Post by Tom Sorensen on Nov 21, 2023 7:16:45 GMT -5
In The Death of Innocence, Patsy is selling us the story that the family is almost out of time before she gets out of bed: she drops her morning shower, throws on some clothes, slaps on her make-up, and hurries down the back staircase. What should be her next logical move? Continue downstairs to the kitchen and get the coffee going!
But no, instead she stops at the 2nd floor laundry area and starts messing with one of Jonbenet's pageant suits that isn't needed for the Charlevoix trip and isn't needed for the upcoming Disney boat trip either. Also, she still hasn't packed a so-called soft-sided bag with the few necessities for the Charlevoix trip. Why wasn't this dealt with the night before?
I've already argued why I find it improbable that Patsy didn't pick up the ransom note from the staircase if she believed it was a note from housekeeper Linda. Let's recap what she said about her initial thoughts about the note.
What's this? I wonder. I turn around to look at three pieces of paper on a step near the bottom. I bend over. Must be a note from the cleaning lady, Linda, I think. Probably reminding me that she needs to borrow twenty-five hundred dollars. I must leave a check on the kitchen counter before we leave.
The first thought that pops into Patsy's mind is that it's a reminder about the $2,500 check she had promised to leave for Linda to pick up on the 27th (quite a note if this was just about a check). As said by Patsy, she seems to have forgotten all about it! Housekeeper Linda should have been at the Ramseys on December 24 to clean the house after the December 23 party.
Instead, she called in about a dispute with her sister concerning rent overdue. Patsy offered to loan Linda the money, and they agreed on how it should be paid back. It doesn't sound like something you'd forget the next day when you were preparing for a quick exit the following morning. Write out a check for Linda to be placed on the kitchen counter early on December 26.
But no, instead she stops at the 2nd floor laundry area and starts messing with one of Jonbenet's pageant suits that isn't needed for the Charlevoix trip and isn't needed for the upcoming Disney boat trip either. Also, she still hasn't packed a so-called soft-sided bag with the few necessities for the Charlevoix trip. Why wasn't this dealt with the night before?
I've already argued why I find it improbable that Patsy didn't pick up the ransom note from the staircase if she believed it was a note from housekeeper Linda. Let's recap what she said about her initial thoughts about the note.
The Death of Innocence, pp. 10-11 (the use of italics is true to the book)
What's this? I wonder. I turn around to look at three pieces of paper on a step near the bottom. I bend over. Must be a note from the cleaning lady, Linda, I think. Probably reminding me that she needs to borrow twenty-five hundred dollars. I must leave a check on the kitchen counter before we leave.
The first thought that pops into Patsy's mind is that it's a reminder about the $2,500 check she had promised to leave for Linda to pick up on the 27th (quite a note if this was just about a check). As said by Patsy, she seems to have forgotten all about it! Housekeeper Linda should have been at the Ramseys on December 24 to clean the house after the December 23 party.
Instead, she called in about a dispute with her sister concerning rent overdue. Patsy offered to loan Linda the money, and they agreed on how it should be paid back. It doesn't sound like something you'd forget the next day when you were preparing for a quick exit the following morning. Write out a check for Linda to be placed on the kitchen counter early on December 26.
Is it a coincidence we have more evidence of something going wrong the evening of the 25th after arriving home from the Whites? The intruder and coincidence theorists will say yes; I'll say unlikely! The kitchen counter was an effing mess by any standard, so why would Patsy deviate from the established protocol of exchanging notes and stuff with Linda on the spiral staircase?
By putting this idea out there that Housekeeper Linda had written the note, I suspect that Patsy saw this as a way of hitting two birds with one stone: she legitimately pointed her finger at Linda Hoffman the morning of the 26th by subconsciously recognizing the handwriting as Linda's, further supported by the fact that she and Linda routinely left notes on the staircase, and the check never made it to the counter, let alone being prepared, simply because she had forgotten about it.
Conclusion: I don't recall others mentioning the missing check or even the police inquiring about it. To me, it's another piece of the puzzle pointing to Patsy never finishing her preparations for the Charlevoix trip. I strongly suspect she was ready to snap already when John, Patsy, Burke, and Jonbenet left the Whites. Something might even have happened on the way home that caused them not to deliver presents to the Fernies1. Whatever happened, Patsy's preparations during the evening of December 25 were disrupted, and that's why no check was prepared for Linda to pick up. The Charlevoix trip was de facto cancelled.
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1 BTW, nobody has provided evidence of this delivery not taking place; were the gifts recovered from the Jaguar?