and thanks for your appreciation Jenny and NotBastet.

[magicmountain]

Sorry if this is OT. I finally got my BBM DVD and the TV connection didn't work. In comes the very macho mafia looking serviceman to fix the connection. When I give him the BBM DVD to put in the player he rasps out "Have you seen this movie?" I say "Yes" and hold my breath. "Yeah", he said. "It's a good movie".

[louisev]

I started this long winded post on Louise's LJ... but as I kept blabbering on, figured it more appropriate to continue it over here:

SPOILER

This is totally CSI!!!

I don't know how you managed to get all this set out Louise.  You have confirmed my desire to never be involved in detectivin' stuff!  Very enjoyable to read, but way too complicated for my little brain to figure out.

Maybe someone can prepare a Cliff's notes?

Okay, since most of the plot has been revealed/unraveled already, here is the Cliff Notes version of it:

Amos Marigold is our main culprit here.  Having been recommended to the job of assistant D.A. by some ultra conservative elements in the county government (as yet unnamed) he started working closely with Ellery on the Steele investigation and then on the Wilson Brand assault, and his being offended by Ellery's socks and the hickies on his neck and meeting Ellery's live-in male partner was too much for Amos to handle, and formed a plan to "deal with" not only Ellery but also the queers that frequented his bar.  He made contact with the Brotherhood, a little known group of Christian extremists who have a loose relationship with the Wellesley family, at least one of whom (Brad) has given them financial support.  He had Worrell's rifle switched, handed it off to his Brotherhood contacts, and gave them a list.  This list included, ironically, the investigator Worrell's father had used to dig up dirt on Amos and who had gotten photos of Amos in drag in order for Worrell to blackmail Amos into compromising the case against Justin Worrell.

When Brad heard about the Brotherhood having a "contract list" of queers to knock off, he decided to dispose of his friend Will who had insulted and turned him down, but because the Brotherhood performed the killing right there in front of him, he felt resentful that they had involved him so directly and decided to let information on the Brotherhood "slip" to a certain deputy sheriff his brother James had met who was now assigned to investigate the Wilkes killing, so that he would not himself be considered suspect.  In the process of his meetings with Ellery he developed an unhealthy "crush" on Ellery, and decided he wanted Ennis out of the way.  But he knew if he hired the Brotherhood they would kill him - he didnt want to go that far -- so he went and found some guys more likely to beat him and leave him alive -- Leon and Sammy.  By having Ennis abducted, he tried to accomplish two things:  confuse the investigation and distract Ellery, and also, deal with his own feelings of jealousy about Ellery having a lover.


So Jim was killed by the Brotherhood using Amos's list
Wilkes was killed by Prescott and Koonz as a "copycat" killing contracted by Sevigny
Dupree was shot being mistaken by Brotherhood members by using Ellery's car
Ellery was shot at by Roy Koonz using Worrell's rifle
Ennis was beaten and abducted by the Langs contracted by Sevigny.

Sevigny is a sort of sad character, in that he strikes out at people who don't do what he wants them to.  He is a classic sociopath:  he has little or no feeling for other people, but he appears to be vulnerable and sympathetic.  (But he's not.)

I hope this clears up this convoluted plot for everyone!

[louisev]

Well, perhaps needless to say... despite a rather wretched night of chills, coughing, and periods of sleeplessness, I finally did settle down and dragged myself to work today, and feel better.  I guess when the non-productive cough turned into a productive one it meant I was on the mend.  Or it was all that virtual soup!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments, the Ballad, the cat, the commentary on sexuality in the Laramie Saga, and all that I haven't had time to respond to personally... I do appreciate it everyone!

[opinionista]

Well I posted back to Leslie too, because I am sorry, but hiring  hit people to harm anyone, even if he didn't specify killing---What he really did is murder or assault with intent to do bodily harm for hire---that is NOT being confused---that is being maliciously mean spirited and cruel.  that is not a poor choice, it is conscious action that says to me that is a person with a bad/evil heart, not to mention being a spoiled brat.  Don't mean to argue or anything, but being confused means you confront them yourself and find out what's going on,  or write them a letter, hiring anyone else to do your physical harm because your feelings are hurt, says you have an evil thought pattern and no conscience, he isn't even sorry now-except that he got caught, and they are figuring everything out-- He goes way beyond poor choices into criminal.


Just because now he thinks he has a crush on Ellery and doesn't know what to do about it--He already turned hit men loose in Laramie--he doesn't get any sympathy from me.  He is cowardly little rich kid who thinks that laws apply to others, cause he uses money instead of his own fists so he doesn't get dirty. 
that is how I feel about it.  I won't post any more about this chapter though, but I had to say my feelings in answer, since you brought it up. LOL

I agree with ranchgal here. I feel absolutely  no sympathy Brad Sevingny (or Wellesley). He has confessed but to some extent he is still playing his game. I think he wanted to have Wilkes killed. That was no accident. I mean, Brad was crying and such as he confessed, but in the end he tells Ellery he did it because of his legs. That guy is still up to something. However, I hope his brother is not as bad as he is. I mean, who doesn't tell a friend or family member some gossip from work? That's a normal thing to do, especially if the circumstances aren't usual. Having a queer who owns a queer bar in such a small city like Laramie as the Chief Deputy Sheriff is unusual for the place and the time the story takes place. So, IMO is pretty normal that Jim might have tell someone about it, especially his own brother who's gay, just like Simpson was gossiping about it with the radio on when he and Jewell were watching Ellery and Ennis's home.

[opinionista]

Well, perhaps needless to say... despite a rather wretched night of chills, coughing, and periods of sleeplessness, I finally did settle down and dragged myself to work today, and feel better.  I guess when the non-productive cough turned into a productive one it meant I was on the mend.  Or it was all that virtual soup!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments, the Ballad, the cat, the commentary on sexuality in the Laramie Saga, and all that I haven't had time to respond to personally... I do appreciate it everyone!

Good to know you're feeling better Louise. But don't be like Ellery and don't overdo it today!

[louisev]

I guess by now you have all figured out there are a lot of similarities between Ellery and me... that old "overdoing it" gene is one of them.  I just wish being nervous made me as thin as it makes him!